Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
8. The Concept of Ijtihaad in Islam
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outskirts of Madinah. They set off after saying their noon prayer.
While despatching them, the Prophet gave them this instruction:
“You should not say your afternoon prayer before
reaching your destination in Banu Qurayza.” (Bukhari).
The companions left Madinah after their
zuhr
(noon) prayer.
But, when the sun was about to set they had still not reached the
Banu Qurayza. Seeing this, some of them said that if they followed
the Prophet literally they would miss the time specified for their
Asr
(afternoon) prayer. So they said their prayers midway. Others
differed from this opinion, saying that they would say their prayers
only after reaching the settlement of Banu Qurayza, as the Prophet
had bade them.
When these people returned to Madinah, this issue was
brought before the Prophet. The Prophet approved the decision
taken by those who had said their prayers before reaching their
destination. They contended in justification of their act that when
the Prophet told them to say their Asr prayer only after reaching
the Banu Qurayza, he intended only to accelerate their journey and
reach the destination as soon as possible.
This incident makes the sense of Ijtihaad clear. We can say that
Ijtihaad is a process of arriving at reasoned decisions to suit new
circumstances in order to better fulfill the purposes of the Shariah.
Both the Prophet and his companions exercised Ijtihaad. The
Ijtihaad of the Prophet served to instruct the companions in the
method of Ijtihaad.
