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March 19, 2004 -
U.S. Institute of Peace
Workshop on Ijtihad |
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Muslims believe
that Islam is the last divine religion God has revealed to
humankind, and that Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family,
is the last of messengers and prophets. No other divine
religion came after Islam. The religion of Islam was revealed
to complete and perfect the message and efforts of the previous
two divine religions—Christianity and Judaism. This final
message − Islam − encompasses in its tenets and legislation all
the roots of perfection that humanity needs. It presents the
solution to every spiritual and social problem, which ensures
happiness for humanity. Thus, Islamic legislation as an
institution, with the Holy Koran being at the forefront,
contains all the answers that one needs. As God says in the
Koran, “And We have sent down to you the Book (Koran) explaining
all things, a guide, a mercy and good tidings for those who
submit.” (16:89).
Islam is not,
however, simply a set of religious rites and practices that are
conducted at a specific building or place. It offers more than
mere religious prospects and philosophy. It is an
all-encompassing lifestyle that embraces all aspects of life,
beginning with one’s relationship with God and reaching to one’s
daily interactions with others in society. But to introduce the
Islamic ideology to the world, with its various domains and
details, and to implement the rule of God, it is necessary that
someone undertake the task of deriving Islamic law. Once that
is accomplished, the laws can then be presented to others who
follow, which is essential because most people do not possess
the necessary expertise in extrapolating Islamic law. This
process is what is known as “Ijtihad.”
As Mohammad Baqer
Al-Sadr states in his lessons on the science of jurisprudence,
the definition of “Ijtihad,” was coined by Al-Muhaqqiq Al-Hilli,
and in simple terms, it is the effort to derive Islamic laws
from their original sources within one’s human comprehension.
Despite its seemingly simple definition, the process of
extracting Islamic laws through Ijtihad is a very complex and
intricate process.
Ijtihad has a role
to play in today’s modern world. As stated above, Islam is not
a religion that is restricted to a certain period of time, to a
specific place, or to a particular nation or group. Islam is
for all times and all places, for all nations and peoples. The
Koran says with respect to the mission of Muhammad, “And we have
not sent you but as a universal (Messenger) to people.”
(34:28). In the last few decades, the world has experienced a
remarkable rate of scientific and technological advancement.
With the onset of such changes and rapid developments, it is
imperative for Muslims to have a clear standing in the modern
world, and it is natural and anticipated that the religion of
Islam should be able to cope with and accommodate such
progression. Muslims and their scholars believe that the system
of Islamic law contains the ingredients for continuation and
flexibility, and thus the system is fitted for every time and
age. This belief then, essentially, calls for today’s Muslims to
update the system of Ijtihad and make it more compatible with
the challenges of modern time. Prophet Muhammad has been
narrated to say, “The one who is well-informed of his time shall
not be confused.”
Ijtihad is key to
avoiding confusion. Today, the process of Ijtihad entails not
only a deep understanding of Islamic sources and texts and
acquiring the knowledge of the branches of jurisprudence. It
also requires facing the reality of the variations, conditions,
and changes that transform nations. Moreover, it calls for the
accurate study of the compelling needs of Muslim societies,
according to their contemporary aspirations. Thus, Ijtihad
makes the modern world clear in the light of Islam.
For example, a
fellow scholar has informed me that a great Shiite Muslim
scholar once had to modify several of his rulings regarding the
Hajj, or the Holy Pilgrimage to Mecca. The rulings that the
scholar modified were derived from texts decreed at a time when
fewer than ten thousand people were attending Hajj. Later, the
scholar himself performed the pilgrimage. Upon experiencing the
new atmosphere of the pilgrimage and its severe hardships and
discovering that over a million people had performed the Hajj
that year, he was compelled to abandon some of his earlier,
strict rulings. This exemplifies the precept that Islam is a
religion that promotes ease, and that Islamic laws may be
modified if they become unbearable. With respect to this
directive, the Koran says “He (God) has chosen you and has not
laid upon you any hardships in religion (22:78).” In another
chapter, the Koran says, “On no soul does God place a burden
greater than it can bear (2:286).”
