The Era's Lack of Mujtahids: Between Possibility and Prohibition – A Critical Fundamental Study

Abstract

This study examines the possibility of the cessation of ijtihad and the extent to which it may continue to exist throughout the ages. It concludes that a mujtahid must exert his utmost effort in order to arrive at the Islamic legal ruling, and that it is not necessary for him to be familiar with all the detailed branches of jurisprudence, provided that he possesses the juristic aptitude necessary to derive legal rulings from their evidences. The ruling reached through ijtihad may be definitive or probabilistic. The study also demonstrates that the absolute mujtahid is divided into the independent mujtahid and the affiliated mujtahid, and that scholars have agreed on the cessation of the former since a certain period in the past, whereas the restricted mujtahid continues to exist in every age until the Day of Judgment. A mujtahid must possess knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunnah insofar as they relate to legal rulings. The study concludes that the stronger view is that ijtihad will not cease to exist in this Muslim community, given its divinely guaranteed preservation from collective error. It further establishes that the disagreement concerning the possibility of the cessation of ijtihad primarily relates to absolute ijtihad connected with the process of determining the effective legal cause (tanqīḥ al-manāṭ). Since the cessation of ijtihad would lead to widespread ignorance and misguidance and would entail the suspension of the application of Islamic law, the study emphasizes its vital importance. Ijtihad is a communal obligation (farḍ kifāyah), and the soundness and rectitude of the community are attained through knowledge and ijtihad. The study ultimately concludes that the disagreement over the possibility of the cessation of ijtihad is, in essence, very close to being a terminological disagreement