Thursday 13 December 2018

Ijtihad or Personal Reasoning


Ijtihad or Personal Reasoning

Ijtihad or Personal Reasoning

Introduction

Ijtihad is the most important source of Islamic law also considered as continuous process of development and the main instrument of interpreting the divine message. In fact all the non-revealed proofs of Shari'ah are an embodiment of the single phenomenon of ijtihad.

Since ijtihad derives its validity from divine revelation, therefore its propriety is measured by its harmony with the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Meaning

a)      Literal

Ijtihad is a derivation of word jahada, and literally means striving, or self-exertion in any activity.

b)     Juridical

Juridically, ijtihad mainly consists not of physical, but of intellectual exertion on the part of the jurist.

Definition

Ijtihad is defined as;

“The total expenditure of effort made by a jurist in order to infer, with a degree of probability, the rules of Shari'ah from their detailed evidence in the sources”.

Or it may also be defined as;

“The application by a jurist of all his faculties either in inferring the rules of Shari'ah from their sources, or in implementing such rules”. Or,

“Acts of jurist for deducing a new ruling to meet a fresh situation in the light of holy Quran and Sunnah”.

Explanation

Ijtihad essentially, consists of an inference which amounts to a probability, in other words, consists of the formulation of an opinion in regard to a hukm shari through the endeavour of the jurist by total expenditure of his effort. And lastly the definition of ijtihad precludes self-exertion by a layman, that only a Mujtahid (jurist) may practice ijtihad.  

The subject (scope) of ijtihad

The subject of ijtihad is a question of Shari'ah; more specifically, the practical rules of Shari'ah, i.e. the conduct of subject (mukallaf).

It precludes from the scope of ijtihad;
·         Purely intellectual (`aqli) and
·         Customary (urfi) issues, or
·         Matters that are perceptible to the senses (hissi) and
·         Which do not involve the inference of a hukm shar'i
·         For example the createdness of the universe, the existence of a Creator etc.

a)      Scope on basis of evidence

For this purpose evidences found in the Qur'an and the Sunnah are divided into four types;

Ijtihad does not apply to the first of the below mentioned, but can validly operate in regard to any of the remaining three;

1)      Evidence which is decisive both in respect of authenticity and meaning.

2)      Evidence which is authentic but speculative in meaning.

For example; sura al-Baqarah (2:228);
“The divorced women must observe three courses (quru') upon themselves”.

There is no doubt in authenticity but the word quru', is open to speculation, which have meaning both “menstruations” and “the clean periods between menstruations”.

3)      That which is of doubtful authenticity, but definite in meaning.

For example; the tradition that “a goat is to be levied on every five camels”. The jurists are in agreement that there is no zakah on less than five camels. But since this is a solitary Hadith, its authenticity remains speculative.

4)      Evidence which is speculative in respect both of authenticity and meaning

For instance the Hadith which provides; “There is no salah without the recitation of sura al Fatihah”. Being a solitary Hadith, its authenticity is not proven and similarly open to different interpretations, i.e. that salah without the Fatihah is invalid, or merely incomplete.

The Value (Hukm) of Ijtihad

The ulema are in agreement that ijtihad is the collective obligation (fard kafa'i) of all qualified jurists in matters no urgency, but a personal obligation (fard or wajib) in case of urgency. This is so because imitation (taqlid) is forbidden to a mujtahid who is capable of deducing the hukm. In reference to this the ayah is quoted (Muhammad, 47:24);
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“Do they not then think deeply in the Qurân, or are their hearts locked up (from understanding it)?”

·         Value of ruling

The ulema are agreed that the mujtahid, Once he has deduced the ruling on a particular issue, is bound by the result of his own ijtihad and he may not imitate other mujtahids in such matter. The mujtahid is thus the authority (hujjah) for himself. And he is under the duty to provide guidance to those who do not know; as provided in (al-Nahl 16:43)
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“Then ask those who have knowledge (ahl al-dhikr) if you yourselves do not know”.

