Note: The Fiqh of Education, in its truest sense, is grappling with an identity crisis. There remains no consensus regarding its essence, its relationship with the educational sciences, its connection to the fiqh of ethics, its place among the various chapters of fiqh, or whether it constitutes a distinct chapter of fiqh or rather an overarching approach to all fiqh issues. Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Morteza Karimizadeh, a researcher in Islamic education, seeks in this exclusive article to clarify the dimensions of this emerging branch of fiqh.
The “Fiqh of Education” may be defined as a specialized branch of fiqh (applied fiqh) responsible for inferring, expounding, and systematizing the body of Sharia rulings—encompassing duties, rights, and obligations—pertaining to the process, agents, objectives, methods, and outcomes of human education across individual and social domains. In other words, the Fiqh of Education addresses the fundamental question: from the perspective of Islamic Sharia, what are the prescribed and proscribed actions, the rights and duties, and the responsibilities that govern educational practice?
To elaborate further, the central subject of this fiqh is the “act of education” itself, along with its constituent elements—the educator, the educatee, content, method, environment, and so forth—examined through the lens of the fivefold categories of rulings and associated legal statuses (such as guardianship and custody). While the Fiqh of Education is interconnected with disciplines like the educational sciences and ethics, it distinguishes itself by its primary focus on inferring Sharia rulings and determining the practical obligations of the religiously accountable person (mukallaf). Its scope is vast, extending beyond parent-child relations to encompass formal education systems, media, social environments, cyberspace, self-cultivation, and even macro-level educational policymaking. This approach is not a mere compilation of scattered rulings but a systematic endeavor to derive general principles, Sharia objectives, and mutual rights and duties within the educational process. Achieving this requires recourse to the four primary sources of jurisprudence and its practical principles, while the identification of emerging educational topics necessitates drawing upon relevant findings from the human sciences.
Thus, the Fiqh of Education is a discipline that strives to furnish the requisite Sharia framework for guiding and regulating every facet of the complex educational process, ensuring it aligns with the sublime aims of religion and human felicity in this world and the hereafter.
Fiqh alone does not exclusively encompass all dimensions of human education; education is a multifaceted concept whose complete realization demands the collaboration and synergy of diverse Islamic disciplines—particularly ethics and those areas now known as “educational sciences with an Islamic approach” or “Islamic education.” Nonetheless, rejecting fiqh’s exclusive role does not imply its irrelevance or marginal importance in education; rather, fiqh fulfills a distinct and indispensable function in this domain.
As is well known, the principal task of fiqh is to infer and expound practical rulings and to regulate legal and social relations in accordance with Sharia. Accordingly, fiqh addresses those aspects of education that are practical, behavioral, and obligatory in nature. It specifies which acts within the educational process are obligatory, prohibited, recommended, discouraged, or permissible; what rights belong to the educatee (e.g., rights to custody, maintenance, and education) and what duties fall upon the educator (e.g., parental, pedagogical, and governmental responsibilities); the permissible limits of educational methods (such as reward and punishment); and the legal liabilities arising from educational actions. In short, fiqh delineates the legal and Sharia obligations of the educational process and regulates the outward conduct and interactions within it.
By contrast, ethics focuses primarily on the inward realm—intentions, virtues, and vices of the soul—aiming at self-purification and spiritual elevation. It teaches the cultivation of qualities such as patience, gratitude, honesty, and trustworthiness while warning against vices like envy, arrogance, and hypocrisy. Though these elements are foundational to the desired outcome of Islamic education, they are not directly subject to fiqh rulings in the sense of external legal enforcement (except where they manifest in prohibited acts or the neglect of obligations).
Islamic education, for its part, adopts a more comprehensive outlook, drawing upon religious sources (Qur’anic verses, hadith, prophetic and imamic conduct, theological and philosophical discussions) as well as human-science findings (e.g., developmental psychology) to articulate principles, objectives, methods, and practical models. It may incorporate insights from fiqh and ethics as part of its foundational content.
Hence, it cannot be claimed that fiqh alone encompasses education, any more than ethics can be said to do so single-handedly. Ideal Islamic education emerges from the harmonious interplay of these domains: fiqh supplies the legal structure and behavioral obligations; ethics fortifies spiritual foundations and inner virtues; and Islamic education provides the roadmap and practical methods. Fiqh guarantees that the educational process adheres to Sharia boundaries, avoids extremes, and upholds the rights of all involved parties.
