A man who lives in the atmosphere of revelation, an expert in its rules and directions, courteous in reciting and meditating it, knowledgeable in its contents and goals. One who accompanies the Prophet in his Seerah (life story), deducting from his Sunna whether it was words or actions, and follows him in his piety, worship, manners and jealousy on this religion.
This person-holding such a pious, pure heart and a strong vision - can direct ways of life that might encounter him in a religious direction and a rightful form.

That is because he is going to do his best in order to attach them to what he knows from the Book of Allah and the Sunna of the Prophet and to return them to what he knows from the goals and aims of Islam. Thus walking in life in this intention.

He would return the endless and uncontrollable matters of life to what we learned from the principles and laws of Shari�ah.

Such a thing is called Ijtihad or measuring and it is considered of the origins of legislation and of the evidences of Islam in recognizing the rules.

The nation is requested to commit this path in deciding about new and modern matters of life. Of course such a great job is not in the ability of any human being and the natures of the common people can�t stand it and it is even not accepted if it was dealt by, by them.

From this point emerged the Fiqeh (study and understanding) of the Shari�ah (legislating) and the transforming of the rules of what we know to what we do not, a science that needs a lot of study and preparation.

Those who are eligible for such a task are considered of its people or else they would have no room in it.

Professor Ali Hasbullah who is a teacher of Islamic Shari�ah in the university of Cairo said:
The third source is the Ijtihad of opinion in the nation, Allah said:
O ye who believe! obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: that is best, and most suitable for final determination. 4:59

And said:
When there comes to them some matter touching (public) safety or fear, they divulge it. If they had only referred it to the Messenger or to those charged with authority among them, the proper investigators would have tested it from them (direct). Were it not for the Grace and Mercy of Allah unto you, all but a few of you would have followed Satan. 4:83

These are the origins from which laws and rules are taken and they are ordered in a way similar to what we mentioned The Book, The Sunna, and the Ijtihad (measuring).

This is verified by the narration of Muaz bin Jabal that the Prophet pbuh told him when he sent Muaz to Yemen, �What would you do if you were asked to judge about something?�
Muaz said I judge by what is in the book of Allah.
The prophet asked, �What if you couldn�t find it in the book of Allah?� He said then by the Sunna of the messenger of Allah.
The Prophet asked, �What if you couldn�t find it in the Sunna of the prophet?�
Muaz said: I would give my best opinion without hesitation.
Muaz said: the Prophet patted on my chest and said,
�Alhamdulellah (praise to Allah) who enabled the messenger of the messenger of Allah to do what pleases the messenger of Allah.�

Sa�eed bin Al-Musai�iab said that Ali bin Abi Talib said:
I asked the Prophet, what to do with matters the Quran didn�t mention and no Sunna came of it?
He said, �Don�t take just one opinion about it. Gather for it a group of knowledgeable believers and consult about it amongst you.�

From these Ahadeeth we see that there are two kinds of measuring:

1. An individual Ijtihad in matters that one person is enough to know the rule about them like the ones Muaz talked about.

2. An the Ijtihad of the knowledgeable of a group of believers in what might encounter the nation from matters that need an exchange of opinions like the on Ali asked about.

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Al-Ijmaa� (Consensus)

There are solid facts in Islamic Shari�ah that no disagreement arouses in understanding or working by them for centuries. There is no room for opinions in adding or lessening from them and any attempt to violate these taken for granted matters or rioting against them is a huge danger and a great disturbance.

That is the meaning of consensus and the secret behind the ugliness of not abiding by it.

Consensus is not an agreement among people on matters of common traditions or idea. Such kind of agreement is of no interest to us as long as it is cut from the signs of religion then its existence or demolish doesn�t concern us at all.

Consensus is to respond to a specific religious fact and for the mere mind to accept several images or concepts of it. But these concepts and images have been negated completely by the agreement among Muslims on one say and one action.

Any violation to this fact is a whole in Islam and a tearing down for its construction. Take Salat for example, they are only five and the number of their Rakaas is only 17 in the way we know from positions and postures.
Any attempt to change that is a violation to the consensus and a way to disbelief.

The same thing applies to Siam (fasting). It is a prevention from the desires for food and sex from dawn to sunset in the month of Ramadan and any body who alleges something other than that is a liar on Allah and his messenger and the group of Muslims.

It will be from the well being that after freezing these things which people agreed upon to draw the attention to the nature of stability in its conditions so that the recklessness of some people be cut of and they would seize from trying to argue in them.

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Fiqeh and the Society

The study of Fiqeh occupies almost the first place in our traditional culture. No wonder in that because Fiqeh is a large circle that includes within its boundaries the actions of those obliged by it.

And of course rules of Islam have reached comprehensive limits in that field.

It is so rare that any human behavior be found without being handled by the Islamic Fiqeh by a rule of opinion.

This comprehensiveness and totality is of the characteristics of Islam.

This religion that builds a nation with a message that would stand through the ages in addition to the validity of its teachings doesn�t leave in the public or private behaviors any gaps to be filled by any legislation other than Islam.

And the truth is that the Islamic society from its beginnings was colored by the legal thinking in regard to everything.

Islamic teachings have interfered in organizing the society from A to Z.

Indeed Fiqeh interfered in teaching a Muslim how to eat and what to eat, how to discard his wastes and how to clean himself from them!
It even kept following the Muslim in all matters, stage by stage until it taught him while he is a member of the state how to make peace and go to war and how to coexist with other members of the international community in the field of great international relations.

Getting occupied with these matters was not something easy to replace or some extra matters one can spare.
In fact getting occupied by these things was from the essences of religion and from the heart of abiding by the Book and Sunna.

That�s why when Islamic culture degraded in the eras of disintegration and delay, various kinds of great knowledge started to run away from our hands. In addition to the death of important sciences of the universe, literature, and art which flourished in our cities and were chanted by our people.

But for the Fiqeh science, people refused to abandon it and kept strong ties with it.

When we were small children we used to study branches of Fiqeh that gather the rules of ablution and washing from impurity and between vows taken in times of peace and in times of war, and other subjects of international law.

Still books of Fiqeh are charged with this enormous mix from cases and rules that show an original point of view and some deep thoughts plus a wide knowledge in the understanding of life and hman policy that has no match in other cultures.

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Fiqeh of Worship

There is no harm in casting a quick view over some aspects over this ocean wide Fiqeh�

In Fiqeh of worship legislation come altogether and in detail from Allah Almighty, where man has no place to propose or invent.
Man only has to do what Allah has arranged for him.

Worship that Islam has imposed is not vague rituals but clear and understandable actions.
If we exclude some rituals of Hajj, we can describe the rest of worship this Deen possesses as high level intellectual philosophy and successful psychological remedies.

As for the religious traditions performed by the pilgrims they can be described by: emotional outbursts and historical memories that are indispensable for humans beings that even no material mind glorying systems are free of.

The wisdom behind legislating them is apparent in linking the crowds with the great meanings they have.

As for the axle of worship in Islam; it is for the purification of the soul, sincerity of the heart, soaking the human nature with the meaning of being submitted to Allah alone and stretching beyond this point with people and life.

Because Sons of Adam are masters of this universe but they are all equal before Allah in rights and in public obligations in which no priest or leader has any advantage over the others in more or less.

The only way to be saved is by having good connection with Allah and honesty in dealing with Him.