The task of the fuquha (theologian) is not an easy one. Any one with merely intellectual knowledge cannot successfully become a fiqih (theologian). The Holy Qur an, the primary source of Islamic theology, has laid down the comprehensive principles about the person who are worthy of the task. It says: “this is the book of Allah: there is no doubt about it.
It is guidance to god-fearing (muttaqi) people who believe in the un-seen, establish prayer (salat) and spent in our way out of what we have bestowed on them; who believe in the books sent down to you and in the books sent down before you, and firmly believe in the hereafter. Such people are on the right way from their lord and such are truly successful”. (Qur’an, sura 2, verses 1-5).
The above Qur’anic verses make it abundantly clear that the guidance from the Holy book and the also words of prophet can only be obtained if one firmly believes in the book of Allah that it’s the revealed book beyond any shadow of doubt. They Holy Qur’an is not like the common book on philosophy and religion which are based on mere speculation and guest-work.
The authors of such books are not free from doubts even while writing their books. But the book of Allah is base on truth because its author is Allah himself who possesses complete knowledge about reality. The real faqih who desire to understand the Qur’an should be a strong believer (mu’min) in Allah and his Messenger.
Secondly, he should be a muttaq, a god-fearing and righteous man who really discriminates in the right and wrong, good and evil. In other word one who wants guidance from the divine message should first be righteous and approach the Qur’an and the hadith with the right mental attitude to understand their deeper meaning.
The third condition laid down in the Qur’an is that the seeker of the truth should have firm believe in the un-seen (believer in the gayb) things which can not be merely comprehended by sensual knowledge and which do not merely come from human experience and naked sense perception. For example belief in god, angels, revelation, death, here-after, paradise, hell, etc. can neither be seen, smelled, tested, touch or measure and weighed.
The sources of our belief in the un-seen are the revealed book and the prophet of Allah from whom we receive this this knowledge on trust just as we are vary much used to take many things on trust in our day-to-day life in the physical words religion is a matter of faith, and it is faith in the un-seen alone that can help us in deriving proper guidance from the Qur’an and the Hadith.
The fuqaha (theologian or jurist) of the early history of islam were honest and sincere believers in the teaching of Allah and fulfilled the above condition while searching for proper guidance not only for themselves but for the understanding of a common believer. With divine grace, they gained mastery of the of the Qur’an and the Hadith and the made it easy for every muslim to fashion his everyday affairs according to the requirement of the shara’ah.
One cannot except the attainments of an ordinary believer to an extent that one may be able to give a correct and the authentic interpretation to the Qur’an and the sunnah. There are a number of such specialized doctors of religion who had applied to the task, but the following four leaders (Aimma) and their schools of fiqh are followed by muslims throughout the world.