Four blocks: what fiqh is, the legal-term ladder, the 4 water types, and utensils.
The water table and the term-to-example pairs are the most heavily tested.
1 · What Fiqh is, and its sources
Meaning of Fiqh الفقه
- Linguistically: understanding (from فَقِهَ يَفْقَهُ — "he understood").
- Technically: knowledge of the legal (sharʿī) rulings on the actions and speech of accountable people (mukallafīn), derived from their detailed evidences.
- Fiqh differs from ʿAqīdah (creed): fiqh is about actions/rulings, creed is about belief.
The 4 primary sources
- The Qurʾān — Allah's revealed Word, the primary source.
- The Sunnah — the Prophet's ﷺ sayings, actions and approvals; clarifies the Qurʾān.
- Ijmāʿ (consensus) — agreement of qualified scholars on a ruling.
- Qiyās (analogy) — extending a ruling to a new case by shared cause, e.g. extending wine's prohibition to modern narcotics.
Two more facts the lesson stresses
- Fiqh is comprehensive — 7 areas: ʿIbādāt (worship), personal-status law, muʿāmalāt (transactions), political jurisprudence, criminal law, ethics (akhlāq), international relations (siyar).
- Fiqh emphasises ease (yusr) and removal of hardship — it allows concessions (rukhṣah), e.g. praying seated, shortening/combining prayers when travelling.
2 · The legal-term ladder
Each term has a one-line definition and an anchor example — memorise the example and the term comes free.
- Farḍ الفرض (obligatory) — firmly commanded; reward if done, punishment if left. Ex: fasting Ramaḍān, the 5 daily prayers.
- Wājib الواجب (necessary) — in the Shāfiʿī school, Wājib = Farḍ, except in Ḥajj. A Ḥajj wājib, if missed, the Ḥajj is still valid but a sacrifice (dam) is owed. Ex: throwing the stones (al-ramy), entering iḥrām from the mīqāt.
- Farḍ ʿAyn فرض العين (individual duty) — every individual must do it. Ex: 5 daily prayers, Ramaḍān fasting, Ḥajj for those able.
- Farḍ Kifāyah فرض الكفاية (communal duty) — if some do it, it is lifted from the rest; if none do it, all are sinful. Ex: washing & burying the dead.
- Rukn الركن (pillar) — a required part inside the act. Ex in prayer: reciting al-Fātiḥah, rukūʿ, sujūd.
- Sharṭ الشرط (condition) — required but outside / before the act, making it valid. Ex: wudū, the prayer's time, facing the qiblah.
- Mandūb المندوب (recommended) — encouraged; reward if done, no punishment if left. Also called Sunnah, Mustaḥabb, Nafl, Taṭawwuʿ. Ex: Ḍuḥā, Tahajjud, six days of Shawwāl.
- Ḥarām الحرام (forbidden) — clearly prohibited; reward if avoided for Allah, punishment if done. Also called sin / disobedience. Ex: killing an innocent soul, consuming wealth unjustly (ribā).
- Makrūh المكروه (disliked) — two types: Taḥrīmī (close to ḥarām, may be punished — ex: voluntary prayer at sunrise/sunset) and Tanzīhī (no sin — ex: fasting only Friday, with no day before/after).
- Adāʾ الأداء (on-time) — doing worship within its time. Qaḍāʾ القضاء (make-up) — doing it after its time has passed (obligatory whether missed with or without excuse). Iʿādah الإعادة (repetition) — repeating it within its time for more reward (e.g. repeating a prayer in jamāʿah).
3 · The four types of water
- Pure & purifying (ṭahūr) — natural water (rain, river). Even if colour/taste changes by algae, soil, or time, it stays pure and valid for wudū & ghusl.
- Pure & purifying but disliked (makrūh) — sun-heated (mushammas) water. Disliked only under 3 conditions: (a) a hot country, (b) a metal hammerable container (iron, copper — not gold/silver), (c) used on a body that can get skin disease. Still pure & valid. Ḥanbalīs: not disliked at all.
- Pure but NOT purifying — two cases: (a) a small amount of already-used (mustaʿmal) wudū/ghusl water; (b) water mixed with a pure substance that changes it (tea, soft drinks). Clean to drink/cook, but cannot be used for wudū or ghusl.
