Ijtihad is an Islamic legal term that means "independent reasoning" or "the
utmost effort an individual can put forth in an activity." It is recognized
as the decision-making process in Islamic law through personal effort
which is completely independent of any school of jurisprudence. As opposed to
taqlid, it requires a "thorough knowledge of theology, revealed texts
and legal theory; an exceptional capacity for legal reasoning; thorough
knowledge of Arabic." By using both the Qu'ran and Hadith as resources, the
scholar is required to carefully rely on analogical reasoning to find a solution
to a legal problem, which is considered to be a religious duty for those
qualified to conduct it. Thus, a mujtahid is recognized as an Islamic
scholar who is competent in interpreting sharia by ijtihad. Today, there are many
different opinions surrounding the role of ijtihad in modern society.
Etymology and definition The word derives from the three-letter
Arabic verbal root of ج-ه-د J-H-D: the "t" is inserted because the word is a
derived stem VIII verb. Specifically, ijtihad means to "struggle with oneself"
through deep thought. Ijtihad is defined as a "process of legal reasoning and
hermeneutics through which the jurist-mujtahid derives or rationalizes
law on the basis of the Qu'ran and the Sunna; during the early period, the
exercise of one's discretionary opinion on the basis of the knowledge of the
precedent." History
During the early years of Islam, when religious law was first being
formulated, ijtihad was a common process practiced by trained jurists and
recognized as "ra'y". Jurists used ra'y to help reach legal rulings, in cases
where the Qur'an and Sunna did not provide clear direction for certain
decisions. It was the duty of the educated jurists to come to a ruling
that would be in the best interest of the Muslim community and yet still
promote the public good. As religious law continued to develop
over time, ra'y became insufficient in making sure that fair legal rulings were
being derived in keeping with both the Qur'an and Sunna. However, during this
time, the meaning and process of ijtihad became more clearly constructed. Ijtihad
was "limited to a systematic method of interpreting the law on the basis of
authoritative texts, the Quran and Sunna," and the rulings could be
"extended to a new problem as long as the precedent and the new situation
shared the same clause." As the practice of ijtihad transformed
over time, it became religious duty of a mujahad to conduct legal rulings for the
Muslim society. Mujahad is defined as a Muslim scholar that has met certain
requirements including a strong knowledge of the Qur'an, Sunna, and
Arabic, as well as a deep understanding of legal theory and the precedent; all
of which allows them to be considered fully qualified to practice ijtihad.
Around the beginning of the 10th century, most Sunni jurists argued that
all major matters of religious law had been settled, allowing for taqlid, "the
established legal precedents and traditions," to take priority over
ijtihad. However, the Shi'i Muslims recognized "human reasoning and
intellect as a legal source that supplements the Quran and other revealed
texts," thus continuing to acknowledge the importance of ijtihad. Due to the
Sunni movement towards taqlid during this era, some Western scholars today
argue that this period led to the notion of the "closure of the doors of ijtihad"
in Islam. Joseph Schacht, a well-known Western scholar argued, "closure of the
door of ijtihad" had occurred by the beginning of the 10th century: "hence a
consensus gradually established itself to the effect that from that time
onwards no one could be deemed to have the necessary qualifications for
independent reasoning in religious law, and that all future activity would have
to be confined to the explanation, application, and, at the most,
interpretation of the doctrine as it had been laid down once and for all." This
move away from the practice of ijtihad was made by the Hanafi and Maliki law
schools, and the majority of Shafiis, but not by Hanbalis or a number of
prominent Shafis jurists who believed that "true consensus, apart from that of
Muhammad's Companions, did not exist" and that "the constant continuous
existence of mujtahids was a theological requirement."
