The most beneficial fiqh to learn

Abu Ubaydallaah Hamid Vince Kromwell [15/08/13]

 The most beneficial fiqh you could learn is the fiqh of your daily life. If you understand this fiqh, your life will become easier and happier insha Allah...

An exercise I like to do is to categorize all my actions that I do rountinely into the 5 ahkam; waajib , mustahaab, mubaah, makrooh, and haraam. So for example, the first action I usually do of the day is to glance at the clock (for salatul Fajr). Looking at the time is permissible originally but because I am doing it for salaah,it is mustahaab (something I get rewarded for doing but no sin if I neglect). 

My next action would be to get out of the bed (for salaah). Getting out of the bed is simply a permissible action originally but to do so for salaah becomes obligatory. Why? Because salaatul Fajr is obligatory and any action that completes an obligation becomes an obligation also. The time span for salaatul Fajr is a little over an hour, so maybe I decide to pray at the beginning of this time. Because of certain narrations that indicate praying at the beginning of this prayer is highly desirable,my praying at the beginning of the time is desirable (although I can pray at any time of the allotted time) and so on for all of the days religious and worldly action.

It is a tedious exercise. But because it is intricate,it teaches a person to think intricately and break down issues to core. A person will no longer look at matters only on the surface and then judge but look at things with a deeper understanding. As it is said, part of giving the proper judgement to a matter is to have proper conceptualization of the matter.

Doing this exercise, insha Allah, gives a person the ability to answer many question to things they will encounter daily,making their life easier to live and will rarely need to seek a fatwa for them...

O Allaah, grant me understanding of the Deen

Analogy of Taqleed and 'Ittibah

Umm Maryam Nimatallaahi Abdul [6/9/12]:

A man is in the desert, it is pitch black he is unfamiliar with the terrain and he has no guidance........ out of the darkness comes a man upon a camel with a torch, who gives the man safe passage.

The man with the torch is a man of knowledge (a sheikh), the man in the desert is most of us and the torch is ilm. Perhaps the man will just follow behind the sheikh going whereever the sheikh goes stumbling if the sheikh stumbles, standing when the sheikh stands, sitting when the sheikh sits, he follows the sheikhs every move like a shadow this is taqleed.

Perhaps he will follow the sheikh whilst allowing the light to guide him on the way but he will look for pebbles on the way, avoid any pebbles even if the sheikh mistakenly stepped in one, he uses the light to see far and thus is able to follow, but follow with relative safety this is 'ittibah. And perhaps Allah will bless him so that one day he will be the one with the torch guiding others along the path.