As for the definition of fiqh as “knowledge of the subsidiary sharʿī rulings derived from their detailed evidences through inference,” this is nothing but a later, specialized convention coined by the scholars of legal theory. In its wider legal sense, however, fiqh embraces: knowledge of the realities of faith, knowledge of the rulings of the Islamic law, and knowledge of the journey and conduct toward Allah by understanding the ranks of iḥsān. Thus, when Allah intends good for someone, He grants that person understanding of these matters and enables him to act upon them.

The implication of the ḥadīth is that whoever turns away from fiqh in the religion and from adorning himself with its sciences—which are the noblest of all sciences—Allah, exalted is He, does not intend good for him. This meaning is stated explicitly in the report of Abū Yaʿlā (13/371): “And the one whom He does not grant understanding, Allah has no concern for him.”

The sharʿī sciences are beneficial deeds whose benefit extends from their bearer to others, whether through teaching, writing, judging, or issuing fatwā. They therefore rank among the works that continue after a person’s death: “or knowledge from which people benefit after him” (Muslim 1631). Allah the Exalted says, “He grants wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever is granted wisdom has truly been granted abundant good; yet none will remember except people of insight” (al-Baqarah 2:269).

There are paths and means to gaining fiqh in the religion. Whoever adopts them will succeed and obtain a complete understanding of Allah’s faith. Among them are: fearing Allah, sincerity in seeking knowledge—seeking thereby only Allah’s countenance and the Hereafter—and following sound methods of acquisition. At the outset the student should focus on concise primers of each discipline and their fundamentals, committing them to memory and understanding them, then broaden his study gradually. He should not plunge into the major reference works at the beginning of his quest, for that scatters the mind and wastes effort among lengthy tomes and voluminous books, leaving him with no benefit.