AL-’UL'UM AN-NAQLIYYA (RELIGIOUS SCIENCES)

Religious sciences consist of eight main branches:

i) ’Ilm at-tafsîr (the science of explaining the Qur’ân al-kerîm). A specialist in this branch is called mufassir. He is a profoundly
learned scholar able to understand what Allâhu ta’âlâ means in His Word.
ii) ’Ilm al-usûl al-hadîth. This branch deals with the classification of hadîths. The different kinds of hadîths are explained in Endless Bliss (second fascicle, sixth chapter.)
iii) ’Ilm al-hadîth. This branch studies minutely the utterances (hadîth), behaviour (sunna) and manners (hâls) of our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’.
iv) ’Ilm al-usûl al-kalâm. This branch studies the methods by which ’ilm al-kalâm is derived from al-Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîthi-sherîfs.
v) ’Ilm al-kalâm. This branch covers the study of the Kalimat at-tawhîd and the Kalimat esh-shahâda and the six fundamentals of îmân which depend on them. These are the teachings to be believed with the heart. The scholars of Kalâm usually wrote ’ilm al-usûl al-kalâm and ’ilm al kalâm together. Therefore, the layman takes these two branches of knowledge as one single branch.
vi) ’Ilm al-usûl al-fiqh. This branch studies the derivation of the methods of Fiqh from the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs.
vii) ’Ilm al-fiqh. This branch studies af’al al-mukallafîn; that is, it tells how those who are discreet and pubescent should act on matters concerning the body. This is the knowledge necessary for the body. Af’al al-mukallafîn has eight categories: fard, wâjib, sunna, mustahab, mubâh, harâm, makrûh, and mufsid. However, they can be briefly classified into three groups: actions commanded, actions prohibited and actions permitted (mubâh).
viii) ’Ilm at-tasawwuf. This branch is also called ’ilm al-akhlâq (ethics). It describes not only the things we should do and should not do with the heart but also helps the belief to be heartfelt, makes it easy for Muslims to carry out their duties as taught in ’ilm al-fiqh and helps one to attain ma’rifa.

It is fard ’ayn for every Muslim, male or female, to learn Kalâm, Fiqh, and Tasawwuf as much as is necessary out of these eight branches, and it is a crime, a sin, not to learn them.