The importance of Engineering and the Rule of its Learning and Practice and its Relation to Juristic Provisions

Abstract

Islamic law (sharia) has taken an interest in applied sciences because of its effective impact and its great role in the advancement and progress of nations. Among those sciences is the science of engineering which Arab Muslim scholars and others have been interested in it as a science and   a profession.  Some of the Muslim scholars mastered it so they wrote manuscripts in it and they had engineering theories that were applied in life in different aspects. For centuries, engineering shared to the service of many sectors in the Islamic civilization such as, architecture, surveying, agriculture, industry, and mineral extraction. Now, many branches of engineering have raised due to contemporary life conditions. Islamic sharia scholars, Muslim sociologists, historians and others have concerned with explaining the definition of engineering and its importance in civilization, and the legality of its learning and practice. Because engineering is a science and a profession at the same time and achieves various benefits for society, in addition it is closely related to a range of jurisprudential rulings in worship (such as prayer, fasting, pilgrimage), and in financial transactions (such as renting and division), So its learning and practicing has a legal ruling, which is supported by various evidence from the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s Sunnah. Now the role of engineering has appeared in the rituals of Hajj, such as: expanding the Masa'a in Sacred Mosque (Al masjid AL haram), expanding the place for throwing ritual stones, and others.

This research deals with engineering as a science and a profession, starting with its definition and its importance in the Islamic civilization in addition to the Holy Qur’an opinion about it and the legality of its practice with the Sharia evidence proving this .The research  also deals with the relationship between engineering and some jurisprudential rulings in the past and now depending on the descriptive and analytical approach that is characterized by ease of presentation and reliance on the original references.