·         Change of ruling

A mujtahid may set aside or change his initial ruling, for this reference it is reported that Umar b. al-Khattab adjudicated a case, known as Hajariyyah, in which the deceased, a woman, was survived by her husband, mother, two consanguine and two uterine brothers. Umar b. al-Khattab entitled all the brothers to a share in one-third of the estate. But was told by one of the parties that the previous year, he (Umar) had not entitled all the brothers to share the portion of one-third. To this the caliph replied; “That was my decision then, but today I have decided it differently”.

The Proof of Ijtihad

Ijtihad is validated by the Quran, the Sunnah and the dictates of reason (aql).

a)      The Quran


Sura al-Tawbah (9:122);

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“Let a contingent from each division of them devote themselves to the study of religion and warn their people”

Devotion to the study of religion is the essence of ijtihad, which should be a continuous feature of the life of the community.

Sura al-Ankabut (29:69);

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“And those who strive in Our cause, We will certainly guide them in Our paths”.

It is interesting that in this ayah the word subulana ('Our paths') occurs in the plural form, which might suggest that there are numerous paths, which are open.

Sura al-Nisa' (4:59);

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“If you dispute over something, then refer it to God and to the Messenger”.

b)     The Sunnah

The Sunnah is more specific in validating ijtihad. The Hadith of Muadh b. Jabal, as al-Ghazali points out, provides a clear authority for ijtihad.

According to another Hadith;
“When a judge exercises ijtihad and gives a right judgment, he will have two rewards, but if he errs in his judgment, he will still have earned one reward”.

There is also the Hadith which reads;
“When God favours one of His servants, He enables him to acquire knowledge (tafaqquh) in religion”.

And another hadith which declares “the Ulema to be the successors of the Prophets”.

The Companions practiced ijtihad, and their consensus is claimed in support of it.

c)      The dictates of reason (aql)

The rational argument in support of ijtihad is to be sought in the fact that while the nusus of Shariah are limited, new experiences in the life of the community continue to give rise to new problems. It is therefore imperative for the learned members of the community to attempt to find solutions to such problems through ijtihad.

Procedure of Ijtihad

Since ijtihad occurs in a variety of forms, such as qiyas, istihsan so no uniform procedure for ijtihad as such. But the ulema have nevertheless suggested that;
·         The jurist must first of all look at the nusus of the Qur'an and the Hadith, failing which,
·         Then he may resort to the manifest text (zahir) of the Qur'an and Hadith, failing which,
·         The mujtahid may resort to the actual (fi'li) and tacitly approved (taqriri) Sunnah, failing
·         He must find out if there is a ruling of ijma or qiyas available and after then
·         He may attempt an original ijtihad along the lines of ijtihad.

Conditions, Classification of Ijtihad, and Mujtahid and Restrictions


a)      Conditions/essentials of Ijtihad

The mujtahid must be a Muslim and a competent person of sound mind who has attained a level of intellectual competence which enables him to form an independent judgment. Furthermore the essentials of Ijtihad can be summarised as, it;
1.      Must be performed by mujtahid
2.      Entails interrelationship of human actions with will of God
3.      Upheld rules of shariah
4.      Effort towards discovering rules of shariah
5.      Must pertains to interpretation of shariah
6.      Must prefer or reconcile apparent text

The first essential leaves a question that, who is Mujtahid?

(i)     Conditions/Qualifications of Mujtahid

The earliest complete account of the qualifications of a mujtahid is given in Abu' Husayn al-Basri's which was later accepted, with minor changes, by al-Shirazi, al-Ghazali and al-Amidi, and these are;

A Mujtahid must have knowledge;
1.      Of Arabic
2.      Of Qur'an, the Makki and the Madinese contents, the occasions of its revelation.
3.      Of the related commentaries (tafasir)
4.      Of the Sunnah.
5.      Of the incidences of abrogation.
6.      Of the absolute and the qualified (mutlaq and muqayyad), and the reliability or otherwise of the narrators of Hadith.
7.      Of the substance of the furu on which there is an ijma.
8.      Of qiyas.
9.      Of the objectives (maqasid) of the Shari'ah
10.  Of the general maxims of fiqh
11.  Of logic (mantiq)
12.  Of strength and weakness in reasoning and evidence, and finally
13.  The mujtahid must be an upright (adil) person who refrains from committing sins and whose judgement the people can trust.

b)     Classifications of Ijtihad

The ulema of usul of the fifth/eleventh century and the subsequent period classified ijtihad into several categories. Initially it was divided by Al-Ghazali into two types;

(i)     Independent ijtihad

The Ijtihad which aims at deducing the law from the evidence in the sources is called Independent Ijtihad, and the question arises whether this type of ijtihad is still open or came to an end with the so-called closure of the gate of ijtihad. With the exception of the Hanbalis who maintain that ijtihad in all of its forms remains open, the ulema of the other three schools have on the whole acceded to the view that independent ijtihad has discontinued.

