Ijtihad ( ; , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with taqlid (imitation, conformity to legal precedent). According to classical Sunni theory, ijtihad requires expertise in the Arabic language, theology, revealed texts, and principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), and is not employed where authentic and authoritative texts (Qur'an and hadith) are considered unambiguous with regard to the question, or where there is an existing scholarly consensus (ijma). Ijtihad is considered to be a religious duty for those qualified to perform it. An Islamic scholar who is qualified to perform ijtihad is called a "mujtahid".sometimes spelt mojtahed
For the first five centuries of Islam, the practice of ijtihad continued in theory and practice among Sunni Muslims. It then first became subject to dispute in the 12th century. By the 14th century, development of classic Islamic jurisprudence or fiqh prompted leading Sunni jurists to state that the main legal questions in Islam had been addressed, and to call for the scope of ijtihad to be restricted. In the modern era, this gave rise to a perception amongst Orientalist scholars and sections of the Muslim public that the so-called "gate of ijtihad" was closed at the start of the classical era. While recent scholarship established that the practice of Ijtihad had never ceased in Islamic history, the extent and mechanisms of legal change in the post-formative period remain a subject of debate. Differences amongst the Fuqaha (jurists) prevented Sunni Muslims from reaching any consensus (Ijma) on the issues of continuity of Ijtihad and existence of Mujtahids. Thus, Ijtihad remained a key aspect of Islamic jurisprudence throughout the centuries. Ijtihad was practiced throughout the Early modern period and claims for ijtihad and its superiority over taqlid were voiced unremittingly.
Starting from the 18th century, Islamic reformers began calling for abandonment of taqlid and emphasis on ijtihad, which they saw as a return to Islamic origins. Public debates in the Muslim world surrounding ijtihad continue to the present day. The advocacy of ijtihad has been particularly associated with the Salafiyya and modernist movements. Among contemporary Muslims in the West there have emerged new visions of ijtihad which emphasize substantive moral values over traditional juridical methodology.
Shia jurists did not use the term ijtihad until the 12th century. With the exception of Zaydi jurisprudence, the early Imami Shia were unanimous in censuring Ijtihad in the field of law (Ahkam). After the Shiite embrace of various doctrines of Mu'tazila and classical Sunnite Fiqh (jurisprudence), this led to a change. After the victory of the Usulis who based law on principles (usul) over the Akhbaris ("traditionalists") who emphasized on reports or traditions (khabar) by the 19th century, Ijtihad would become a mainstream Shia practice.
Etymology and definition The word derives from the three-letter Arabic verbal root of -H-D (, 'struggle'): the "t" is inserted because the word is a derived stem VIII verb. In its literal meaning, the word refers to effort, physical or mental, expended in a particular activity. In its technical sense, ijtihad can be defined as a "process of legal reasoning and hermeneutics through which the jurist-mujtahid derives or rationalizes law on the basis of the Qur'an and the Sunna".
The juristic meaning of ijtihād has several definitions according to scholars of Islamic legal theory. Some define it as the jurist's action and activity to reach a solution. Al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) defines it as the "total expenditure of effort made by a jurist for the purpose of obtaining the religious rulings." Similarly the ijtihād is defined as "the effort made by the mujtahid in seeking knowledge of the aḥkām (rulings) of the sharī'ah (Islamic canonical law) through interpretation."
From this point of view that ijtihād essentially consists of an inference (istinbāṭ) that extents to a probability (ẓann). Thus it excludes the extraction of a ruling from a clear text as well as rulings made without recourse to independent legal reasoning. A knowledgeable person who gives a ruling on the sharī'ah, but is not able to exercise their judgement in the inference of the rulings from the sources, is not called a mujtahid but rather a muqallid.
Scriptural basis Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer cites a hadith related by a sahabi (companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) by the name of Muadh ibn Jabal (also Ma'adh bin Jabal), as the basis for ijtihad. According to the hadith from Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 24, Muadh was appointed by Muhammad to go to Yemen. Before leaving he was asked how he would judge when the occasion of deciding a case arose.
History Formative period
During the early period, ijtihad referred to the exertion of mental energy to arrive at a legal opinion (ra'y) on the basis of the knowledge of the Divine Revelation. Jurists used Ijtihad 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 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".
As the practice of ijtihad transformed over time, it became religious duty of a mujtahid to conduct legal rulings for the Muslim society. Mujtahid 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.
Classical era
Origins of the controversy The controversy over the existence of Mujtahids began in its nascent form during the sixth/12th century. The fifth-century Hanbali jurist Ibn 'Aqil (1040–1119) responding to a Hanafi jurist's statement, advocated for the necessity of existence of Mujtahids using scripture and reasoning. A century later, Shafi'i jurist Al-Amidi would counter the premise of Hanbalis and prominent Shafīʿis arguing that extinction of Mujtahids is possible. Over the centuries, the controversy would garner more attention with the scholars gathering around 3 camps: 1) Hanbalis and majority of Shafīʿis who denied the theoretical possibility of Mujtahid's extinction 2) a group of jurists who asserted that extinction of Mujtahids is possible but not proven 3) a group who advocated the extinction of Mujtahids.
