Sei sulla pagina 1di 7

1

2
3
4
5

Ijtihad
(Arabic: ‫ اجتهاد‬ijtihād, [idʒ. tihaːd]; lit. physical or mental effort, expended in a particular
activity) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning or the thorough
exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question.
(Arabic: “effort”) in Islamic law, the independent or original interpretation of problems not
precisely covered by the Qurʾān, Hadith
Ijtihad, the dynamic principal of Islamic Law, helps to keep law ever fresh and capable of facing
the challenges of new places and times. Sometimes ijtihad requires looking afresh at Islam's
primary sources, the Qur'an and Sunnah, and reinterpreting them according to new circumstances.
It may, also, entail going beyond the sources and introducing new legislation under the general
framework of the primary sources. The usuli scholars who deal with the methodology of Islamic
law define ijtihad as: "It is the mujtahid's exertion of maximum effort in seeking knowledge of the
ahkam (rules) of the Shari'ah through interpretation."
This definition implies four main principles: (1) It is the mujtahid's effort that counts; a non-
mujtahid's effort is of no consequence. (2) Effort must be exerted to the ultimate limits of one's
ability. (3) Effort should be directed towards the discovery of shar'i rules. (4) The method of
discovery should be based in the interpretation of texts, assisted by other sources.
6

Ijtihad is not exclusively Islamic. Secular legislators, also, make ijtihad by striving to make laws
that conform to the public policies of their societies and advance its objectives. These objectives
are often enumerated in their constitutions or bills of rights. Similarly, judges make Ijtihad by
interpreting the law. In doing so, they are guided by the wording of the law; the legislators'
intentions found in reports and speeches; and interpretations given by other judges in similar
circumstances.
The real difference between Islamic ijtihad and secular endeavors is not as much in the nature of
the endeavor itself, but in its sources. A mujtahid or Muslim jurist uses revelations contained in
the Qur'an and examples from the Sunnah as the main sources of guidance for lawmaking or
rendering a decision. He expresses his views under the authority of the Lawgiver. Since the nature
of law is religious, the mujtahid is supposed to be a person of piety (taqwa). They should, also,
have a good knowledge of:

Fiqh
Linguistically, fiqh is an Arabic word that means understanding; deep understanding. The word
faqih means a person of knowledge and understanding.

In the Qur’an, the term is used to signify deep understanding of matters especially those related to
religion. It is mostly used to mean the understanding of the words of someone else and, for
religious matters, the words of Allah and His Messenger.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,

“Whomever Allah wants good for, He will grant him fiqh (deep understanding) of the
religion.” (Bukhari and others)
Terminology of Scholars
For fiqh, there is again a difference in terminology, similar to that mentioned about the Shari`ah.
The early scholars of Islam would use fiqh to mean the knowledge and the understanding of the
guidance, the rulings, and the way of life Allah prescribed for us.

In other words, fiqh is our understanding and knowledge of Allah’s Shari`ah. Imam Abu Hanifa,
for example, had a book about `Aqidah (belief) and called it “Al–Fiqh Al-Akbar,” (The Great
Fiqh) .

The scholars who came later confined the usage of the word fiqh to the knowledge and
understanding of the guidance, the rulings and the way of life regarding the actions only, excluding
the areas of belief and moral character.

This terminology is represented by the famous definition that fiqh is “the knowledge of
the Shari`ah rulings which are related to actions from its detailed sources.” (Mohamed Abu
Zahrah, Usul Al-Fiqh)
To explain those definitions further, the Shari`ah is Allah’s guidance in His Book (the Qur’an) and
the tradition of His Messenger (the Sunnah), wahile fiqh is our knowledge of these rulings after
exerting all effort to extract them.
7

Scholars arrive at those rulings of fiqh through a process called ijtihad, a scientific process to reach
the Shari`ah rulings from its sources. It literally means exerting all possible effort.
Scholars may make mistakes, and for that they are rewarded for their effort and are excused only
if they exert all possible effort. When scholars arrive at the right ruling, their reward is doubled.
The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said,

“Whoever makes ijtihad and arrived at a wrong ruling will be rewarded. Whoever
makes ijtihad and arrived at the correct ruling will be rewarded twice.” (Bukhari and others)

Potrebbero piacerti anche