Renewal of
Islamic Civilization: Extending the Envelope of
Ijtihad
By Professor Nazeer
Ahmed
CA
A continual renewal of Islamic
civilization requires extending the envelope of
Ijtihad to include nature, history and the self
(nafs). A creative effort in this direction must
preserve historical continuity and be meaningful
enough to incorporate change. Importantly, it
would open the doors of Ijtihad to every capable
believer.
Ijtihad has its roots in Qur’anic terminology.
However, its development is historical. As such
the application of Ijtihad is a historical process
and must embrace the totality of human struggle
to be in divine presence, to obey, worship and
serve Him.
The accepted definition of Ijtihad is that it
is the rigorous application of the principles
of the Shariah to specific issues of jurisprudence
by a person or persons of knowledge and training.
The term Ijtihad has its origin in the Arabic
trilateral verb ja-ha-da which means to strive
or struggle. Arabic, reshaped by the cosmic power
of the Qur’an, is a comprehensive language
capable of expressing powerful, universal thoughts
in ways so subtle yet so distinct. Like a giant
tree wherein a single trunk supports a hundred
branches, each root verb in the Arabic language
generates, sustains, titillates and vibrates a
myriad of nouns, attributes and verbs providing
a host of subtle meanings and nuances.
The accepted usage of the term Ijtihad must be
understood in its historical context. As long
as the Prophet was alive, he directed the molding
of the Islamic edifice. After him, the first generation
of Companions, witnesses to the example of the
Prophet, continued the work. Even here, differences
of opinion were not uncommon. These collegial
differences led to a flowering of the different
schools of fiqh in later centuries.
We have covered in some depth, the historical
development of the various schools of fiqh in
our books, Islam in Global History, Vols. 1 and
2 (Suhail Academy, Lahore, 2000). As the Arab
empire expanded and Islam found increasing acceptance
in the lands of the Mediterranean and Persia,
there arose the challenge to codify the broad
principles that governed Islamic life. The two
centuries after the Prophet saw a flowering of
the sciences of fiqh. The first and foremost exponent
of the Sunnah schools of fiqh was Imam Abu Haneefa
(d 768 CE), followed by Imam Malik bin Anas (d
695) and Imam al Shafi’i (d 820). The last
of the major Sunnah schools of fiqh, named after
Imam Hanbal (d 855) was a result of the complex
and turbulent interaction between the Mu’tazalite
and Usuli schools. The Ithna Ashari School of
the Shi’as follows a parallel development
in the same period. Imam Ja’afar as Sadiq
(d 765) was the fountainhead of that school. There
are also other schools of fiqh such as the Zaidi
but they are followed by a comparatively small
number of Muslims.
The development of fiqh was the first historical
application of Ijtihad. The sciences of fiqh received
a firm foundation when the great Muhaddithin,
including Imam Bukhari (d 889) and Imam Muslim
(d 874) sorted out and documented collections
of hadith and its sources in the volumes named
after them. This happened in the ninth and tenth
centuries CE, a full hundred years after the first
attempt to systematically develop a school of
fiqh.
The first two centuries of Islam witnessed other
unsuccessful attempts at Ijtihad. The Mu’tazalites
attempted a reconciliation of rational thought
and theology. Elevated to positions of power during
the early Abbasid period (765-846CE), they became
coercive and oppressive, overextended themselves
and were disgraced during the period of Khalifa
Mutawakkil. Thereafter, Ijtihad remained the exclusive
privilege of the jurists and its application limited
to the field of jurisprudence.
The Mu’tazalite experimentation reduced
the historical tolerance to Ijtihad. The general
population was fatigued from the convulsions and
the intellectual turmoil wrought by the Mu’tazalites
and their erroneous application of Greek rational
thought to theological issues. Stability was needed.
The principles of applied jurisprudence were made
more restrictive as evidenced by the emergence
of the Hanbali School of fiqh (circa 840 CE) and
Ijtihad was discouraged. For instance, unlike
the Hanafi School of fiqh, the Hanbali School
does not recognize the principles of Qiyas or
Istehsan as valid in the development of applied
jurisprudence.
The Mongol invasions (1219-1301) further curtailed
the development of Ijtihad. Faced with the prospects
of near extinction, the Islamic world closed in
on itself. It found its renewal within the womb
of tasawwuf and went on to conquer the conquerors
and to extend the reach of Islam into the Indo-Pak
subcontinent, Indonesia, sub-Saharan Africa and
southeastern Europe.
The inadequacy of this closed-in world became
apparent in the eighteenth century when it was
challenged by the empiricism of a resurgent Europe.
Europe went on to conquer much of the Islamic
world. The initial response of much of the Islamic
world was to reject anything western and to withdraw
further into its own shell. The Tanzeemat of Ottoman
Turkey were an exception and proved to be too
little too late. It was not until the latter half
of the nineteenth century that the Muslims woke
up to the challenge of the west and produced reformers
like Syed Ahmed Khan of India, Jamaluddin Afgani
of Afghanistan and Mohammed Abduh of Egypt.
The dialectic of Islam with the west continues
to this day, and has become even more intense.
The calls to resurrect Ijtihad get louder by the
day in Muslim quarters. However, such calls are
within the classical paradigm of Islamic jurisprudence.
If there is to be genuine renewal of Islam, this
effort must be expanded both horizontally to embrace
more disciplines than just jurisprudence, and
vertically to formulate answers to those questions
that are new and were not faced by earlier generations.
In addition to the injunctions to worship and
obey the Creator, the Qur’an extols humankind
in these words: “I will show you my signs
on the horizon and within yourselves until you
have certainty”. The phrase “on the
horizon” includes time and space, meaning
all of empirical and natural science. The phrase
“within yourselves” refers to the
nafs which is a unique attribute of the human
genre. Collectively, it refers to the struggle
of man on earth, which is history. The signs manifest
in history are exhibited in their most cogent,
apparent and compelling form in the history of
the prophets.
The discipline of Ijtihad must embrace nature
and history so that one may study, reflect, ponder
and learn from “the Signs on the horizon
and within yourselves”. This requires bold
and innovative thinking on the part of Muslims
and the courage to sail un-chartered waters. Ijtihad
is not just the privilege of muftis and mullahs.
It is the right of every capable believing man
and woman. The term “alim” is not
just applicable to a person who attends a madrassah
for four years and earns a diploma of “alim”
but to any scholar who has mastered the arts of
science or sociology and has the wisdom to see
in them the signs of divine presence and divine
compassion. Was Ibn Khaldun not an “alim”?
Or, for that matter al-Baruni?
Ijtihad has largely become inert because it has
been marginalized to legal issues and has been
delegated to muftis, some of whom are highly respected
and others are totally incapable. The privilege
of issuing fatwas has been commandeered by so
many mullahs that most Muslims just disregard
them.
The doors to Ijtihad must open immediately and
open wide enough to include all disciplines relevant
to a study of God’s creation and enable
one to become a witness to divine presence. This
means, unequivocally, that Ijtihad must expand
and embrace empirical science, the sciences of
man and the sciences of the soul, in addition
to laws, rules and regulations relevant and useful
in modern life. Only such inclusiveness can spark
the next wave of internal renewal that is so vital
for the survival and prosperity of Islamic civilization.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
