APPLICATION OF FIQH PRINCIPLES IN THE PRACTICE OF WORSHIP IN THE MODERN ERA

The development of digital technology has brought significant changes to the religious practices of Muslims, including the performance of worship. The use of applications for determining prayer times and the qibla direction, religious learning media, and digital zakat payments provides convenience and efficiency, but at the same time raises questions regarding the limits of their use from the perspective of fiqh. This study aims to analyze the application of fiqh principles in the practice of worship in the modern era, particularly by distinguishing changes in the means of worship from changes in the substance of worship, as well as identifying the limits of technological utilization based on Islamic legal principles. This study employs a qualitative method using library research with a normative-conceptual approach. Data were obtained through the examination of the Qur'an, hadith, fiqh literature, fiqh maxims, academic literature, and relevant previous studies. The findings indicate that technology can essentially be used as a wasilah, or supporting means, for the performance of worship as long as it does not alter the pillars, conditions, prescribed times, quantities, or procedures of worship established by Islamic law. Its application can be analyzed through several fiqh principles, including al-umur bi maqasidiha, al-masyaqqah tajlib al-taysir, and al-darar yuzal, as well as through considerations of maslahah and maqashid al-shariah. The use of technology in determining prayer times and the qibla direction, as well as in zakat payments, demonstrates that the modernization of worship-related means can provide convenience, efficiency, and accessibility, but it still requires verification, caution, and fiqh literacy. Therefore, the application of fiqh principles in the modern era does not constitute an attempt to alter the substance of worship, but rather to position technological developments as means that support the performance of worship in accordance with Islamic legal principles.