This brief note on ijtihad is taken from Dr Jamal Badi’s book.
Lawful ijtihad is the mission of a Muslim. The Qur’an is full of verses that call for creativity, perfecting work and excelling in ijtihad in managing affairs (al-Isra’: 53; al-Baqarah: 83; al-A’raf: 145; al-Ankabut: 46)
Literal Meaning of Ijtihad
Literally, ijtihad means creativity derived from hard work or over exertion. The word is derived from the word ‘juhud’ which means hardship and ability. Thus, ijtihad is characterized by hardship in producing a product (a product can be an idea, a physical product, a ruling, a fatwa). In short, ijtihad denotes the process of profound thinking.
Ibnu Qayyim defines ijtihad as “what the heart decides after a lengthy contemplation in pursuit of correct viewpoint. It demands truthfulness, sincerity and the cleansing of the heart in search of rightness.
Al-Jassas explains that ijtihad is an effort toward achieving the aim of the mujtahid. He further states that in shari’ah, ijtihad comprises three meanings:
- The legal analogy (qiyas) – based on deduced defective cause (‘illah – the philosophy behind a legal decision). ‘Illah is used in extending rulings from the original case to the subsidiary.
- What is determined by opinion without using analogy, for example, ijtihad is used to determine the direction of the ka’abah.
- Jurisprudential deduction
Al-Ghazali defines ijtihad as “over-exerting oneself in search of the knowledge of shari’ah rulings to the extent that he feels incapacitated to go beyond that search”. Whatever a person achieved from his/her ijtihad is knowledge. Knowledge is ‘a conclusive belief that this is what is required from him/her and does not mean a belief that this is the truth for which others must follow him’.
Shari’ah rulings are two kinds
- There are those unanimously endorsed and thus established by consensus (ijma’)
- There are rulings which diverse opinions have been established by consensus
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