The Leadership Role of the Ulama

The word tafaqquh in this verse needs further clarification. First, we will do a lexical study of the word tafaqquh. After that, we will try to determine the role of the Ulama in the light of this verse. Later, the word fiqh came to be used for formal Islamic jurisprudence. That is to say, the body of legal rules governing ritual and social activities, extracted from Islamic sources. However, this meaning of the word fiqh came in vogue long after the revelation of the Quran. The Quran does not use the word fiqh in a sense it is used today. Instead, the Quran uses this word in its literal sense. Raghib al-Isfahani (d. 1108) was an 11th century scholar of Quranic exegesis and Arabic language. He writes that fiqh means reaching a deeper understanding of an issue. Therefore, the word fiqh conveys more than ‘knowledge’ does. Ibn Manzur (1233-1312) was an Arab lexicographer of the Arabic language and author of Lisan al-Arab, the most comprehensive dictionary of the Arabic language. Ibn Manzur writes that the word fiqh originally connotes the sense of understanding. The Prophet prayed for Abdullah ibn Abbas, “O God, grant him religious understanding and teach him the