Ijtihaad Explained by Sheikh Uthaymeen

[Shehzad Sattar]

Shaykh Saalih al-Uthaymeen, may Allaah preserve him, says in his ‘Al-Usool min ‘Ilimil Usool’ (pp97-104):

Definition of Ijtihaad:

linguistically ijtihaad means: to expend efforts in order to reach some difficult matter. Technically it means: expending efforts to arrive at a Sharee’ah ruling. And the Mujtahid is the one who expends efforts for this purpose.


Conditions for Ijtihaad:

Being a mujtahid has conditions, from them:-

1) That he knows the Sharee’ah proofs which he needs in his ijtihaad – such as the verses and ahaadeeth pertaining to rulings.

2) That he knows what relates to the authenticty or weakness of a hadeeth, such as having knowledge of the isnaad and it’s narrators and other than this.

3) That he knows the abrogated and the abrogating, and the places where there is ijmaa – such that he does not give a ruling according to something that has been abrogated, nor give a ruling that opposes the (authentically related) ijmaa.

4) That he knows from the proofs that which causes the rulings to vary, such as takhsees (particularisation), or taqyeed (restriction), or it’s like. So he does not give a judgement which is contrary to this.

5) That he knows the Arabic language and usul al-fiqh, and what relates to the meanings and indications of particular wordings – such as the general, the particular, the absolute and unrestricted, the restricted, the unclarified, and the clarified, and it’s like – in order that he gives rulings in accordance with what this demands.

6) That he has the ability to extract rulings from the evidences.

And ijtihaad may be split up, such that it may be undertaken in one particular branch of knowledge, or in one particular issue.


What is essential for the Mujtahid:

It is essential that the Mujtahid strives in expending his efforts to arrive at knowledge of the truth, and to give rulings in accordance to what is apparent to him. If he is correct, then he has two rewards: one for his ijtihaad, and the other for arriving at the truth – since arriving at the truth means that it is manifested and acted upon. If, however, he is mistaken, then he has a single reward, and his error is forgiven him, as he (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) said,“when a judge judges and strives and is correct, then he has two rewards. If he judges and strives and errs, then he has a single reward.” If the ruling is not clear to him, then he must withold – and in such a case, taqleed is permissible for him, due to necessity.

Source: http://daarulhadeeth.org/2014/10/06/ijt ... uthaymeen/