In addressing the
changing burdens and growing needs of Muslim societies in the
twenty-first century, Muslim scholars must be motivated to enact
more compatible legislation with the current status of Muslims.
Adhering to the superficial understanding of text and being
confined to narrow and limited interpretations is inappropriate
and improvident.
Examples of Ijtihad
Let me here set
forth a few examples that demonstrate the malleability of
Ijtihad:
Autopsy
For centuries,
many Muslim scholars have maintained that human autopsies are
prohibited. They considered autopsy a form of violating the
deceased’s dignity and also an act of disfiguring the body,
which consequently mandated its utter prohibition. That edict
caused Islamic jurisprudence to enter a crisis, for it was
necessary for many Muslim students attending medical schools to
conduct autopsies as part of their medical studies. A group of
Muslim scholars have continued to repeat the same edict, while
not at all considering the need of Muslim societies to have
proficient physicians, which requires them to have participated
in autopsies during their studies. There has been a group of
modern and open-minded scholars, however, who realized the
significance of such needs. Thus, they issued fatwas, or
decrees, allowing medical students to conduct autopsy. These
decrees stem from a basic and prominent Islamic law known as
“the law of priorities.” This law states that when two Islamic
laws conflict with each other, the resolution is to follow the
law that is more important. The application of the law
priorities to autopsies, according to those scholars, is that
preserving the lives of people through medical treatment is more
important than protecting the dignity of the deceased.
Mortgage System
The use of
mortgages in today’s society provides another example. Muslims
scholars believe in the prohibition of usury based on verses
from the Koran that outlaw it. Therefore, dealing with the
mortgage system was prohibited, as it involves giving interest
in turn for home loans. That creates a problem, however,
because there are approximately seven million Muslims living in
the United States, along with millions of other Muslims living
elsewhere in the Western world, who widely depend on the
mortgage system. Given these circumstances, Muslims living in
the West have two options: they can either live in rented
homes, or they can purchase their homes by acquiring loans from
mortgage lenders. The first option is undesirable for many, as
it causes physical instability and psychological unrest in the
long run, and it weakens one’s concept of citizenship and sense
of belonging to one’s country or community. The second option
is to purchase a home via the mortgage system—something which
many Muslims are doing anyway. Since most Muslims, like other
groups, are unable to purchase homes in one cash payment, some
Muslim scholars, upon recognizing the negative impact of this
dilemma, have ruled that Muslims residing in the West may
purchase homes through the mortgage system. This recent
fatwa stems from a basic Islamic law that says “necessities
permit prohibitions.”
Chess
The majority of
Shiite Muslim scholars hold the playing of chess to be a sinful
act simply because it is deemed to be a form of gambling
according to many Islamic ahadith. Consequently, playing
chess, with or without betting, has been prohibited. These
days, however, chess is more widely recognized as an
intellectual game, and it is not generally associated with
gambling in people’s minds. Thus, a few contemporary Shiite
Muslim scholars, after observing this trend, have ruled chess
playing to be permissible, provided that no betting is involved
and the ancient game is viewed within this new common
perception.
Food and Diet
System
Concerns about
Islam’s stringent dietary requirements in light of the modern
world also show the importance of Ijtihad. For example, let us
imagine that Islam becomes the national religion of China.
China is a country whose population exceeds 1.3 billion people,
and one of the greatest challenges that the Chinese government
faces today is how to provide food for all of its 1.3 billion
people. Thus, the people, often from necessity, eat all sorts
of creatures. When I visited China three years ago, I asked our
tour guide if it was true that Chinese people eat snakes and
rats, and she humorously replied, “In our country, people eat
everything that flies except airplanes, and everything that
strides the earth except cars.” Under such circumstances,
important questions arise: “How does the Islamic jurisprudence,
known for its flexibility and compatibility, accommodate such a
challenge, given the paucity of food sources?” “What can Muslim
scholars, reacting to address this problem, say or do given the
strict diet system in Islam?” Ijtihad is the means by which
Muslims can find answers to those questions.
