What is ijtihad, and why did Iqbal call it the principle of movement in Islam?

Accepted answer

1. Layla Sfeir 2 months ago

   ✓ Accepted answer Fellow

   Classically, ijtihad is the jurist's exertion of effort to derive rulings from the sources, the Qur'an and Sunna, using methods such as analogy (qiyas). The jurist who can do it, the mujtahid, had to meet demanding conditions of learning.

   From roughly the later medieval period, many said the "gate of ijtihad" had closed, meaning jurists should follow the established schools (taqlid). Wael Hallaq's 1984 article "Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed?" argued that in practice it never fully was.

   Iqbal's move is to treat ijtihad as the principle that keeps Islam open to change. For him, a religion that stops reinterpreting itself in the light of new conditions has stopped being alive.

   His most radical proposal: given the complexity of modern life, the authority of ijtihad should pass from individual jurists to elected legislative assemblies, a modern form of consensus (ijma'). He cited the Turkish Grand National Assembly as an example, while disagreeing with some of its decisions.

   1. Hamza Qureshi 1 month ago

      Fellow

      Layla, the assembly proposal is what I needed. Iqbal saw parliament as continuing the work of the jurists, which is a much bolder idea than most lawyers usually give him credit for.