Definitions for "Ijtihad"
Related Terms:
Fiqh, Fatwa, Qiyas, Mufti, Ijma, Faqih, Shari'a, Sharia, Shariah, Shari'ah, Hanafi, Madhhab, Sunnah, Shahadah, Ulama, Sunna, Hadith, Hanbali, Ansar, Haram, Kafir, Ahkam, Moslem, Fard, Hijrah, Five pillars of islam, Alim, Hadeeth, Isnad, Haji, Maliki, Shahid, Sunni, Mohammedan, Dawah, Hijra, Kufr, Ismaili, Hajj, Halal, Sunnis, Muslim, Dhimmi, Dar al-islam, Mohammed, Shia, Muhaddith, Ulema, Basmala, Zakah
interpretation of Islamic law on important matters by religious scholars or ulama
Individual inquiry to establish the ruling of the Shari`ah upon a given point, by a mujtahid, a person qualified for the inquiry.
(lit. exertion) - the process of arriving at judgements on points of religious law using reason and the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh).
The endeavor of a trained jurist, faqhi, to derive or formulate a rule of law on the basis of textual evidence.
To exercise personal judgement based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
effort; specifically, considered personal opinion arrived at through an effort of inference, induction or analogy .
independent legal reasoning, which requires mental effort (same root as jihad, which also means effort or struggle)
Legal reasoning done according to well established principles (five principles around which Islamic law or Sharia revolves; accepted by all schools of Islamic jurisprudence) and established norms (as defined by the practice and traditions of the different schools.)
the endeavor of a Moslem scholar to derive a rule of divine law from the Koran and Hadith without relying on the views of other scholars; by the end of the 10th century theologians decided that debate on such matters would be closed and Muslim theology and law were frozen; "some reform-minded Islamic scholars believe that reopening itjihad is a prerequisite for the survival of Islam"
Lit. “Strivingâ€, in Islamic law it means putting forth maximum effort through juristic reasoning in regard to a problem or issue, to ascertain the injunction of Islam and its real intent, especially when no specific guidance in original sources (the Quran and Sunnah) is available.
the use of independent reasoning to advance a legal opinion in cases where the Qur'an and Sunna are not definitive; its opposite is taqlid
an ability of the intellectual understanding by which the subtleties, implications, finer points, mysteries, wisdom, and causes of the laws [ahkam] of Islam are ascertained.
Refers to the endeavour of a qualified jurist to derive or formulate a rule of law to determine the true ruling of the divine law in a matter on which the revelation is not explicit or certain, on the basis of Nass or evidence found in the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah. Express injunctions have no room for Ijtihad. Implied injunctions can be interpreted in different ways by way of inference from the accepted principles of the Shariah
Considering that the accepted juridical sources of Islam are valid for all time and space, ijtihad may be described as a creative but disciplined intellectual effort to derive legal rulings from those sources while taking into consideration the variables imposed by the fluctuating circumstances of the Muslim society.
to exercise personal judgement in legal matters.
(Arabic) Innovation in the Islamic religion.
Ijtihad (Arabic اجتهاد) is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Qur'an and the Sunnah. The opposite of ijtihad is taqlid, Arabic for "imitation". A person who applied ijtihad was called a mujtahid, and traditionally had to be a scholar of Islamic law, an Islamic lawyer or alim.