Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterWhy the Companions did not write books on Fiqh
Question
My question is regarding fiqh evolution. What are the reasons fiqh emerged after so many decades? What was the situation of fiqh in Companions'time? I know that Allah bestowed this Umma with great scholars to coincide many Prophet (peace be upon him) sayings but what companions did in this regard? What are the reasons that we find books of scholars, explaining shari rulings but what were the efforts of companions (may Allah be pleased with them). For example in explanation of Hadith of exeggaration in supplication, I find Imam Ibn e Taimiyya explanation but can we trace such explanation (detailed) from Companions?? Please answer me in detail. In short, I want to know the reasons why we don't see explanation of any shari ruling from any of companions in such details as compared to later scholars?? I admit my lack of knowlege. And thats why Satan comes to me whenever I start practicing Islam and start pouring such whispers. Please I need your help and also what to do if I get some whisper in my heart about Islam. My problem is I start thinking and try to find answers from my own logic and when I fail, it troubles me alot. Sometime depression becomes so acute that I can't sleep even. Then I find so much aversion for Islam in my heart, though I don't get along with that. Please tell me what should I do?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
It is perhaps more appropriate to start by talking to you about the whispers which you stated that you are obsessed with. Indeed, such whispers are from the devil who wants to spoil your religion. These whispers are evidence that the devil has given up all hope to misguide the slave of Allaah, and so, his plot is limited to the whispers.
Indeed, you did well by not acting according to these whispers and this is a good sign from you. The best treatment for such whispers is to completely ignore them. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 62209 and 174507.
As regards the Companions and their Fiqh, then Fiqh was abundant in their era as they were very keen on learning the Sharee’ah rulings from the Prophet and there were amongst them some Fuqaha'a [scholars of Fiqh]; Allaah Says (what means): {And when there comes to them something [i.e. information] about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of Allaah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.} [Quran 4:83]
The interpreters of the Quran mentioned that what is meant by {those of authority among them} are the Companions of the Prophet .
At the time of the Companions 
the people did not need to explain the texts and the meanings of words or to clarify the religious meanings of words as they were pure Arabs who did not hear any other language than the language of the Quran, whereas the people who came after them were in need of more clarification and detailed interpretations, and they were in need to establish a terminology and other matters that spread after the first generation.
However, it is possible to obtain the Fiqh of the Companions by reference to the books of Sunan (pl. of Sunnah) and ‘Aathaar (pl. of Athar which is a narration attributed to a Companion or a Taabi’e, i.e. one of the generation which followed the generation of the Companions); the most important of which are the Musannaf of Abdur-Razzaaq and the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah 
.
Also, many researchers from the modern era have begun to collect the issues of Ijtihaad (a juristic opinion on matters which are not specified in the Quran and the Sunnah) of the scholars of the Companions in one book to make it easier to obtain, for example, there is the book entitled: "The Fiqh of ‘Umar compared to the Fiqh of the most famous people who made Ijtihaad”, and the book entitled: "The Ijtihaad of the Imaam Companion ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Abbaas in the Fiqh of the family”.
To conclude, this matter is so easy that you should not consider it as a burden on yourself that distracts you from what benefits you in your religion and in your worldly matters.
Allaah Knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
