Fard
and
Wajib

You know, when people make laws to say what is good and what is bad,

when they look at what is good for them to do

they find that there are some things that are better and more important than others,

and some things that are bad that are much worse than others.

So when they make laws for their community,

there are some things,

the worst things,

that people are not allowed to do at all

without being severely punished.

In the same way, there are some things that are thought to be

so important that the law says they have to be done.

But most things end up somewhere inbetween.

And in just the same way

that the Deen is about everything in our lives,

the Law must include everything that people can imagine doing.

So Muslim lawyers came up with a way of describing what people might do

in ways that suggest how good or bad such actions might be,

with different words to say just how good

or bad.

Now because the Law is about everything,

it is going to have to deal with things that are thought to be important for the community,

even though they might not be important to God.

And there are things that are important for people who are Muslim

that are not important for people who aren't.

But the main road that is the Law is for everyone in a community,

not just Muslims,

so it can be different in different places and times.

And as part of that Law there are things that have nothing to do with being a Muslim

that everyone has to do,

which in Scotland nowadays is like having to pay taxes

or needing a licence to drive a car.

So although Muslim lawyers try to understand what is good and what is bad

based on God's words in the Qur'an and the example of God's Messenger Muhammad,

because the Law covers everything, they have a name for things that are duties but don't have to be a part of being Muslim.

That is the Arabic word for duty, which is Wajib.

And for the things that are so important to being a Muslim

that they are considered to be an essential part of people's Islam,

Muslim lawyers use the Arabic word Fard.

And they say that there are two kinds of Fard actions,

Fard-al-'Ayn, and Fard-al-Kifayah.

A Fard-al-'Ayn is a duty for all individual Muslims

that are old enough to perform it,

that are healthy

and are in their right minds,

such as making the Sala prayers

and fasting in Ramadhan.

A Fard-al-Kifayah is a duty that has to be performed by at least some people in a community,

though it doesn't have to be done by everyone,

like visiting the sick or making prayers for someone who dies.

And Muslim lawyers may do their best to understand Allah's wishes for humankind's behaviour,

but in the end we will all be judged by our intentions,

and Allah is the Most Just of Judges.