Changes in the Scope of Fiqh in Historical Perspective and Its Evaluation through Secularization

Secularization is a process examined in various fields of the social sciences and may be understood not only as the rejection of religion but also as the gradual decline of the determining role of religious beliefs in regulating human thought and action. This study examines the historical transformation of the concept and scope of fiqh from the perspective of secularization. Fiqh has been defined differently throughout Islamic intellectual history, and its scope has undergone significant changes. In the early period, the concept was used in a relatively comp-rehensive sense and could encompass matters that were later distinguished as belief, morality, and worship. Over time, these fields were progressively separated from fiqh, while the concept of Islamic law became increa-singly associated with its remaining legal content. In the modern period, this transformation became more pronounced through the differentiation of fiqh from religion and its evaluation within the conceptual fra-mework of modern law. In response to this development, the concept of “Muslim fiqh” was also employed to emphasize the historical and human character of fiqh. This study argues that the secularization of fiqh should not be understood merely as a development that began with modernity, Westernization, or the emergence of the modern state. Rather, the modern period represents an acceleration of a process whose roots can be traced to earlier changes in the scope of fiqh. The study first examines the use and scope of the concept in early narra-tions and then analyzes the definitions of fiqh developed throughout history in order to identify changes in its conceptual boundaries. It also discusses approaches that evaluate fiqh primarily according to the requirements of time and place, as well as approaches that detach fiqh from social life and reduce it to an epistemological discipline. In this context, the study argues that the historical narrowing of the scope of fiqh reflects a broader transformation in the relationship between religion, normativity, and social life. Thus, the secularization of fiqh is presented as a historical process extending beyond the modern period.