(ii)   Limited ijtihad

The ijtihad which is concerned mainly with the elaboration and implementation of the law within the confines of a particular school is known as limited ijtihad.

c)      Restrictions on Ijtihad

During the first two and a half centuries of Islam, there was no denial of the right to find solutions to legal problems. It was at a later the question of qualification to practice ijtihad was raised. And the question of the total extinction of mujtahids at any given period or generation is debatable, some answered in affirmation while the Hanbalis have argued that ijtihad is an obligatory duty of the Muslim community whose total abandonment would amount to an agreement on deviation/error, which is precluded by the Hadith which states that;

“My community shall never agree on an error”.

(i)     Closure of the gate of ijtihad

And from about the middle of the third/ninth century, the idea began to gain currency that only the great scholars of the past had enjoyed the right to practice ijtihad. This was the beginning of what came to be known as the “closure of the gate of ijtihad”. At such time al-Ghazali admitted that independent mujtahids were extinct.

(ii)   Ranks of Mujtahids

About two centuries later, the number of the ranks of mujtahidun reached five, and by the tenth/sixteenth century these ranks were seven, which are as follows;

1.      Full Mujtahid (mujtahid fi'l-shar')

Those who fulfilled all the requirements of ijtihad. They deduced the ahkam from the evidence in the sources, and were not restricted by the rules of a particular madhha.

2.      Mujtahids within the School

These are jurists who expounded the law within the confines of a particular school e.g.  Hasan b. Ziyad in the Hanafi, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti in the Shafi, Abu Bakr b. al-Arabi in the Maliki, and Ibn Taymiyyah in the Hanbali schools.

3.      Mujtahids on Particular Issues

These are jurists who were competent to elucidate and apply the law in particular cases

4.      Ashab al-takhrij

Those who did not deduce the ahkam but were well conversant in the doctrine and were able to indicate which were preferable in ambiguity.

5.      Ashab al-tarjih

Those who were competent to make comparisons and distinguish the correct and the preferred and the agreed upon views from the weak ones.

6.      Ashab al-tashih

Those who could distinguish between the manifest and the rare and obscure views of the schools of their followings.

7.      Muqallidun

The “imitators”, who lack the abilities of the above and comprise all who do not fall in any of the preceding classes.

(iii)  Closure of the gate of ijtihad and conclusion

The restrictions on ijtihad and the ensuing phenomenon of the 'closing of its gate' is an historical development of little support. And the notion that the Ulema of the fourth century reached on consensus of opinion that further ijtihad was unnecessary is ill-conceived and untenable.

·         AI-Shawkani vehemently denies the claim that independent mujtahidun have become extinct.

·         Iqbal Lahori considers the alleged closure of the gate of ijtihad to be 'a pure fiction' suggested partly by the crystallization of legal thought in Islam, and partly by that intellectual laziness which, turns great thinkers into idols.

·         Abu Zahrah is equally critical of the alleged closure of the door of ijtihad. How could anyone be right in closing the door that God Almighty has opened for the exertion of the human intellect? Anyone who has advanced this claim could surely have no convincing argument to prove it.

With regards to the conditions under which ijtihad was formerly practiced by the ulema of the early periods are no longer what they were. Statutory legislation as the main instrument of government alongside of it the role of interpretation assigned to the courts of law, is a discouraging effect on ijtihad.

The mujtahids should be given recognised status in legislation and interpretation of law in Islamic countries. It was this total neglect of ijtihad which prompted Iqbal to propose, in his well-known work “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”, that the only way to utilise both ijma and ijtihad into the fabric of modern government is to institutionalise ijtihad by making it an integral feature of the legislative function of the state.

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