Sunni[edit]

In the years immediately following the Prophet's SAW death, Sunni Muslims practiced ijtihad because they saw it as an acceptable form of the continuation of sacred instruction. Sunni Muslims, therefore began to practice ijtihad primarily through the use of personal opinion, or ra'y. As Muslims turned to the Quran and Sunnah to solve their legal issues, they began to recognize that these divine proponents did not deal adequately with certain topics of law. Therefore, Sunni Muslims began to find other ways and sources for ijtihad such as ra'y, which allowed for personal judgment of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims justified this practice of ra'y with a particular hadith, which cites Muhammad's approval of forming an individual sound legal opinion if the Qur'an and Sunnah contain no explicit text regarding that particular issue.[9] Therefore during the first two and a half centuries of Islam there were no restrictions placed on scholars interested in practicing ijtihad.[10] Beginning in the ninth century, jurists began to make more restrictions on who could practice ijtihad and the kinds of qualifications necessary. Therefore, the practice of ijtihad became limited to a qualified scholar and jurist otherwise known as a mujtahid. Abu'l-Husayn al-Basri provides the earliest and most expansive outline for the qualifications of a mujtahid, they include:

Enough knowledge of Arabic so that the scholar can read and understand both the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Extensive comprehensive knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. More specifically, the scholar must have a full understanding of the Qur'an's legal contents. In regards to the Sunnah the scholar must understand the specific texts that refer to law and also the incidence of abrogation in the Sunnah.

Must be able to confirm the consensus (Ijma) of the Companions, the Successors, and the leading Imams and mujtahideen of the past, in order to prevent making decisions that disregard these honored decisions made in the past.

Should be able to fully understand the objectives of the sharia and be dedicated to the protection of the Five Principles of Islam, which are life, religion, intellect, lineage, and property.

Be able to distinguish strength and weakness in reasoning, or in other words exercise logic. Must be sincere and a good person.[11]

From the declaration of these requirements of mujtahid onwards, legal scholars adopted these characteristics as being standard for anyone looking to practice ijtihad. In order for the reasoning of these mujtahids to be accepted as law multiple mujtahids had to reach ijma. This allowed for mujtahids to openly discuss their particular views and reach a conclusion together. The interaction required by ijma allowed for mujtahids to circulate ideas and eventually merge to create particular Islamic schools of law (madhhabs). This consolidation of mujtahids into particular madhhabs prompted these groups to create their own distinct authoritative rules. These laws reduced issues of legal uncertainty that had been present when multiple mujtahids were working together with one another. However, with this introduction of common laws for each madhhab, legal scholars began to dismiss the practice of independent ijtihad and instead maintained the title of mujtahid only for the founders of the four main schools of Islamic law (Hanafiyya, Malikiyya, Shafiyya, Hanbaliyya).[12] Therefore, from the twelfth century onwards jurists could occupy the position of a mujtahid or access ijtihad in only two cases when distinguishing between the manifest and the obscure views of their particular schools or when they served as “imitators” of mujtahids, expressing the views of the more qualified mujtahids before them.[12] Therefore, the practice of ijtihad was restricted in favor of taqlid. These Sunni restrictions on the power of the mujtahid and were due to historical developments and should not be accepted as terms of the original legal theory of ijtihad.

Shiʻi[edit]

The Shi'i Muslims understand the process of ijtihad as being the independent effort used to arrive at the rulings of sharia. Following the death of the Prophet and once they had determined the Imam as absent, ijtihad evolved into a practice of applying careful reason in order to uncover the knowledge of what Imams would have done in particular legal situations.The decisions the Imams would have made were explored through the application of the Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma and ‘'aql (reason). It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that the title of mujtahid became associated with the term faqih or one who is an expert in

jurisprudence. From this point on religious courts began to increase in number and the ulama were transformed by Shi'i Islamic authorities into the new producer of ijtihad.[13] In order to produce perceptive mujtahids that could fulfill this important role, principles of Shi'i jurisprudence were developed to provide a foundation for scholarly deduction of Islamic law. Shaykh Murtada Ansari and his successors developed the school of Shi'i law, dividing the legal decisions into four categories of certainty (qat'),valid conjecture (zann), doubt (shakk), and erroneous conjecture (wahm). These rules allowed mujtahids to issue adjudications on any subject, that could be derived through this process of ijtihad, demonstrating their great responsibility to the Shi'i community [13] Furthermore according to Shi'i Islamic Jurisprudence a believer of Islam is either a Mujtahid (one that expresses their own legal reasoning, or a Muqallid (one performing Taqlid of a Mujtahid) and a Muhtat (one who acts with precaution). Most Shi'i Muslims qualify as Muqallid, and therefore are very dependent on the rulings of the Mujtahids. Therefore, the Mujtahids must be well prepared to perform ijtihad, as the community of Muqallid are dependent on their rulings. Not only did Shi'i Muslims require:

Knowledge of the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah Justice in matters of public and personal life utmost piety Understanding of the cases where Shi'i mujtahids reached consensus Ability to exercise competence and authority[14]

However, these scholars also depended on further training that could be received in religious centers called Hawza. At these centers they taught the important subjects and technical knowledge a mujtahid needed to be proficient in such as:

Arabic grammar and literature Logic Extensive knowledge of the Qur'anic sciences and Hadith Science of narrators Principle of Jurisprudence Comparative Jurisprudence[15]

Therefore, Shi'i mujtahids remain revered throughout the Shi'i Islamic world. The relationship between the mujtahids and muqallids continues to address and solve the contemporary legal issues.

