The scholars of Islam divide Islamic teachings into three parts...

The scholars of Islam divide Islamic teachings into three parts: (i) Doctrines ( 'aqa'id ): These constitute the issues which must be understood and believed in, such as, the Unity of God, the Divine Attributes, universal and restricted prophethood, etc. However, there are certain differences between Muslim sects as to what constitutes the basic articles of faith ( usul al-Din ) in which belief is necessary.

(ii) Morals ( akhlaq ): These relate to the commands and teachings relating to the spiritual and moral characteristics of human beings, such as, justice, God-fearing ( taqwa ), courage, chastity, wisdom, endurance, loyalty, truthfulness, trustworthiness, etc., and prescribe 'how' a human being should be.

(iii) The Law ( ahkam ): Here the issues relating to practice and the correct manner of performing acts, such as, prayers ( salat ), fasting ( sawm ), hajj, jihad, al-'amr bil ma'ruf wa al-nahy 'an al-munkar , buying, renting, marriage, divorce, division of inheritance and so on, are discussed. The science which deals with the first of the above-mentioned is*'ilm al-kalam* . The study of the second is*'ilm al-'akhlaq* (ethics).

The study of the third is called*'ilm al-fiqh* (the science of jurisprudence). That which is subjected to division in this classification is the corpus of Islamic teachings; that is, those things which constitute the content of Islam. It does not include all those Islamic studies which form the preliminaries for the study of Islamic teachings, such as, literature, logic, and occasionally philosophy.

Secondly, in this classification the criterion behind division is the relationship of Islamic teachings to the human being: those things which relate to human reason and intellect are called*'aqa'id* ; things which relate to human qualities are called akhlaq ; and those things which relate to human action and practice are included in fiqh .

As I shall discuss in my lectures on*'ilm al* - fiqh , although fiqh is a single discipline from the viewpoint of its subject, it consists of numerous disciplines from other viewpoints. In any case, 'ilm al-kalam is the study of Islamic doctrines and beliefs. in the past, it was also called " usul al-Din " or "'Ilm al-tawhid wa al-sifat".