Mujtahid

A Mujtahid (Arabic: مُجْتَهِد, "diligent") 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 (Usul al-fiqh). Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, due to their divergent beliefs regarding the persistence of divine authority, have different views on ijtihad and the qualifications required to achieve mujtahid.

Sunni

In the years following the death of Muhammad, Sunni Muslims practiced ijtihad and saw it as an acceptable form of the continuation of sacred instruction. Sunni Muslims justified practice of Ijtihad 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. As Muslims turned to the Quran and Sunnah to solve their legal issues, they began to recognize that these Divine proponents did not deal directly with certain topics of law. Therefore, Sunni jurists began to find other ways and sources for ijtihad which allowed for personal judgment of Islamic law. Thus, a legal theory (usul al-Fiqh) was developed during the classical period to facilitate Ijtihad. It established a coherent system of principles through which a jurist could extract rulings on upcoming issues. Only a competent Muslim of sound mind with intellectual qualifications was allowed to engage in Ijtihad. Abu'l-Husayn al-Basri (d. 436/1044) provides the earliest, complete account for the qualifications of a mujtahid, in his book "al-Mu'tamad fi Usul al-Fiqh". They include:

After Basri, classical Mujtahids like Al-Shirazi (d. 467/1083), Al-Ghazzali (d. 505/1111), Al-Amidi (d. 632/1234) would also develop various criterion with minor changes. Amidi also allowed less qualified Mujtahids who didn't meet these requirements to solve issues provided he has the tools of solution. From the declaration of these requirements of mujtahid onwards, legal scholars adopted these characteristics as being standard for any claimant of ijtihad. 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 (madhhabs). 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. Oftentimes, multiple rulings would be issued by jurists of the same legal school. Historical records show that throughout the tenth to nineteenth centuries, legal practitioners had consistently modified law using degrees of Ijtihad, making it flexible and adaptable to change. Eventually, there developed a legal system of authoritative rulings on which influential jurists agreed. However, by the 14th century, while influential jurists held that knowledgeable legal scholars should be allowed to engage in Ijtihad , some others began to argue that there were no longer any legal scholars capable of performing Ijtihad beyond a certain limit as the founders of the four mad'habs. Despite this dispute, many high-ranking jurists upheld the practice of Ijtihad in legal rulings.

Recent scholarship has largely adopted this view, concluding that Ijtihad was indispensable in Islamic legal theory. Rather than obstructing Ijtihad, the legal theory as well as its stipulated qualifications facilitated Ijtihad.

Shia

Grand Ayatollahs of Qom, Iran; Religious leaders who have the authority to interpret sharia sources in Shia Islam used assertive titles such as Ayatollah, Hujjat al-Islam, which directly connect their identities to Allah or Islam, and gained tutelage over people and the administration

Shia 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 (reason). It was not until the end of the eighteenth 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 Shia Islamic authorities into the new producer of ijtihad. Early Shiite theologians had denounced Sunni interpretative tools like Ijtihad and Qiyas (analogical reasoning) citing reports from the Shi'i Imams. They held that Ijtihad was a deductive process based on personal conjecture to argue that it had no legal basis in the shari'a (Islamic law). Therefore, until the 13th century, the concept of Ijtihad was denounced disparagingly by the Shi'i jurists, who wanted to construct a systematic and stable legal edifice that was devoid of any uncertainty. However, with the passage of time some Shia jurists sensed the need to respond to newer and novel circumstances. According to Usuli scholars, Mujtahids existed continuously since the 16th century and employed Ijtihad to form new laws according to altering circumstances. From the late 18th century, Usuli jurists had advocated for appending 'Aql (intellect) as the fourth source of law. This enabled them to issue legal opinions based on societal needs. The Akhbari school rejected the idea of human intellect playing any role in legal reasoning. In order to produce perceptive mujtahids that could fulfill this important role, Usulis developed the principles of Shia jurisprudence (Usool) to provide a foundation for scholarly deduction of Islamic law. Shaykh Murtada Ansari and his successors developed the school of Shia law, dividing the legal decisions into four levels of certainty (qat), valid conjecture (zann), doubt (shakk), and erroneous conjecture (wahm). These rules allowed mujtahids to issue adjudications on any subject, that could be derived through this process of ijtihad, demonstrating responsibility to the Shia community. Furthermore, according to Shia Islamic Jurisprudence a believer of Islam is either a Mujtahid (one that expresses their own legal reasoning), or a Muqallid (one performing taqlid—following or imitating a Mujtahid) and a Muhtat ("a lay Shiite who does not follow anyone, yet acts on such precaution that assures him the fulfilment of his religious obligations"). Most Shia 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 Shia Muslims require:

