Daily Times

With the rapid and ever-changing course of the world, the need to recourse to ‘ijtehad’ has significantly increased. Islam, with its unique attributes of assimilation and adaptation, is the religion of every day and age. It offers solutions not only of the problems of antiquity but also of modern times. As George Bernard Shaw, a renowned western scholar, once remarked, “I have always held the religion of Mohammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age.”

Ijtehad is one of the most important sources of Sharia. It is an indispensable requisite for Muslim ummah to cope with emerging new challenges. Unfortunately, the Muslim ummah has closed the doors of ijtehad, and that has resulted in its socioeconomic backwardness. This very torpor on part of rightly guided scholars has provided an opportunity to the conservative and reactionary forces to hijack Islam and to present to the world their self-concocted version of Islam that opposes modernism and innovation. Even if they are within the defined parameters of Islam, they promote extremism and rigidity.

Ijtehadis an Islamic legal term that means ‘independent reasoning’; it is used for defining an issue in a way that does not contradict the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. While defining ijtehad, Abu Ishaq Al-Shatibi writes:”A process in which one exerts one’s efforts to one’s full capacity in order to acquire exact or probable knowledge or reach judgment in a given case.”

Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), while sending Ma’adIbnJabal to Yemen as its governor, is said to have asked him how he would decide the matters coming up before him. “I will judge matters according to the book of Allah,” said Ma’ad. He was asked what he would do if in some matter the book of Allah did not have what he needed; he replied that he would act upon the precedents of the prophet of Allah. And when asked what if the precedents failed, he said, “Then I will exert to form my own judgment.” The prophet approved the answers. The answer that “I will exert to form my own judgment” paves the way for ijtehad.

Democracy is key to opening up ijtehad, and ijtehad is key to solving problems confronting the Muslim world today

Every Muslim cannot exercise Ijtehad. It is done only by a ‘mujtahid’ whopossesses certain qualifications. AbulHasan al-basriin Al Mutamad fi usul al-Fiqahoutlined some qualifications to be a mujtahid that was accepted by later scholars including Al-Ghazali. According to al-Basri, a mujtahid should possess the following qualities: (a)Faithful and firm in belief and action (b)Justice, piety and God wariness(c)Knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and other necessary matters connected with it(d)Knowledge of Hadith, principles of Hadith and other related issues (e)Knowledge of Jurisprudence, principles of jurisprudence and other relevant matters(f)Complete grasp of Arabic language and literature(g)Deep understanding of the Islamic laws, commandments, their secrets and mysteries(h)Inference of commandments, interpretation of texts of the holy Qur’an and Sunnah(i)perfect rules of gnosis of analogical and interpretative reasoning(J)Perfect understanding of modern problems and their complications(k)Complete familiarity with the contemporary developments and reasonable appraisal of modern exigencies.

The scholarly debate over ijtihad has been going on for well over 200 years; it has produced some prominent revivalist thinkers such as Jamaluddin Afghani, a 19th century Iranian scholar, Mohammed Abduh, his Egyptian friend and reformer, and Mohammed Iqbal, a poet philosopher from the Indian subcontinent. Some other scholars are Hasan al-Banna, Syed Qutb and Maulana Maududi, the founders of the Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and the Jamaat-e-Islami in the subcontinent.

Their works deal mainly with issues such as state and religion, individual and society, secularism and Islam. They had a major influence on Muslim thinkers, writers and political activists in the 20th century. Yet they were generally accepted as scholars not mujtahids.

Indubitably, Muslims made a colossal and a grave mistake by closing the doors of ijtehad. It has had extremely detrimental ramifications for the Muslim world. According to Zakria al-Qazwini, this decision has resulted in chronic intellectual stagnation, as thousands of potential mujtahids and scholars have been prohibited from offering workable solutions to newly emerging problems. Muslim thinkers have become captive to the rules that were made long ago, leaving little scope for liberal or innovative thought.

Governments in Muslim countries today, many of which are unscrupulous, greatly benefit from the absence of ijtehad. These governments deliberately want to keep the doors of ijtehad closed in order to perpetuate their control over the religious establishment. Since religious bodies in Muslim countries rely on government financing, this makes them captive to government policies. The domination of religious establishments by secular governments has been so powerful that it has often made religious authorities look inept. The first step towards opening the door of ijtehad, according to Qazwini, should be the liberation of religious establishments from the influence of political regimes. Religious authorities should disassociate themselves from political regimes so that they can independently interpret religious law.

There can be no true ijtehad, Maulana NaeemSidiqui, pointed out, unless scholars are free to express their opinions, and other scholars are free to criticise them if they make errors. Freedom of expression is inherent in the concept and practice of ijtehad. This means that the democratisation of Muslim societies and basic freedom for scholars is sine qua non for this process to work. Without freedom and democracy, which are sharply limited in the Muslim world, and particularly in the Arab countries, ijtehad cannot be performed. Democracy is key to opening up ijtehad, and ijtehad is key to solving problems confronting the Muslim world today.

Since 9/11, the western world has witnessed a tectonic shift in their attitude towards Muslims. Muslims are often subjected to undue stricture and prejudice. There has also been a steady increase in islamophobia in the west. This fear of Islam or Muslims, however, has not led to physical attacks on the lives and properties of Muslims living in the West. But their beliefs and ideas are openly challenged in the media, and are sometimes also questioned by their colleagues and neighbours. The pressure is even greater on social media where Muslims are often asked to explain: Were those who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001 right or wrong? Does Islam allow attacking civilians to avenge foreign occupation and political victimisation? Is suicide bombing allowed, particularly when Islam outlaws suicide? What is the place of a woman in Islam? Can a woman lead prayers, be a priest or a mujtahid? Can there be a feminist interpretation of Islamic religious texts? Can women interpret those texts? Such questions and many others keep vexing Muslim minds living in non-Muslim societies.

Ijtehad should be used to guide the almost one-third of the ummah that is living as minorities in non-Muslim countries. What Islamic rules and guidelines should these Muslims follow to be good citizens of their native or adopted land?

Inter alia, ijtehad can also be called for forging unity among the Muslim ummah. The Muslim world, currently, is in disarray. They need to be brought together to collaborate more closely. And a new mechanism to promote unity should be devised through resorting to ijtehad.

Presently, the response of the Muslim world over the issue of Kashmir has raised many eyebrows. What is more heart-wrenching is the conferring upon Modi-theproclaimed ‘butcher’ of Muslims-thehighest civil award by the UAE government, which vividly suggests that unity amongthe Muslim ummah is withering.The need of ijtehad among the Muslim Ummah, under the given situation, over the question of whether trade relations or relations of Muslim brotherhood should be preferred becomes inevitable.

The writer is a Quetta-based lawyer and a columnist