Requisites for Establishing a Distinct Fiqh Chapter: “Fiqh of Education”
Several essential criteria may be identified for establishing an independent fiqh chapter. First, a clearly defined central subject capable of conceptual or instantiational distinction from other fiqh topics. Second, a substantial body of related issues, sub-issues, and rulings whose volume and significance warrant separate compilation and treatment. Third, the possible presence of dedicated principles, rules, or foundations specific to that chapter (though not invariably required). Fourth, a practical and societal need for codifying and refining rulings in that domain—particularly in response to contemporary issues—serving as a strong impetus for creating or highlighting a new chapter. Finally, historical trends and the sustained attention of jurists to a given topic contribute to its recognition as an independent chapter.
Fiqh of Education: A Distinct Chapter or an Approach to Fiqh?
The status of the “Fiqh of Education” merits careful consideration. Traditionally, educational issues have been dispersed across various fiqh chapters—for instance, custody and maintenance in marriage and divorce, disciplining and liability in hudud and diyat, governmental educational duties in governance and jihad, and certain recommendations within ethical discussions or introductory sections on worship. Consequently, early fiqh texts rarely feature a standalone “Chapter on Education” comparable to those on prayer or commerce.
Yet closer scrutiny reveals that “education,” as a central and autonomous process, possesses its own distinct components (educator, educatee, content, method), objectives, and issues. The proliferation of contemporary issues—cyberspace education, modern schooling systems, child rights, mass media influence—and society’s pressing need for systematic access to relevant Sharia rulings underscore the necessity of specialized treatment. Thus, the Fiqh of Education transcends a mere “general approach” to existing chapters. Though rooted in diverse traditional sections, it is coalescing into a specialized domain—an emerging applied fiqh—with a defined subject (the educational process), extensive issues (traditional and novel), and compelling societal demand that justify relative autonomy. This autonomy implies not total separation but focused systematization of rulings in this arena.
As for the purported “posterior” status of the Fiqh of Education, if this denotes more recent systematic codification relative to classical chapters, the observation holds. However, if it suggests inferior scholarly rank or importance, it is untenable. Like other applied fiqhs (medical, environmental, media), the Fiqh of Education addresses a fundamental dimension of human and social existence, thereby possessing exceptional significance. It consolidates previously scattered issues around a unified topical axis and applies a comprehensive, specialized lens to infer rulings for new challenges.
The precise nature of the Fiqh of Education and its relation to “educational propositions” (derived from religious texts or modern educational and psychological research) demands further elucidation; limiting it to one initial option would be inadequate. A synthesis of the primary option with an additional dimension appears closest to reality.
Fiqh of Education or the Fiqh Examination of Educational Propositions
A substantial portion of the Fiqh of Education involves examining educational propositions from a fiqh perspective. The jurist encounters principles, methods, and objectives advanced in education—whether from religious tradition or contemporary sciences—and subjects them to fiqh evaluation. Questions arise: Is a given method (e.g., particular reward or punishment) Sharia-permissible? Does a proposed goal (e.g., exclusive focus on material success) align with Sharia’s higher aims? Is a certain principle (e.g., absolute child autonomy) consonant with Sharia rights and duties? Here, fiqh exercises a supervisory role, delineating Sharia boundaries.
The Need to Align Fiqh Propositions with Educational Propositions
Some advocate aligning fiqh propositions with educational ones. If this implies subordinating immutable fiqh rulings to fluctuating educational theories, it is neither valid nor acceptable—fiqh rulings rest on Sharia evidence and cannot be made contingent upon contested, evolving theories. However, if alignment means requiring the jurist to consider educational realities and contexts when identifying the subject of a ruling or determining its application, it is indispensable. Accurate fatwas on educational matters demand precise subject knowledge—psychological and developmental traits across ages, method impacts, environmental factors—enabling correct ruling application or, where permissible, selection of the mode most congruent with Sharia objectives. Valid educational propositions thus aid subject comprehension without altering the fiqh ruling itself.
Fiqh of Education: Interaction or Establishment?
The Fiqh of Education is not solely reactive or supervisory; it also possesses an affirmative, constitutive dimension. Through direct recourse to primary sources (Qur’an and Sunnah), fiqh itself establishes educational principles, rules, rights, and duties—e.g., the obligation to impart religious knowledge to children, the prohibition of parental disobedience, mutual spousal educational rights, and governmental responsibility for sound educational provision—prior to external comparison.