Female mujtahids[edit]

A woman can be a mujtahid and there are dozens who have attained the rank in the modern history of Iran (for instance, Amina Bint al-Majlisi in the Safavid era, Bibi Khanum in the Qajar era, Lady Amin in the Pahlavi era, and Zohreh Sefati during the time of the Islamic Republic).[16] There are diverging opinions as to whether a female mujtahid can be a marjaʻ or not. Zohreh Sefati and some male jurists believe a female mujtahid can become a marjaʻ, but many male jurists believe a marjaʻ must be male. In other words, they believe that believers perform taqlid (emulation) of a female mujtahid.

Present-day application[edit]

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There is a prevailing notion that the gates of ijtihad in Sunni Islam closed about five-hundred years ago. Yet, we can see in this present era that this is certainly not the case. Both Progressive and even some sects of more Radical Muslims have been championing ijtihad's prominence in our ever-changing and modernizing world. In order to examine ijtihad's implementation in the present day, it is crucial to observe both the Progressive Muslims and Conservative' standpoints on the matter.

Progressive Muslims[edit]

In the modern era, liberal thinkers have emerged to re-establish and reform Islamic law and its interpretations. These Muslims "want to recover the freedom of the mind".[17] Progressive Muslims have re-opened the gates of ijtihad, in order to accommodate the religion with modern society.[18] However, this ijtihad they have advocated is one that is quite novel.[19] Progressive Muslims want to “apply contemporary intellectual methods to the task of reforming Islam”. [19] This reformed ijtihad and its new ideals were put forward by progressive thinkers such as Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Jamal al-din Al-Afghani, and Muhammad Abduh in response to elements of modernization. These thinkers all wanted to reconcile Islamic traditions with the rapid pace of the modernizing world. Yet, it was truly Al-Afghani that proposed the new ijtihad we see today. He argued that Islam could be reconciled with modernization by utilizing the concept of ijtihad. Al-Afghani believed that ijtihad would enable Muslims to think critically and apply their own individual interpretations of the innovations of modernity in the context of Islam. This new form of ijtihad would allow Muslims to combine their religious perspective with that of their academic or scientific thoughts.[19]

Progressive Muslims assert that this new implementation of ijtihad should encompass elements of both legal reasoning and "creative impulse".[18] They believe that as the world advances, ijtihad's creative elements should be further used and developed. This adaptation of ijtihad encourages scholars and other leaders to take more of a role in its practice. Likewise, Progressive Muslims assert that the closing the doors of ijithad has debilitated “intellectual growth”,[18] thus doors must be re-opened to reinvigorate such stimulation. This re-opening must also vindicate religion from political influence, reform Muslim education, incite the effort of the collective, and catalyze the implementation of democracy.[18]

One can view today how such a notion of ijtihad enables present-day Muslims to respond to the "changing needs of Muslim societies"[19] and utilize reason. However, while many sects of Islam accept and support ijtihad, the majority of Muslims still remain unconvinced about the matter. Thus, as of late, one can conclude that such groups have failed to appeal to the masses.[17] Yet, groups are continuing to mobilize and rally support in favor of what could be an integral and revolutionary aspect to the Muslim religion. This revitalization of ijtihad could be crucial to the role and status of women within the religion, differing sects, economics, and the relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims.[18]

Islamists[edit]

Present-day Islamists maintain differing stances on the matter of ijtihad. Islamist groups such as the Salafis are major proponents of ijtihad. Salafis believe ijtihad makes modern Islam more authentic and will guide Muslims back to the Golden Age of early Islam. They criticize taqlid and tradition. Salafis assert that such a concept has led to Islam's decline.[20] Similarly, political groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood trace their founding philosophies back to al-Afghani's Ijtihad. The Muslim Brotherhood feels that ijithad strengthens the faith of believers because they have to better familiarize themselves with the Quran and come to their own conclusions about its teachings. Yet, as a political group the Muslim Brotherhood faces a major paradox between ijtihad as a religious matter versus that as a political one. Ijtihad weakens political unity and promotes pluralism. Hence, due to this fact many oppressive regimes reject ijtihad's legitimacy.[21]

Many Islamist regimes impose harsh restrictions on ijtihad and its modern day application. These regimes can implement such restrictions by posing limits on individual freedoms. These institutions are against the modification and individual interpretation of Islam to accommodate modernity. They believe this accommodation signifies a surrendering to both westernization and secularization, which is deemed evil. Therefore, oppressive regimes primarily emphasize and promote sharia and taqlid, while ijtihad is regarded as "sinful".[18] Such regimes' strive to promote the authenticity of Islam and the exact teachings of the prophet and word of Allah.[18] Additionally, it is important to note that Islamists, such as Osama Bin Laden supported ijtihad. He criticized the Saudi regime for disallowing the “free believer”[21] and imposing harsh restrictions on successful practice of Islam. Thus, Bin Laden believed his striving for the implementation of ijtihad was his “duty” that he must achieve.[21]