During the turn of the 16th to 17th century, Sunni Muslim reformers began to
criticize taqlid, and promoted greater use of ijtihad in legal matters. They
claimed that instead of looking solely to previous generations for practices
developed by religious scholars, there should be an established doctrine and
rule of behavior through the interpretation of original foundational
texts of Islam—the Qu'ran and Sunna. However, in more recent years, ijtihad
has been the center of public discussion as reformers argue for the "replacement
of taqlid with ijtihad as a way to confront legal issues raised by contact
with modern Western society." Many jurists have attempted to revise certain
laws that are associated with modern issues, in light of the fact that the
overall legal philosophy necessary to alter the foundations of Islamic law
remains completely unchanged. Thus, this has caused many individuals to question
whether or not these new rulings can be fully considered ijtihad, and if the
doors of ijtihad are still in fact closed.
Qualifications of a mujtahid A mujtahid is an individual who is
qualified to exercise ijtihad in the evaluation of Islamic law. The female
equivalent is a mujtahida. In general mujtahids must have an extensive
knowledge of Arabic, the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and legal theory. Sunni Islam
and Shi'i Islam, due to their divergent beliefs regarding the persistence of
divine authority, have different views on ijtihad and the qualifications
required to achieve mujtahid. In order to clarify how ijtihad differs in Sunni
and Shi'i Islam it is necessary to explore the historical development of
this position in both branches. = Sunni=
In the years immediately following the Mohammed's death, Sunni Muslims
practiced ijtihad because they saw it as an acceptable form of the continuation
of sacred instruction. Sunni Muslims, therefore began to practice ijtihad
primarily through the use of personal opinion, or ra'y. As Muslims turned to
the Quran and Sunnah to solve their legal issues, they began to recognize
that these divine proponents did not deal adequately with certain topics of
law. Therefore, Sunni Muslims began to find other ways and sources for ijtihad
such as ra'y, which allowed for personal judgment of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims
justified this practice of ra'y with a particular hadith, which cites
Muhammad's approval of forming an individual sound legal opinion if the
Qur'an and Sunnah contain no explicit text regarding that particular issue.
Therefore, during the first two and a half centuries of Islam there were no
restrictions placed on scholars interested in practicing ijtihad.
Beginning in the 9th century, jurists began to make more restrictions on who
could practice ijtihad and the kinds of qualifications necessary. Therefore, the
practice of ijtihad became limited to a qualified scholar and jurist otherwise
known as a mujtahid. Abu'l-Husayn al-Basri provides the earliest and most
expansive outline for the qualifications of a mujtahid, they include:
Enough knowledge of Arabic so that the scholar can read and understand both the
Qur'an and the Sunnah. Extensive comprehensive knowledge of the
Qur'an and the Sunnah. More specifically, the scholar must have a
full understanding of the Qur'an's legal contents. In regards to the Sunnah the
scholar must understand the specific texts that refer to law and also the
incidence of abrogation in the Sunnah. Must be able to confirm the consensus of
the Companions, the Successors, and the leading Imams and mujtahideen of the
past, in order to prevent making decisions that disregard these honored
decisions made in the past. Should be able to fully understand the
objectives of the sharia and be dedicated to the protection of the Five
Principles of Islam, which are life, religion, intellect, lineage, and
property. Be able to distinguish strength and
weakness in reasoning, or in other words exercise logic.
Must be sincere and a good person. From the declaration of these
requirements of mujtahid onwards, legal scholars adopted these characteristics
as being standard for anyone looking to practice ijtihad. In order for the
reasoning of these mujtahids to be accepted as law multiple mujtahids had
to reach ijma. This allowed for mujtahids to openly discuss their
particular views and reach a conclusion together. The interaction required by
ijma allowed for mujtahids to circulate ideas and eventually merge to create
particular Islamic schools of law. This consolidation of mujtahids into
particular madhhabs prompted these groups to create their own distinct
authoritative rules. These laws reduced issues of legal uncertainty that had
been present when multiple mujtahids were working together with one another.
However, with this introduction of common laws for each madhhab, legal
scholars began to dismiss the practice of independent ijtihad and instead
maintained the title of mujtahid only for the founders of the four main
schools of Islamic law. Therefore, from the 12th century onwards jurists could
occupy the position of a mujtahid or access ijtihad in only two cases, when
distinguishing between the manifest and the obscure views of their particular
schools or when they served as "imitators" of mujtahids, expressing the
views of the more qualified mujtahids before them. Therefore, the practice of
ijtihad was restricted in favor of taqlid. These Sunni restrictions on the
power of the mujtahid and were due to historical developments and should not
be accepted as terms of the original legal theory of ijtihad.
