013 Ijtihad
013 Ijtihad
013 Ijtihad
Considering that the accepted juridical sources of Islam are valid for
all times and places, 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 fluctuat-
ing circumstances of Muslim society. Consigning ijtihad to the
annals of history is a denial of the rationalistic, egalitarian, and
humane aspects of a realistic and durable Faith. The act would be a
repudiation of the requisites of changing times and of the clamouring
need to rid the Ummah of its present baggage of malaise and enable it
to forge ahead, inspiring other nations and communities. It can be
proved historically that the Ummah only entered its current crisis after
ijtihad fell into disuse and was gradually replaced by taqild.
It is only through ijtihad that Muslims will be able to construct a
new specific methodological infrastructure capable of addressing the
crisis of Islamic thought and so, propose alternatives for the many
problems of the contemporary world.
The courage that needs to accompany such a mission is tremen-
dous, the methodology massive and meticulous. With this work, Dr
a! 'Alwani has contributed to the debate on this vital issue. The very
way he tackled it—sometimes with boldness, sometimes with
caution—shows that the debate is not an open-and-shut issue, and that
it needs to widen quickly in view of the urgency of the situation.