The True Faqih – Abdur Rahman’s Corner

Peace, one and all…

Beloved Hazret Imam Ali (as) said:

‘The true faqih is he who does not make people ever despair of the loving mercy of God’
Ghurar al-Hikam, volume 2, p. 1156

This beautiful saying has two, inter-connected layers.

Fiqh means wisdom and understanding. The truly wise person knows that creation came into existence through divine mercy, and is likewise maintained only through divine mercy. Wisdom helps us to make sense of the world in which we live, and to help us navigate through the trick minefield of interpersonal relationships (with the understanding that in reality every human relationship is a tiny part of our relationship with God).

A faqih means a person of understanding and wisdom. Over time, it acquired a secondary technical meaning of someone learned in Islamic law (shariah). When understood from this perspective, it can also be taken to mean that a true scholar of the Shariah reconnects people, to God and to each other, whilst also protecting them from injustice. The true faqih is a bulwark against despair because they are a constant reminder of God’s merciful presence among us.

And our last prayer is in praise of God, Lord of all the worlds.