Thus, the Fiqh of Education constitutes an interactive process encompassing both constitutive aspects (deriving educational rulings from religious sources) and supervisory ones (fiqh scrutiny of prevalent propositions and methods), while requiring, for application, precise subject knowledge drawn from reliable religious and scientific data—without subordinating divine rulings to human discoveries. Its ultimate aim is a coherent system of Sharia imperatives in the vital domain of education.
Fiqh of Education: Independent Discipline or Field of Study?
If “independent discipline” implies wholly unique subject, method, issues, and foundations, applying the term to the Fiqh of Education (as with many applied fiqhs) may involve some latitude—its core method remains conventional ijtihad, and its foundations largely coincide with general fiqh.
Yet if “independent discipline” denotes a systematized specialized field with a defined topical focus, abundant interconnected issues and rules, and the need for dedicated expertise, then the Fiqh of Education qualifies as a specialized branch within fiqh. Analogous to medical or economic fiqh—recognized as specialized despite shared ijtihad methodology—the Fiqh of Education merits similar status given its topical centrality (educational process), issue breadth, and foundational religious importance.
The Fiqh of Education is arguably transitioning from a dispersed “field of study” (issues scattered across classical chapters) toward consolidation as a codified applied fiqh. More than an interdisciplinary arena lacking distinct methodology, it is a fiqh branch that employs other disciplines (psychology, educational sciences) for subject identification yet ultimately infers Sharia rulings via ijtihad. The most accurate current description is therefores: a specialized, relatively autonomous branch of fiqh centered on “education” and dedicated to the systematic derivation of its Sharia rulings.
Foundations and Presuppositions of the Fiqh of Education
Like any epistemological domain, the systematic development of the Fiqh of Education rests upon a set of presuppositions and foundational principles. Without their acceptance, fiqh discourse in education would lack viability or meaning. The chief among these are:
The Comprehensiveness of Islam: Acknowledgment that Islam, the final and most complete divine religion, provides guidance, objectives, and frameworks for every sphere of individual and social life—including the critical process of education. Restricting religion to worship or select rulings would leave no room for a comprehensive Fiqh of Education.
Purposefulness of Creation and Education: Recognition that human creation and education pursue sublime divine ends—proximity to God, realization of innate potentials, servitude, worldly and hereafter felicity—within which the Fiqh of Education finds meaning and direction.
Duty and Responsibility: Acceptance of human accountability before God and others, rendering educational actions subject to the fivefold Sharia categories and imposing responsibility for fulfilling duties and respecting rights.
Human Educability: Belief in man’s receptivity to education and the influence of diverse factors (heredity, environment, will, religious teaching), underpinned by the concept of divine fitrah.
Authoritativeness of Sources and Methodology: Recognition of the four primary sources and usul al-fiqh as valid for inferring educational rulings.
Presence of Educational Guidance in Religious Sources: Affirmation of abundant Qur’anic and sunnah-based teachings, instructions, practices, and principles suitable for detailed ruling derivation.
Need for Sharia Regulation of Educational Relations: Acceptance that parent-child, teacher-student, and state-citizen educational interactions require Sharia framing to protect rights, prevent extremes, and align with divine goals.
Only with these foundations can the Fiqh of Education be regarded as a systematized discipline seeking to discern and articulate God’s legislative will in the foundational domain of human education.
The Fiqh of Education and the Educational Sciences
The relationship between the Fiqh of Education and related fields—child-rearing (practical parenting), formal education systems, educational sciences (scientific study of learning), developmental/educational psychology, and Islamic education (principles and methods from an Islamic viewpoint)—is one of interaction, complementarity, and methodological/goal distinction.
As previously outlined, the Fiqh of Education infers and presents the normative Sharia framework governing educational practice—specifying permissible/prohibited objectives, methods, relations, and structures, along with attendant rights and duties. It regulates all educational activities according to divine limits.
Other domains serve distinct functions:
- Child-rearing offers practical skills and recommendations, which the Fiqh of Education evaluates Sharia-wise.
- Formal education addresses institutional structures and curricula; the Fiqh of Education clarifies related rulings (content permissibility, teacher-student relations, policy).
- Educational sciences and psychology provide descriptive analysis vital for subject identification in fiqh.
- Islamic education articulates broader philosophical and macro objectives; the Fiqh of Education translates these into concrete rulings and obligations.
Thus, the Fiqh of Education establishes the Sharia-legal boundaries while other fields supply contexts, methods, and descriptive insights. It utilizes their findings for precise subject knowledge before inferring rulings via ijtihad, determining Sharia-compatible options and implementation requirements. Despite relative independence, these domains must interact to achieve a comprehensive Islamic educational system.