the evolution process of the meaning of the word fiqh and the rijālī term offaqīh relying on the earlier rijālī sources of shiite

The word fiqh1 in the holy qur'an, the narratives and interpretations of the scholars of thescience of rijāl, has been used in various verbal and nominal forms. a look at the applications of this rootin the mentioned sources shows that this word has undergone a semantic evolution from the time of therevelation of the qur'an to the middle ages. from the absolute understanding of the science of religion tothe knowledge of the rules of sharia, etc. at first glance, it is thought that in the interpretations of thescholars of rijāl, the word fiqh has observed its literal meaning, while there are evidences that show thisword, from the very first century, has distanced itself from its lexical meaning and usage and has beenused in a specific meaning. in the present study, by using the library method and by describing andanalyzing the extracted data, first the lexical meaning of the material in the qur'an, the narrations of theholy prophet (pbuh) and dictionaries have been examined and then with historical reference to theformation of shiite hadith discourse, narrations and earlier rijālī reports in the use of this root has beenanalyzed. the result is that; what is meant by the faqīh in the news of the authenticity of the narrators isthe scholars aware of what is lawful and what is unlawful, rules and laws, which have sometimes been theplace of reference and fatwā for other companions. however, the use of the word faqīh in the earlierbooks of shiite rijālī will mostly refer to the last stage of semantic evolution of the word fiqh.