|
| |
What does ijtihad mean? Who is called mujtahid?
by Sayyid Abdulhakim Arwasi (rahmatullahi 'alaih)
Sayyid Abdulhakim Arwasi (rahmatullahi 'alaih), says in his book
Ashab-i kiram, "Ijtihad means to work with all one's might, to strive and
to take pains. In other words, it is to strive to derive the rules to solve
problems that have not been explained clearly and openly in the Holy Qur'an
or in the hadiths by likening them to matters that have been explained
clearly and in detail. This can be done only by our Prophet (sall Allahu
'alaihi wa sallam), by all his Ashab and, from among other Muslims, by
those who have been promoted to the grade of ijtihad; these exalted people
are called Mujtahid. Allahu ta'ala commands us to perform ijtihad in many
places of the Holy Qur'an. Then, it is a binding rule for mujtahids to
perform ijtihad. These are the great people who can understand the rules
of the Shariat and religious matters lying in the depths of the ayats and
hadiths that do not have clearly understandable meanings by using their
understanding of the text and the meaning that can be inferred from the
text. To be a mujtahid it is necessary to know the high branches of Arabic
thoroughly, to know the Qur'an by heart, to know what each ayat means,
the meanings that it indicates, the meanings lying hidden in it, the meanings
that must be given according to the subject, to know when ayats descended,
why they descended, about what they descended, if they are general or particular,
if they are nasih or mansuh, [Some ayats were changed by some other ayats
that descended later. The former are called mansuh, which means 'changed.'
The latter are called nasih, which means 'the one that has changed the
other.' The ayat about wine is an example.] if they are conditioned [Some
ayats depend on some conditions, e.g. the ayat "O believers, perform
namaz," is conditioned, because to perform namaz one has to be sane
and pubert, and has to have a ritual ablution, etc. But the ayat "O
people, have iman," is unconditional because everybody has to have
iman.] or unconditional, how they have been derived from Qiraat-i Saba
and Qiraat-i Shazza [Some ayats in the Holy Qur'an are read in seven different
ways. Each reading has a different meaning. Qiraat-i Shazza means the word
which a few of the Prophet's companions used to recite in an uncommon manner.],
to know by heart the hundreds of thousands of hadiths that are in Qutub-i
sitta [The six hadith books which all Islamic savants have confirmed to
be correct.] and other hadith books, to know when and why each hadith was
said and how comprehensive its meaning is, which hadith is before or after
the other, the events that have to do with it and upon which events and
happenings it was said, by whom they were communicated or narrated and
the state of the morality of the persons who communicate it, to know the
methods and rules of the knowledge of fiqh, to comprehend the twelve branches
of knowledge and the indications and symbols of the Holy Qur'an and hadiths
and their clear and hidden meanings while having these meanings fixed in
the heart, and to have strong iman and a bright, pure heart and a conscience
possessing superior qualities and tranquility.
"All these superior qualities could exist only in the Ashab-i
kiram and, later, in some of the great awliya who lived within two hundred
years of the period after them. Later, opinions and preferences became
wide spread and bidats started to appear. Day by day such auspicious people
decreased in number and by 400 A.H. there was no one left satisfying all
these conditions, that is, who was a mutlaq (absolute) mujtahid.
Return to the Fiqh Index
|
1_small.jpg)
