Farḍ Kifāya
Definition
Farḍ Kifāya describes obligations that the Muslim community as a whole must fulfil, but which are discharged once a sufficient number of individuals take them up. In knowledge, this includes advanced Islamic jurisprudence, medicine, mathematics, and other sciences that society depends on. If no one in a community learns these disciplines, the entire community bears sin. If enough qualified people emerge, the obligation is lifted from the rest. Al-Ghazali uses this concept to explain why specialized scholarship is a communal religious duty, not merely an intellectual hobby.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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