= Shi'i= The Shi'i Muslims understand the process
of ijtihad as being the independent effort used to arrive at the rulings of
sharia. Following the death of the Prophet and once they had determined the
Imam as absent, ijtihad evolved into a practice of applying careful reason in
order to uncover the knowledge of what Imams would have done in particular
legal situations. The decisions the Imams would have made were explored
through the application of the Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma and ‘'aql. It was not until
the end of the 18th century that the title of mujtahid became associated with
the term faqih or one who is an expert in jurisprudence. From this point on
religious courts began to increase in number and the ulama were transformed by
Shi'i Islamic authorities into the new producer of ijtihad. In order to produce
perceptive mujtahids that could fulfill this important role, principles of Shi'i
jurisprudence were developed to provide a foundation for scholarly deduction of
Islamic law. Shaykh Murtada Ansari and his successors developed the school of
Shi'i law, dividing the legal decisions into four categories of certainty,valid
conjecture, doubt, and erroneous conjecture. These rules allowed
mujtahids to issue adjudications on any subject, that could be derived through
this process of ijtihad, demonstrating their great responsibility to the Shi'i
community Furthermore, according to Shi'i Islamic Jurisprudence a believer
of Islam is either a Mujtahid and a Muhtat. Most Shi'i Muslims qualify as
Muqallid, and therefore are very dependent on the rulings of the
Mujtahids. Therefore, the Mujtahids must be well prepared to perform ijtihad, as
the community of Muqallid are dependent on their rulings. Not only did Shi'i
Muslims require: Knowledge of the texts of the Qur'an and
Sunnah Justice in matters of public and
personal life Utmost piety
Understanding of the cases where Shi'i mujtahids reached consensus
Ability to exercise competence and authority
However, these scholars also depended on further training that could be received
in religious centers called Hawza. At these centers they taught the important
subjects and technical knowledge a mujtahid needed to be proficient in such
as: Arabic grammar and literature
Logic Extensive knowledge of the Qur'anic
sciences and Hadith Science of narrators
Principle of Jurisprudence Comparative Jurisprudence
Therefore, Shi'i mujtahids remain revered throughout the Shi'i Islamic
world. The relationship between the mujtahids and muqallids continues to
address and solve the contemporary legal issues.
= Female mujtahids= A woman can be a mujtahid and there are
dozens who have attained the rank in the modern history of Iran. There are
diverging opinions as to whether a female mujtahid can be a marjaʻ or not.
Zohreh Sefati and some male jurists believe a female mujtahid can become a
marjaʻ, -in other words, they believe that believers perform taqlid of a
female mujtahid- but many male jurists believe a marjaʻ must be male.
= Progressive Muslims= In the modern era, liberal thinkers have
emerged to re-establish and reform Islamic law and its interpretations.
These Muslims "want to recover the freedom of the mind". Progressive
Muslims have re-opened the gates of ijtihad, in order to accommodate the
religion with modern society. However, this ijtihad they have advocated is one
that is quite novel. Progressive Muslims want to "apply contemporary intellectual
methods to the task of reforming Islam". This reformed ijtihad and its new ideals
were put forward by progressive thinkers such as Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Jamal
al-din Al-Afghani, and Muhammad Abduh in response to elements of modernization.
These thinkers all wanted to reconcile Islamic traditions with the rapid pace
of the modernizing world. Yet, it was truly Al-Afghani that proposed the new
ijtihad we see today. He argued that Islam could be reconciled with
modernization by utilizing the concept of ijtihad. Al-Afghani believed that
ijtihad would enable Muslims to think critically and apply their own
individual interpretations of the innovations of modernity in the context
of Islam. This new form of ijtihad would allow Muslims to combine their religious
perspective with that of their academic or scientific thoughts.