To validate their points, the scholars of Taqlid camp cited Prophetic hadiths that report the disappearance of knowledge when ignorant leaders "will give judgements" and misguide others. Muqallids also argued that Ijtihad isn't a communal obligation (fard kifaya) when it is possible to blindly imitate the laws of ancestors received through transmitted chains of narrations. Hanbalis, the staunch advocates of permanent existence of Mujtahids, countered by citing Prophetic reports which validated their view that knowledge and sound judgement would accompany the Muslim Ummah led by Mujtahid scholars until the Day of Judgment, thus giving theological implications to the controversy. They also raised the question of leadership and interpretive religious authority to vigorously deny the possibility of an age without Mujtahids, a doctrine which they defended using both Scripultural and rational arguments. Citing Prophetic traditions such as "scholars are the heirs of the prophets", Hanbalis settled on the belief that God would not leave any age without a proper guide, i.e., Islamic Fuqaha (jurists) who solve novel issues through Ijtihad.
The majority of Shafīʿi scholars were also leading advocates of Ijtihad as a fard kifaya (communal obligation). The prominent 16th century Shafi'i legal treatise Fath-ul-Mueen affirmed the existence of Mujtahids and obligated them to take the post of Qadi as fard kifaya. Leading Shafīʿi jurist Al-Suyuti (1445-1505) also stipulated Ijtihad as a communal obligation, the abandonment of which would be sinful upon the whole Ummah. Shafīʿis also upheld the popular Muslim tradition of appearance of Mujaddids who would renew the religion every century. As promoters of the idea of Mujaddids; (who were assumed as Mujtahids) majority of jurists who claimed Tajdid or honoured as Mujaddids were Shafīʿis. On the other hand, some prominent Shafīʿi jurists like Al-Rafi'i (d. 623 AH) had made statements speculating an "agreement" on the absence of Mujtahid Mutlaqs (highest-ranking Mujtahid) during his era, while few others affirmed the theoretical possibility of the absence of Mujtahids. However, such statements had ambiguities in legal terminology and didn't stipulate an established consensus on the issue. In addition, Rafi'i himself was considered as a Mujtahid and a Mujaddid.
Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277), a prominent Shafī'i Muhaddith and Jurist, who is a primary reference even for Shafiites of the Taqleed camp; advocated that it isn't obligatory for laymen to adhere to a mad'hab, reinforcing the orthodox Shafī'ite pro-Ijtihad position. Other prominent classical Shafī'i jurists who advocated the pro-Ijtihad position included Taj ud Din al Subki, Dhahabi, Izz ud Deen Ibn Abdussalam, Ibn al Salah, Al Bulqini, etc. Taj ud Din al Subki (d. 1370 CE) summed up the classical-era Shafi'i position in his Kitāb Mu'īd an-Ni'am wa-Mubīd an-Niqām:
Emergence of the "closure of the gates" notion In contrast to the view of these Shafiites, classical Shafi'ite theologian 'Abd al-Malik al-Juwayni (d. 1085 C.E/ 478 A.H) postulated a new doctrine on the controversy of the existence of Mujtahids. Juwaynī and his Shāfiʿī colleagues insisted that not only was the disappearance of Mujtahids was possible, but that it had already happened. Juwayni's doctrine was taken by his student Ghazālī (d. 1111 C.E/ 505 A.H), al-Qaffāl al-Shāshī (d. 1113 C.E/507 A.H) and promoted in the next century by the Shafi'i scholars Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209), Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī (d. 631/1233), and Rāfiʿī (d. 623/1226). These scholars asserted the belief that Mujtahids had already disappeared, and some would claim a consensus on this point. Thereafter, the theory of legal minimalism elucidated by Juwayni in his book Ghiyāth al-umam fī iltiyāth al zulam, penned for his Seljuk patron Nizam ul-Mulk, would be popularised. This system listed a set of core principles that implemented legal and procedural minimalism; and attempted the standardisation of Islamic courts and legal framework in the medieval Muslim World.
Most significantly, the influential Islamic theologian Al Ghazzali introduced the notion of closure of Ijtihad since he viewed numerous people with inadequate knowledge of Qur'an as claiming to be Mujtahids. Owing to his status as a great scholar, numerous ulema followed his call; even though many continued to dispute it. Intellectuals like Hasan Hanafi argue that Ghazali had tried to preclude the endeavour of Ijtihad during his era in order to establish a rigid, stable orthodoxy that could effectively challenge external enemies of Islam like the Crusaders. According to C.A Qadir, Ghazzali's efforts had tremendous impact on limiting the scope of Ijtihad in medieval Islamic orthodxy.