- Impure (najis) — impurity fell in. Two sub-cases by quantity (see below).
The two-qullah rule (impure water)
- Small water (< two qullahs) → becomes impure the moment najāsah touches it, even if colour/taste/smell do not change.
- Large water (≥ two qullahs) → impure only if the najāsah changes its colour, taste, or smell.
- Two qullahs ≈ 500 Baghdad raṭls ≈ 192.857 kg (a cube ~1¼ arm-lengths each side).
- Valid for purification: only types 1 and 2. Type 3 is clean but not purifying; type 4 is impure.
4 · Utensils (al-Awānī)
- Gold & silver — forbidden for any use (wudū, drinking, eating), for men and women, except in necessity (no other available). Keeping them is also forbidden.
- Bound/repaired with gold — forbidden, whether the amount is small or large.
- Bound with silver — depends: small & not for decoration → permissible; large & only for decoration → forbidden; large out of necessity, OR small for decoration → makrūh.
- Precious minerals (diamond, pearl, coral) — permissible (no prohibiting text; default is permissibility).
- Utensils of non-Muslims — permissible to use; washing them first is recommended, not obligatory (they may have held wine/pork). Same for their clothes.
Cold-recall tables. Fiqh papers reward the lists exactly — drill these until the rows come without the page.
What is Fiqh?
| Concept | Recall |
|---|---|
| Fiqh الفِقْه | Linguistic = understanding · technical = knowledge of the sharʿī rulings of the mukallaf, from their detailed evidence |
| The 4 sources | Qurʾān القُرْآن · Sunnah السُّنَّة · Ijmāʿ الإِجْمَاع (consensus) · Qiyās القِيَاس (analogy) |
Legal-term ladder
| Term | Arabic | One-line | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farḍ | الفرض | Must do; punished if left | 5 daily prayers |
| Wājib | الواجب | = Farḍ in Shāfiʿī except in Ḥajj (miss → dam) | Throwing the stones |
| Farḍ ʿAyn | فرض العين | On every individual | Ramaḍān fasting |
| Farḍ Kifāyah | فرض الكفاية | Some do it → lifts from all; none → all sin | Burying the dead |
| Rukn | الركن | Part inside the act | Al-Fātiḥah, sujūd |
| Sharṭ | الشرط | Required before/outside the act | Wudū, qiblah |
| Mandūb | المندوب | Reward if done, none if left (= Sunnah/Nafl) | Tahajjud, 6 of Shawwāl |
| Ḥarām | الحرام | Punished if done | Ribā, killing |
| Makrūh | المكروه | Taḥrīmī (close to ḥarām) / Tanzīhī (no sin) | Prayer at sunset / Fri-only fast |
| Adāʾ / Qaḍāʾ / Iʿādah | الأداء / القضاء / الإعادة | On-time / make-up / repeat-for-reward | Dhuhr in time / missed fast / repeat in jamāʿah |
The four waters
| # | Type | Arabic | Key fact | Use for wudū/ghusl? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pure & purifying | طَهُور ṭahūr | Natural; OK even if algae/soil/time change it | ✅ Yes |
| 2 | Pure & purifying but makrūh | طَهُور مَكْرُوه ṭahūr makrūh | Sun-heated metal pot (mushammas), hot land, on the body | ✅ Yes (disliked) |
| 3 | Pure but NOT purifying | طَاهِر ṭāhir | Used water (mustaʿmal مُسْتَعْمَل); tea / mixed water | ❌ No (clean to drink) |
| 4 | Impure (najis) | نَجِس najis | <2 qullah: impure on contact · ≥2 qullah: only if colour/taste/smell change | ❌ No |
Two qullahs ≈ 192.857 kg (~500 Baghdad raṭls). Below it = "small water".
Utensils — the silver-binding cases
| Vessel / binding | Ruling |
|---|---|
| Gold or silver vessel — any use | Forbidden (men & women), except necessity. Keeping them is forbidden too. |
| Bound with gold — small or large | Forbidden |
| Bound with silver — small, not decoration | Permissible |
| Bound with silver — large, only decoration | Forbidden |
| Bound with silver — large for necessity, OR small for decoration | Makrūh |
| Diamond / pearl / coral | Permissible |
| Non-Muslims' utensils | Permissible — washing first is recommended, not required |