A Faqih is an expert in fiqh, or, Islamic jurisprudence.
Fiqh literally means "understanding" and in the Islamic sense means "jurisprudence" since it is the understanding of the Qur'an and Sunnah used to arrive at legal rulings.
A faqih is an expert in one of the traditional schools of fiqh (or madhhabs). In Sunni Islam, these include the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi'i schools. The faqih is a master of the methodology (usul ) used by one or more of these madhhabs, and is able to apply this methodology to arrive at the traditional legal rulings of its respective madhhab.
