Shari'ah, Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh

From the above discussion on how to build model in Islamic economics, we can see the important role of shari’ah in shaping the Islamic economic system. To understand Islamic worldview and to establish visions on Islamic economics require deep understanding of Islam and its shari’at.

What is shari’ah? Shari’ah means path to the watering place; the clear path to be followed and the path which a believer has to track in order for him to obtain guidance in this world thus giving him true success in the hereafter. Shari’ah also refers to the commands, prohibitions, guidance and principles that Allah has addressed to mankind for them to follow in their conduct in this world. Only by obeying the shari’ah, one can enter the paradise (al-Jathiya, 45:18).

Basically, shari’ah covers the concepts of taufid (oneness of God), akhlaq (ethics and moral conduct) and fiqh (the practical shari’ah laws). Shari’ah makes a believer to be cautious at all time of his conduct in this world. This is because, for all of our actions, there are clear rulings of shari’ah in the form of obligatory, permissible, reprehensible, recommended and forbidden categories of actions.

Thus, in conducting our economic activities, the Islamic economic system is strictly being governed by the shari’ah. This does not mean that the Islamic economic system is lack of flexibility. Shari’ah is imposed upon mankind in order that they would be able to dynamically conduct their activities freely based on the limits and rules of the game which are prepared by the Creator of the Universe who knows best of His creations. The analogy could be seen in a football match where there are rules and regulations to be followed and those rules and regulations are not to restrict the game in a narrow sense but rather to make the game fun, fair and harmonious to everybody.

The first element of shari’ah is the concept of tauhid. One must accept by heart, toungue and body (through actions) that there is no other god but Allah; and Prophet Muhammad SAW is Allah’s Messenger. Without this confession, there is no eternal happiness (falah) for ones. One could be a wealthy person in this world, but if one rejects tauhid, he or she would remain forever in the hell fire (3:10, 3:116-117).

The second component of shari’ah is akhlaq. Akhlaq includes all the ethics and moral behaviors in life such as sincerity, benevolence, honesty, trustworthy and many more. All these are important in our economic activities. Only when the economic agents behave properly and follow the rules of the game, then the system could function smoothly.

Lastly, the third component of the shari’ah is fiqh. Fiqh literally means understanding and technically means the knowledge of practical shari’ah laws which are derived from the supporting evidences which include the primary sources of knowledge and the secondary sources of knowle,dge. Fiqh can be subdivided into muamalat, munakahat, jinayat, and ibadat which are all interconnected and cannot be seen separately in conducting our daily activities.

To derive fiqh, there is a methodology which is known as usul al-fiqh. In a simple word, we can say that usul al-fiqh is the knowledge of the principles and methods leading to the derivation of fiqh. Usull al-fiqh deals with the methods to interpret the Qur’an and hadith as well as the methods to derive ijtihad, qiyas and so on which involve the use of reasoning to derive the fiqh rulings.