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"
Ijtihad makes the modern
world clear in the light of Islam
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Reviving Ijtihad and Who Has the
Right To It
One of the gravest
mistakes Muslims have committed in the past is that they have
closed the doors of Ijtihad. They have limited it to only four
prominent scholars: Malik Ibn Anas, Abu Hanifa Al-No’man,
Muhammad Ibn Idris Al-Shafi’i, and Ahmad Ibn Hambal– the heads
of the Shafi’i, Maliki, Hambali and Hanafi schools of thought.
History clearly reveals that the reason behind this was
political. The Abbasid Dynasty made the decision to outlaw all
other sects from being recognized. It limited worship within the
four sects mentioned above. The Abbasid Dynasty intended to
maintain strict control of religion as well as other political
matters. It wanted to ensure that the religious decisions would
be made according to its interests.
Closing the doors
of Ijtihad has had extremely detrimental ramifications for the
Muslim world. It has led Muslims to chronic intellectual
stagnation and has frozen the abilities of thousands of
potential Mujtahids and scholars to offer new solutions
to new problems. It has kept Muslims incapable of challenging
pervasive theories whose only merits were that they were made by
an acceptable Mujtahid from long ago. Muslim thinkers
have become captive to the rules that they have made, and they
have left no room for liberal and challenging thinking.
Governments in
Muslim countries today, many of which are corrupt, greatly
benefit from the lack of Ijtihad, and they contribute, in one
way or another, to keeping the doors of Ijtihad closed. It is
an attempt to control the religious establishment, which is
already subdued by government policies. Thus, religious
establishments in Muslim countries rely entirely on government
resources for their financial needs. Such utter reliance
consequently makes the religious establishment captive to
government policies. The domination of the religious
establishments in secular Muslim governments has been so
powerful that it has made the religious authority to be
occasionally seen as a mockery. To illustrate, one may recall
the latest fatwa issued by the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar,
in which he bowed to the pressures of his government to permit
women in France to remove their veils so that they could abide
by the new laws enacted by the French government. This
conspicuous breach by Sheikh Al-Azhar stirred massive outcry
throughout the Muslim world, so much so that there have been
voices calling on the Sheikh to resign.
I must emphasize
the fact that the first step toward opening the door of Ijtihad
in the Muslim world should be the liberation of the religious
establishments from the influence of the political regimes. The
religious establishment must disassociate itself from political
regimes so it can issue legislation with complete independence.
Opening the door to Ijtihad will enable the religious community
in the Muslim world to independently improve the religious well
being of Muslims. It is worth mentioning that the Shiite Muslim
community is the only Muslim community that has kept the door of
Ijtihad open. This commitment to Ijtihad is perhaps one of the
greatest elements of the Shiite establishment, since it is
totally independent from political regimes and free from their
influence.
Concerning the
issue of who has the right to Ijtihad, it would be ludicrous to
say that the door of Ijtihad is open to anyone who has read a
few chapters of the Koran and has obtained a four-year degree in
Islamic history from a university. Such lax guidelines would
actually further complicate the problems Muslims already face.
To the contrary, the right to Ijtihad can only belong to an
individual who has attained a high status in jurisprudence that
qualifies him to derive Islamic law from their original sources.
That would absolutely require wide expertise and lengthy years
of studying fields of knowledge such as jurisprudence, the
fundamentals of jurisprudence, hadith, “the science of
men” (the biography of hadith narrators), commentary of
the Koran, Arabic grammar and eloquence, and logic.
Additionally, philosophy, economics, and sociology are
increasingly required. Having a strong grasp of these fields
contributes in one way or another to the complex process of
Ijtihad. In addition to all that has been mentioned, a
Mujtahid (Muslim scholar who has attained the level of
Ijtihad), should display qualities such as piety and moral
integrity. Only a person with such qualities would have a right
to interpret religious law for the benefit of others.
