In the Name of Allāh, the Extremely Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy
Imām as-Sa`dī, may Allāh have mercy upon him, said:1
Fiqh is knowledge of the subsidiary legislative rulings with their evidences from the Book and the Sunnah, scholarly consensus and correct qiyās (analogical deduction).
The Five Rulings
1. al-Wājib [Obligatory]: It is that which the one who performs it is rewarded, and the one who leaves it is punished.
2. al-Harām [Forbidden]: It is the complete opposite [of al-Wājib]. [The one who performs it is liable to punishment, and the one who leaves it is rewarded].
3. al-Makrūh [Disliked]: It is that which the one who leaves it is rewarded, and the one who performs it is not punished.
4. al-Masnūn [Prescribed from Sunnah]: It is the complete opposite [of al-Makrūh]. [The one who performs it is rewarded, and the one who leaves it is not punished].
5. al-Mubāh [Permissible]: It is that which performing it and abandoning it are equal.
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Translated by Umm Sufyaan Faatimah
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[1] Imām `Abdur-Rahmān as-Sa`dī, Manhaj as-Sālikīn wa Tawdīh al-Fiqh fī ad-Dīn, p9-10.