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Ijtihad: Meanings, Application and Scope - (English)
Ijtihad: Meanings, Application and Scope - (English)
Shaykh-ul-Islam
Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
Minhaj-ul-Quran Publications
Lahore, Pakistan
Copyright © 2007 by Minh aj -ul -Qur an In tern ation al ,
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Pre face 7
Beyond Description 13
Ijtihad and its need 21
T he scope of law-making in Islam 29
Formulative Legislation 30
Interpretative legislation 31
Signific ance of Ijtihad in legislation 32
Definition of ijtihad 33
Reinterpretation of commandments of the Qur’an 33
and Sunna is also ijtihad
Mutual relationship bet ween the Holy Qur’an and 34
Sunna as so urce of la w
T he Law-making and la w-interpreting aspects 34
T he issue of disagreement with the ijtihad of four 35
Imams
T he Ijtihad undertaken by the four Imams is of two 36
types.
Causes of stagnation characterizing Islamic la w 39
T he issue of ‘modif ication’ in the principle of 42
ijtihad of four Imams
Essential attributes of a mujtahid (One who does 42
ijtihad )
6 Ijtihad: meanings, appli cation & scope
See ing through the post 9/11 ordeal and the events taking
shape in its backdrop, one can hear the loud whisper: ‘ where
people are ignorant, uncritical and irrational, they are unjust,
cruel, rea dy to perpetrate and to tolerate abuses of
unscr upulo us and unchecke d power.’ T he Muslim Umma,
instead of making the best of God-sent treasure of guidance,
has consigned it to oblivion, sheer ignorant of the nihilist
forces and their ruthless modus operandi.
It were M uslims who, once upon a time, illumine d the
world with the light of ‘guidance’ and gave birth to the
present day Europe. In the words of the 20th century eminent
scholar Dr. Ro bert Briffault in his famous book The Making
of Humanity:
“ It was not science which brought Europe back to life.
Other and manifold influences from the civilization of
Islam communicated its first glo w to European life …
Down to the fifteenth century whatever scientific
activity existed in Europe wa s engage d in assimilating
Arab learnin g without greatly adding to it…T he
Canons of Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and the Surgery of
Abu’l-Qasim, remaine d the text books of medical
science throughout Europe until the seventeenth
century.”1
According to him, the Arabs introduced three inventions
into Europe, each of which wa s to brin g a bout a world-
transforming revolution:
But the things had taken a calamitous shape. T hey are not
ready even today to reconcile the changed realities with the
permanent divine law and have thus faile d in regulating their
life in the world of perpetual change in accordance with the
revealed eternal principles – their main foothold. T his process
of reconciling the ever-changing rea lities with the intentions
of the permanent laws is what is ca lle d ijtihad .
T he Muslims have been exercising ijtihad in every age.
T hey rose to the pinnacle of glory through this scientific
method of reasoning. And they suffered when they stopped
doing it. It is nothing but fulfillin g the day-to-day
requirements of life within the framework of permanent
principles. Within this framework change is not only
permissible but advisa ble. T he conditions of life are always
changing and the constitution of the state and machinery of
the government have got to be revised and bro ught up-to-date
from time to time. Without this sound legislative exercise we
simply cannot cope up with the ever-growing and ever-
changing demands of life. We must bear in min d that progress
is a change that brings the sy stem nearer to perfection. It is
change which, while pre serving the value s achieve d, a dds to
them and raises them to a higher level.
But we are so heavily fettered in shackles of rigidity and
misology (hatred for reason, logic and enlightenment) that
even butchery has failed to brin g us to our sense s although the
idea is so easy to grasp. T ake up the concept of tauba
(repentance). One commits a sin and then feels guilty
conscious. Where does this sense of guilt come from? There is
a permanent principle which he departed from and then
compared his action a gainst it. He co uld only return to it to
attain to the feeling of contentment. T hat is what we call
tauba . It generates from reasoning. T he sinner introspects and
finds his error. If his heart is imbued with a firm faith in the
Commands of Allah, he will fall back upon it and through
10 Ijtihad: meanings, appli cation & scope
On Islam
T he contributions made by Shaikh-ul-Islam to the modern
Islamic thought and its reconstruction are colossal rather
incredible. Nor can we measure his achievements in clearing
and purifying Islamic ideology from muddlin g of various
‘isms’ wrought over centuries. A huge re servoir of literature,
Beyond Description 17
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∩⊂∉∪ &Ïm
“ You will remain enemies to each other, and now in
the earth has been destined a dwelling place and
sustenance for you for a fixed time.”1
Here human life has been said to be dependent on two
things for its survival and continuity:
1. Mata‘ (goods or utilities)
2. Mustaqar (dwelling place)
T he term mata‘ covers human economy and its resources
whereas mustaqar denotes all forms and resources of
settlement and strength of human life. If we minutely analyze
both these terms, it becomes clear that all economic, political
and social demands of human life have been stated under
these two subjects. According to the Holy Qur’an, it is these
interests, which become bone of contention among people
causing to human societies pain and suffering and making life
full of fear, grief and miseries. Now what is the way out of the
factors that cause all the anguish and anxiety? T he Holy
Qur’an says:
öΝÍκön=tæ ì∃öθyz Ÿξ sù y“#y‰èδ yìÎ7s? yϑsù “W‰èδ Í_h ΒÏi Νä3¨ΨtÏ?ù'tƒ $¨ΒÎ* sù
2. Rules of implementation
T his denotes the formulation of such la ws that help in the
enforcement of Shariah commandments and are instrumental
for the development and promotion of Islamic values. T hey
are linked lar gely to the regulatory laws.
Interpretati ve legislation
1. Legal preferences
1. Preferring one jurisprudential opinion to another.
2. Givin g preference one to the other in the enforcement of
Shari‘a la ws.
1. T he Holy Quran
2. Bayhaqi, Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Husayn bin Ali bin
Abdullah bin Musa (384-458/994-1066), Shuab-ul-iman ,
Beirut, Lebanon: Dar-ul-kutub al-ilmiyyah, 1410/1990.
3. Abu Nuaym, Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Ishaq
bin Musa bin Mihran Asbahani (336-430/948-1038),
Hilyat-ul-awliya wa tabaqat-ul-asfiya , Beirut, Lebanon:
Dar-ul-kutub al-arabi, 1400/1980.
4. Briffault, Robert, Dr, The Making of Humanity.
5. Iqbal, Dr Muhammad (1877-1938), Reconstruction of
Religious Thought in Islam , Lahore, Pakistan: Institute of
Islamic Culture, 1996.