However, these scholars also depended on further training that could be received in religious centers called Hawza. At these centers they are taught the important subjects and technical knowledge a mujtahid need be proficient in such as:

Therefore, Shia mujtahids remain revered throughout the Shia Islamic world. The relationship between the mujtahids and muqallids continues to address and solve the contemporary legal issues. Participating in ijtihad, however, has been cautioned by scholars for those not properly educated in interpretation of the Qu'ran. This is narrated by Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, the great-grandson of Muhammad, when he cautioned Aban ibn abi-Ayyash, a fellow companion, saying, "Oh brother from 'Abd Qays, if the issue becomes clear to you, then accept it. Otherwise remain silent and defer to Allah because your interpretation from the truth will be as far from the Earth as the sky."

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Mujtahid". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  2. ↑ El Shamsy, Ahmed. "Ijtihad bi al-Ray". The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  3. ↑ B. Hallaq, Wael (March 1984). "Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 16 (1). Cambridge University Press: 4–10. doi:10.1017/S0020743800027598. S2CID 159897995.
  4. ↑ "Sharia". Religions. BBC. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  5. ↑ Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (1991). Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society. pp. 374–377.
  6. ↑ B. Hallaq, Wael (March 1984). "Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 16 (1). Cambridge University Press: 6–9. doi:10.1017/S0020743800027598. JSTOR 162939. S2CID 159897995.
  7. ↑ Hashim Kamali, Muhammad (1991). "Chapter Nineteen: Ijtihad, or Personal Reasoning". Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence. International Islamic University, Malaysia. pp. 322–323.
  8. 1 2 Indira Falk Gesnik (June 2003). ""Chaos on the Earth": Subjective Truths versus Communal Unity in Islamic Law and the Rise of Militant Islam". The American Historical Review. 108 (3). Oxford University Press: 710–733. doi:10.1086/529594. JSTOR 10.1086/529594.
  9. ↑ B. Hallaq, Wael (March 1984). "Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 16 (1). Cambridge University Press: 4–33. doi:10.1017/S0020743800027598. JSTOR 162939. S2CID 159897995.
  10. ↑ Hashim Kamali, Muhammad (1991). "Chapter Nineteen: Ijtihad, or Personal Reasoning". Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence. International Islamic University, Malaysia. pp. 323–325.
  11. ↑ Sociology of religions: perspectives of Ali Shariati (2008) Mir Mohammed Ibrahim
  12. ↑ Newman 2006, p. 734
  13. 1 2 Momen, Moojan (1985). An Introduction to Shia Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 186.
  14. ↑ Takim, Liyakat (2022). "2: Usul al-Fiqh and Ijtihad in Shi'ism". Shi'ism Revisited: Ijtihad and Reformation in Contemporary Times. New York, United States of America: Oxford University Press. p. 66. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197606575.001.0001. ISBN 9780197606575. To further vindicate their practice, the scholars cited traditions from the Imams that denounced Sunni interpretive tools like those of analogical deduction (qiyas) and independent reasoning (ijtihad). The negative stance toward Sunni legal practices was premised on the view that ijtihad was a deductive process based on personal conjecture and therefore had no legal basis in the shari'a. Due to this, the term ijtihad was used in a disparaging way by the Shi'is until the thirteenth century. The denunciation of ijtihad during this period also indicates that Shi'i jurists wanted to construct a legal edifice that was devoid of any doubt or uncertainty. With the passage of time, Shi‛i fuqaha' sensed the need to respond to newer issues and novel circumstances..
  15. ↑ Mohammad Farzaneh, Mateo (2015). The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-8156-3388-4.
  16. ↑ Mohammad Farzaneh, Mateo (2015). The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-8156-3388-4.
  17. ↑ "The Life and Times of Shaykh Murtada Ansari". www.al-islam.org. January 19, 2013.
  18. ↑ Mohammadreza Kalantari, ed. (19 January 2017). "Research Seminar: "Lost in Translation: Taqlid and Marja'iyya in Shiite Islam"". AlMahdi Institute. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  19. ↑ Jannati, Muhammad Ibrahim (17 March 2013). "The Term Ijtihad. The Forth Definition of Ijtihad". Ijtihad: Its Meaning, Sources, Beginnings and the Practice of Ray. Al-Islam.org. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  20. ↑ Mutahhari, Murtada (2 March 2013). "The Principle of Ijtihad in Islam". Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  21. ↑ Mutahhari, Murtada (2 March 2013). "The Principles of Ijtihad in Islam". Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  22. ↑ al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub (2015). Al-Kafi. Vol. 6. NY: Islamic Seminary Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-9914308-6-4.

Sources

Further reading