THE IMPORTANCE OF FIQH After the branches of knowledge of tafsir [1], hadith [2] and kalam [3], the

mos t honoured branch of knowledge is fiqh [4]. It brings more thawab (reward) to st udy the knowledge of fiqh than to perform supererogatory prayers of salat [5] at night. And it brings more thawab to learn it from a teacher than to study it al one. The following six hadiths are sufficient to indicate the honour in fiqh:When Allahu taala wishes to do a favour to a slave of His, He makes him a faqih [6] i n religion. If a person becomes a faqih, Allahu taala sends the things which he longs for and his food by means unanticipated by him. The person whom Allahu taala calls the highest is the one who is a faqih in the Di n. This hadith alone would suffice to show the greatness of Imam-i azam. Against the devil, one faqih is stronger than a thousand abids (those who worship much). Everything is based upon a pillar. The basic pillar of the Din (religion) is the knowledge of fiqh. The best, the most valuable act of worship is to learn and teach fiqh. GLOSSARY [1] tafsir: (book, science, of) interpretation of the Quran al karim. [2] hadith (sharif): i) a saying of the Prophet (alaihi s-salam).; al-Hadith ash-s harif: all the hadiths as a whole; ii) ilm al-hadith; iii) Books of the hadith as h-sharif. iv) Al-hadith al-qudsi, as-sahih, al-hasan: kinds of hadiths (for whic h, see Endless Bliss, II). [3] kalam: (science of , the knowledge of) iman (belief). in Islam. [4] fiqh: knowledge dealing with what Muslims should do and should not do; actio ns, amal, ibadat. [5] salat: i) prayer; (with salam)= salawat; ii) ritual prayer of at least two r akas; "namaz", in Persian; salat janaza: funeral prayer. [6] faqih: (pl. fuqaha) profound scholar of fiqh, alim of fiqh., fuqaha as-saba.