Progressive Muslims assert that this new implementation of ijtihad should
encompass elements of both legal reasoning and "creative impulse". They
believe that as the world advances, ijtihad‍ '​s creative elements should be
further used and developed. This adaptation of ijtihad encourages
scholars and other leaders to take more of a role in its practice. Likewise,
Progressive Muslims assert that the closing the doors of ijithad has
debilitated "intellectual growth", thus doors must be re-opened to reinvigorate
such stimulation. This re-opening must also vindicate religion from political
influence, reform Muslim education, incite the effort of the collective, and
catalyze the implementation of democracy.
One can view today how such a notion of ijtihad enables present-day Muslims to
respond to the "changing needs of Muslim societies" and utilize reason. However,
while many sects of Islam accept and support ijtihad, the majority of Muslims
still remain unconvinced about the matter. Thus, as of late, one can
conclude that such groups have failed to appeal to the masses. Yet, groups are
continuing to mobilize and rally support in favor of what could be an integral
and revolutionary aspect to the Muslim religion. This revitalization of ijtihad
could be crucial to the role and status of women within the religion, differing
sects, economics, and the relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims.
= Islamists= Present-day Islamists maintain differing
stances on the matter of ijtihad. Islamist groups such as the Salafis are
major proponents of ijtihad. Salafis believe ijtihad makes modern Islam more
authentic and will guide Muslims back to the Golden Age of early Islam. They
criticize taqlid and tradition. Salafis assert that such a concept has led to
Islam's decline. Similarly, political groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood
trace their founding philosophies back to al-Afghani's Ijtihad. The Muslim
Brotherhood feels that ijithad strengthens the faith of believers
because they have to better familiarize themselves with the Quran and come to
their own conclusions about its teachings. Yet, as a political group the
Muslim Brotherhood faces a major paradox between ijtihad as a religious matter
versus that as a political one. Ijtihad weakens political unity and promotes
pluralism. Hence, due to this fact many oppressive regimes reject ijtihad‍ '​s
legitimacy. Many Islamist regimes impose harsh
restrictions on ijtihad and its modern-day application. These regimes
can implement such restrictions by posing limits on individual freedoms.
These institutions are against the modification and individual
interpretation of Islam to accommodate modernity. They believe this
accommodation signifies a surrendering to both westernization and
secularization, which is deemed evil. Therefore, oppressive regimes primarily
emphasize and promote sharia and taqlid, while ijtihad is regarded as "sinful".
Such regimes' strive to promote the authenticity of Islam and the exact
teachings of the prophet and word of Allah. Additionally, Osama Bin Laden
supported ijtihad. He criticized the Saudi regime for disallowing the "free
believer" and imposing harsh restrictions on successful practice of
Islam. Thus, Bin Laden believed his striving for the implementation of
ijtihad was his "duty" that he must achieve.
See also Grand Ayatollahs
Islamic Golden Age Liberal movements within Islam
Istihsan List of Islamic terms in Arabic
Biblical Hermeneutics References
Wael Hallaq: "Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?", International Journal of
Middle East Studies, 16, 1, 3–41. Glassé, Cyril, The Concise Encyclopaedia
of Islam, 2nd Edition, Stacey International, London ISBN 0-905743-65-2
Goldziher, Ignaz, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, Princeton
University Press, Princeton New Jersey ISBN 0-691-10099-3
Kamali, Mohammad Hashim Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Islamic Text
Society, Cambridge ISBN 0-946621-24-1. Carlos Martínez, "Limiting the Power of
Religion from Within: Probabilism and Ishtihad," in Religion and Its Other:
Secular and Sacral Concepts and Practices in Interaction. Edited by
Heike Bock, Jörg Feuchter, and Michi Knecht.
External links Ijtihad against the Text
Two Theories of Ijtihad An Introduction to Islamic Law by Joseph
Schacht "Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed" by Wael
B. Hallaq A Detailed Q & A on Ijtihad
Opening the doors of Ijtihad, essay by Fred Dallmayr on www.resetdoc.org