Major Obstacles Facing Muslims and
How to Address Them
Major obstacles
and problems facing Muslims and the practice of Ijtihad today
are prejudice, intellectual stagnation, political dictatorship,
rejection of others, lack of democracy and free climate,
factionalism, and extremism. These are pervasive illnesses
found in today’s Muslim societies, and regrettably, they are
even worsening and reaching a point where it may spiral out of
control. The latest bombings in Karbala, Baghdad, and Madrid,
and the previous attacks on New York are vivid examples of how
extremism is spreading throughout the world. All of the
illnesses facing Muslims, especially extremism, mainly have two
components. The first is an internal one, which results from
the closed environment and narrow-mindedness in which extremism
has been nesting. The other component is an external reaction
to the wrong policies of local governments, which are
occasionally backed and supported by superpowers such as the
United States.
It is important to
discuss how to combat these problems. Having free, pluralistic,
and democratic regimes in Muslim countries will definitely
encourage the creation of a free intellectual climate in which
tolerant dialogue will prosper. This dialogue will recognize
others and will work toward building bridges with them. Thus,
one should admit that it is not only Muslims who are responsible
for the chronic problems of Muslim societies. Other countries,
aiming at maintaining their interests, have backed dictatorial
and tyrannical regimes that have played a major role in creating
the conditions in which deprivation, extremism and backwardness
have prospered. These countries are equally responsible.
How Muslims Can Address Their
Problems Without the Use of Violence
Building bridges
to those whom we differ with and recognizing their rights are
the best way to dispel tensions between Muslims. This helps in
avoiding violence as a means of resolving differences. The Holy
Koran teaches us to respect others and recognize their rights to
disagree. The Holy Koran says, “And certain it is that either
we or you are on right guidance or in manifest error
(34:24).” The Koran has been the first divine book to promote
establishing a common ground for dialogue among the People of
the Book – Christians and Jews. The Koran says, “Say ‘O People
of the Book! Come to common terms as between us and you: That we
worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him;
that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other
than God.’ If then they turn back, say you: ‘Bear witness that
we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to God’s Will).’” (3:64).
The Holy Koran
teaches its followers a great lesson by instructing them to
respect and treat kindly non-Muslims who have never displayed
violence against Muslims. The Koran says, “God forbids you not,
with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor
drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with
them: for God loves those who are just (60:8).” Our respected
leaders also have taught us to respect others and not attack
them once they differ with us in their opinions. Imam Muhammad
Ibn Idris Al-Shafai’i says, “My opinion is right; however, it
has the prospect of being incorrect. And the opinion of others
seems wrong, but it also holds the prospect of being right.”
Muslims must understand that the only way they can solve their
problems is by tossing away the idea of condemning others and
ultimately using violence. Instead, they must sit on a common
plane to resolve their differences. They must understand that
using violence does not help any of their societies to progress.
They must also understand that before seeking dialogue with
non-Muslims, they must initiate dialogue among themselves.
The panel we are participating in today, in which the entire
Muslim spectrum is represented—men and women, Shiites and
Sunnis, religious scholars and academic scholars—can give the
Muslim world an ideal image of Islam’s tolerance and openness.
There is no doubt that living in the U.S. gives one a sense of
appreciation to the diverse and pluralistic life that this
country enjoys, and I think Muslims in this country enjoy more
freedom, even in the religious sense, than many Muslim
countries. I consider this a gift from God for which we should
be very grateful. I believe that Muslim Americans are more
capable of transferring this promising image, which includes
their openness with each other, their tolerance and their
participation in interfaith dialogue, to the greater Muslim
world. My hope is that this image will become a model for
millions of Muslims around the globe. Needless to say, American
Muslims visiting Muslim countries, aiming at educating Muslim
masses, may significantly contribute in improving the conditions
from which Muslims suffer, and I urge Muslim leaders always to
promote in their sermons, speeches, writings and encounters with
other Muslims the values of freedom, democracy, and tolerance.
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