IJTIHAD
(Ijtihad is the process practised by a jurisprudent to discover
secondary divine legislation (laws) regarding the organizing of human
life and his diverse relations or endeavouring to discover and deduce
the Islamic laws and regulations from their sources like the laws
concerning worship, possession, business, property, judiciary, politics
and family affairs...etc.)
Ijtihad is a learning (knowing) process and has a important,
progressive and civil role in the life of an individual and the
society altogether with the state. It also participate in developing
the civil life and opening the legislative prospects before it.
Without the process of Ijtihad, many human activities are difficult
to develop in the sphere of an Islamic life.
Human society is a developing entity. Human actions, relationships and
activities are ever-increasing and ever-expanding. Many things are
invented that were non-existent before. Banks, insurance companies,
radio and television and the other discoveries are new phenomena which
are to be used correctly and in harmony with Islamic teachings. If
there are no fuqaha'(jurisprudents), how could codes and regulations
concerning such institutions be derived at?
This process of Ijtihad is responsible for catering to all the needs
of the human society and which provides answers to all questions
which may arise in this field. Without the process of Ijtihad, a
faithful Muslim will find himself in a dilemma.
The First Attitude: To petrify, solidify and isolate every new
development in life because he has no knowledge concerning his
legal responsibility or duty and the ambiguity of such special
legislative laws concerning new affairs in human life..
The Second Attitude: To dissolute from any legal responsibility
or obligation and dissolve absolutely in a non-Islamic civilization
and principles; to take laws and concepts and specify situations and
behaviour by depending on non-Islamic civilizations, principles and
ideologies.
In both cases, the attitude will be a tragedy
against the dynamic goals of Islam and to stop the spread of the
ever-lasting Divine Legislation.
Besides these two attitudes, another attitude which is more dangerous
than the two, the idea that Islam is incapable of establishing a
developed society and international entity for the Muslim nation and
puts obstacles in its path of progress, which in other words would
mean the absence of Divine Mercy and Kindness from the world of
mankind and to leave it in disorder and chaos. All these
are against the aims of Islam and which contradict the spirit of
Shari'ah and the principles of the ever-lasting Islamic Message as the
Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic sunnah.
The Most High says:
"...and We have revealed the Book to you explaining all things, and a
guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit."
Holy Qur'an (16:89)
A holy tradition (hadith) says:
"Almighty Allah has revealed in the Qur'an the declaration of all
things. He has not left anything needed by His servants unexplained so
that no one would say: if (only) this has been revealed in the Qur'an. Yes
indeed He has revealed it."
Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) describes the nature of the Islamic
message in these words:
"The Qur'an is certainly alive and does not die. It moves as
the night and the day, and as the sun and moon. Its teachings should
be obeyed by the last man on earth as it had been obeyed by the first
one."
By contemplating on these Islamic texts, one realizes that the Qur'an is
the origin of Islam; the source of its message; a vehicle for its laws,
principles and concepts and a torch which sends the rays of guidance
on the planet more brighter or serene than the sun and the moon.
But it is not in our capability nor any one else to understand (realize)
life perfectly through the Qur'an nor to discover the laws of life and the
Islamic laws from the treasures of this Book (the Qur'anic verses are
treasuries, whenever a treasury is opened, you should look at it).9
This richness of laws and the large ideological wealth which the Qur'anic
verses contain need scientific efforts and an ideological declaration
capable of drawing from this inexhaustible spring and meet the future
needs from these unfathomable treasuries.
It is natural, that to comprehend the deepness of the
Qur'an with its legal proof is not clear nor specified in every
situation and affair and it is not in the capacity of a jurisprudent
(Faqih or Mujtahid i.e. a person who is an expert in Islamic
jurisprudence (fiqh); he is also called faqih. He has a particular
power and religious authority and significance) to take this responsibility in the first grade.
But it was the task of the Minister of Revelation (Prophet
Muhammad (s.a.w.) to comprehend and expound the spirit of the Book;
to interpret its meanings and to formulate its laws and practical
legislation in life under Divine Guidance.
Thus the relation between the two - the Book and the sunnah - looks
like a great extent the relation between a constitution and a law.
The constitution makes clear the essential origin of legislation and
prescription of law. For instance, the clause speaks of the right to
own property, but it is the law-maker clarifies its details, and drafts
the laws necessary for practical execution of this constitutional
article and declaration of its details.
In like manner, the task of the Prophetic traditions (sunnah) is to
translate the contents of the Qur'an and formulate them as practical
laws for life.
