Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
8. The Concept of Ijtihaad in Islam
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four Imams, no one is authorised to practice independent Ijtihaad.
But an objective study of the Quran and hadith and other relevant
books surprisingly led me to the following conclusions:
a) Neither in the Quran nor in the hadith is there clear
evidence in favour of the traditional notion that Ijtihaad is
no longer allowed or required.
b) None of the four Imams mentioned above ever claimed that
the succeeding generations could do nothing but follow
them, without ever feeling the need to attempt an
independent Ijtihaad on any given subject.
c) A considerable number of scholars, right from the earlier
period to the present day have not only encouraged Ijtihaad
but have also strongly criticised the notion of
taqlid
(as
opposed to Ijtihaad). Among them are the names of
scholars as great as (1) Ahmad ibn Hanbal, (2) Ibn Abdus-
Salam, (3) As-Suyuti (4) Al-Shawkani (5) Bahrul Uloom
Abdul Ali (6) Grand Shaykh Al-Azhar M. Al Maraghi.
In view of these facts the whole of this chapter is devoted to
examining (a) What is Ijtihaad in its applied form and (b) What are
the areas or problems in modern times that urgently require
Ijtihaad, if Islam and the Muslims have to march forward in the
current millennium.
Ijtihaad literally means ‘doing one’s utmost’. In the terminology
of jurisprudence it refers to any effort made towards the application
of Islamic teachings to suit new or changing situations.
