Compulsory ‘Units of Study’ in Islam
Just like your degree, Islam has compulsory ‘subjects’ called the fard ayn’ which are individually obligatory sciences that every Muslim should know to successfully ‘graduate’ from the most important test of your life in the next life. This article will start by explaining the virtue of knowledge in Islam and then introduces, at a very basic level, the two individual fard that Muslims should know: Aqidah and Fiqh to inspire you to study them further while you have flexible time as university students.
Knowledge in Islam
Knowledge is noble pursuit in Islam. There are many verses in the Quran and Hadiths which highlight the virtues of knowledge. One of them is a saying of Prophet Muhammad SAW that “seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim man and Muslim woman”. Scholars explain that this knowledge means religious knowledge that assists us in practising our religion and fulfiling our duties to Allah. There is a correlation between increased knowledge and piety in Islam, since knowledge of Allah and His religion should bring you closer to Him.
The source of all knowledge in Islam comes from Allah who is The Omniscient (Al-Aleem). Allah revealed the Quran as His last message of guidance to mankind to Prophet Muhammad who was described by Aisha (may God be pleased with her) as the “walking Quran”, symbolising the Prophet’s life as being the ultimate embodiment and supreme exegete of the Quran.
From this derives two primary sources of knowledge: the Quran and the Prophetic Way (sunnah). After the Prophet, Muslim scholars began to codify and systematise knowledge from the Quran and Sunnah into sciences or methodologies in order to preserve its authenticity which was challenged by the passage of time. This led to different classifications of sciences ranging from law (fiqh), theology (aqidah), rules of Quranic recitation (tajwid), exegesis (tafsir), Prophetic biography (seerah) and many others. While dedicated students of knowledge will follow a curriculum that includes many of these subjects, we (as basic Muslims) are not required to know all of them. So what do we need to know?
Thankfully scholars like Imam Ghazali in his Ihya classified Islamic knowledge into those which are individually obligatory (fard ayn) and communally obligatory (fard kifayah). The fard ayn are those types of knowledge that are incumbent upon every Muslim. They are only obligatory to the extent that you require to practice your religion. In other words, the extent to which one has to delve into these fard ayn subjects depends on what you practically need to properly perform religious actions with the correct religious beliefs.
Theology (Aqidah)
Examples of theological questions: Is evolution compatible with Islam? Is something good because God commands it or it is inherently good? How do I explain miracles in the Quran?
Aqidah or theology is the foundational belief of Muslims. There is no more beneficial knowledge than knowledge of Allah, upon which everything depends. That is why it is one of the most important sciences in Islam. The root word of aqidah comes from the word ‘aqd which is a knot or tie. Faith in Islam is built upon reason such that it can withstand any challenges presented against it. Historically, Muslims developed sophisticated arguments to defend the Quran and Sunnah from attacks coming from everywhere - Christians, Jews, Hindus, atheists, philosophers etc. So sophisticated were Muslims theologians that one of the leading arguments for God’s existence used today by non-Muslims is the kalam cosmological argument - its origins lie in the Muslim kalam tradition (‘speech’ or ‘discourse’ about God using rational arguments). Scholars expanded the corpus of knowledge from the Quran and Sunnah to include rational and philosophical knowledge when Islam experienced a rapid expansion into non-Muslim communities who raised polemical critiques of Islam. Two schools of theology emerged that preserved the mainstream Islamic creed: Ashari and Maturidi.
Aqidah is a deep subject that cannot be adequately explained here. However, it is an obligation only to know what your aqidah is, not necessarily to study it in-depth. As basic Muslims, we should be aware of the the six pillars of faith (Iman): believing in Allah (His essence, attributes and actions), His angels, His messengers, His books, the Day of Judgment and destiny. We believe in the absolute and unqualified Oneness (tawhid) of Allah, Who is totally unlike His creation (42:11). There is nothing that resembles in any way anything found in creation.
Although it is not necessary for average Muslims to study further, aqidah resolves many doubts and questions we encounter as university students. How many people do we know who leave Islam because of some intellectual crisis? If we train ourselves in aqidah, not only do we improve our relationship with Allah by knowing Him, we can also tackle tough questions on evolution, secularism, scientism, atheism and modernity which has shaken the faith of so many Western Muslims.
Islamic law (Fiqh)
Examples of legal questions: How do I pray? How do I make wudu’? Can I break my prayer while travelling? Can I pray Jummah with only two people? Do I pay zakat on stocks and crypto?
Think of fiqh as law in Western terms. Fiqh is the science of knowing the practical rulings of Shariah. Fiqh is important because it governs all aspects of our lives from marriage, inheritance, business and acts of worship. It helps us to worship Allah according to the sunnah of the Prophet as understood and agreed upon by generations of scholars. Every act has a corresponding ruling attached to it, either the act is obligatory (fard/wajib), recommended (mustahhab), permissible (mubah), disliked (makruh) or prohibited (haram). The primary sources of fiqh are the Quran and Sunnah, which provide textual evidences from which particular rulings are derived (there are also other secondary sources such as analogous reasoning, consensus or words of authoritative scholar).
Not every scholar agreed on the methodology used to arrive at particular rulings. These natural differences led the development of different legal schools (madhabs): Maaliki, Hanafi, Shafii and Hanbali. Rather than try to figure everything out for ourselves, each madhab has its own legal methodology and thousands of years of scholarship have refined that methodology to make it easier for us to practice Islam. Traditionally, Muslims practiced Islam according to one of the four madhabs, the most dominant being the Hanafi school which spanned Central Asia, the subcontinent, Turkey (Ottoman Empire) and parts of the Arab world (as a legacy of the Ottoman Empire).
For an individual, it is obligatory to know part of the fiqh that which you practice. For example, we encounter prayer (salah) every day of our lives so knowing the rulings of the prayer becomes an obligation. The same applies to the other pillars of Islam (zakat, fasting and Hajj). In any case, whatever fiqh questions you have should be directed to a qualified scholar, just as you would only ask legal or medical questions to a qualified lawyer or doctor. Like aqidah, fiqh is a deep and rigorous science that produced great scholarship. To think that the Quran and Sunnah have four equally valid interpretations and are recognised by each other madhab is unique pluralism in Islam and should develop in us a deep respect for the scholars who spent their lives preserving the authentic teachings that we need to succeed in the next life.
Conclusion
Islam is a very simple religion. It has a simple creed of monotheism (tawhid) with five pillars to perform. As university students, dedicating 3-4 years of our lives to secular knowledge, it’s not a big ask to learn our fard. We do not have the excuse of ignorance that our grandparents might have had, coming to Australia from poor villages and some, with no formal education. While the modern world makes us believe the ummah is weak and backwards because of our old traditions, Islam experienced its golden age when religious knowledge flourished and produced our greatest scholars who were polymaths, experts in every science including secular ones. We should be proud of this legacy and strive to preserve and build on it for future generations