For more details, it is worth mentioning that the sunnah is not a Prophetic
judgement for formulating the Qur'anic spirit and explaining its contents
through laws as the case in the relation between the constitution and law.
The sunnah is a Divine revelation and instruction both in its meaning and
contents save that its literary pronunciation and form is said by the Messenger
of Allah (s.a.w.) himself.
For example, the Holy Qur'an ascribes (determines) that the paying of the
poor-dues (zakat) is obligatory but without clarifying its amounts or quantities
nor the things on which it should be paid. But it is the Prophetic
Tradition (sunnah) which looks after it by explaining it in detail.
This explanation and detail has come through the utterance and
practise of the Noble Messenger and his human normal speech.
In order to continue the advantageous role of the sunnah, Allah
willed that it should have leaders (Imams) after the Prophet who
represent the conscious side and comprehend the spirit of the Qur'an
and its contents in accordance with the Prophet's practice.
Therefore, the Imams of the Prophet's infallible Household, the
Ahlul-Bait (peace be upon them all) represent the blessed path of
guidance for the ummah. After them comes the role of the Jurisprudents
(mujtahid or faqah) who undertake the task of judgement by
reasoning in the light of the Qur'an and the sunnah to meet the
changing needs of the human society. Thus, the dynamism of
Ijtihad which is wide open till our present day, was necessary to
expand the horizons of the Shari'ah and to enrich the human society
with concepts and laws which are necessary for organizing the
progress of mankind.
Therefore, Ijtihad is necessary (wajib kifa'I i.e.An action which remains obligatory upon the Muslims as long as it remains unfulfilled, but if some individuals carried it out, other Muslims are absolved from the responsibility, like the profession of medicine, judiciary, agriculture, bidding for what is
right and bathing the corpse and praying for him...etc) and there should at
least be a Mujtahid, in every age and era, to whom Muslims refer and
upon whom they depend for understanding the Shari'ah and discovering
its laws.
Islam has two main sources:
It is only in the light of these two sources that laws should be
made. The tragedy of Muslims, is, certain persons took fallible
sources besides these two, and on the basis of their cohims and
personal opinions (giyas) imposed themselves on unsuspecting and
simple-minded Muslims as Imams or leaders of schools of Jurisprudence.
Later on, the ruling Abbasid Caliphs, who were total strangers to
Islam and its teachings arbitrarily sanctioned the legitimacy of
four self-contradictory schools of jurisprudence on the Muslims,
ruling that the door of Ijtihad was closed.
But in Islamic Shari'ah, it is not necessary to accept these sources
(the sources of qiyas and the like to which certains Mujtahids and
depend other than the Book and the Sunnah) except what tallies with
the spirit of the Book and the sunnah. However, the followers of the
schools of the Prophet's Ahlul-Bait, have always stayed clear of these
innovations and kept the dynamism of Ijtihad open on the basis of the
Book and sunnah. Therefore, it is the duty of a rightly guided
mujtahid or faqih cancel in all periods any of these sources which
contradict the Book and the Sunnah or hold no water before a
scientific justification.
How does the Jurisprudent (faqih) practise the Process of Extrapolation:
Most Muslims are ignorant with the meaning of Ijtihad and some even believe
that the process of Ijtihad is related to a certain class of religious men
(scholars) because of their religious position as is the case with
the post of a pope in a church. Some also think that all laws of
jurisprudence and legal opinions are only personal views of a faqih
(jurisprudent) who decides and appreciates laws according to his own
judgements or justifies the events and accidents and an answer for
certain considerations at random.
Certainly this kind of understanding represents the ignorance with Islamic law
(Shari'ah), Jurisprudence and Ijtihad.
In Islam, both Jurisprudence (fiqh) and Ijtihad have no relation with any
personal opinion or qiyas.
Ijtihad is a complete scientific practice as defined before and has own
its sources, proofs, principles, methods and precisions like all other fields
of science and human knowledge such as logics, physics, mathematics...etc.
As the logician, physicist and mathematician, in their respective
fields, cannot coin laws or devise formulas from themselves at random,
so does the true jurisprudent (faqih) who is also not able to draft or
frame any law from himself because the nature of Shari'ah and its
lawful and ideological structure (constitution) not only does not
allow him to do that but also stands against those who forge or
play with its laws.
Thus, any law which lacks proofs and principles from the Book and
the sunnah and contradicts these scientific regulations is not an
Islamic law, but is simply the low desire of that law maker against
the spirit of the Shari'ah in order to deceive simple people.
