What is a mujtahid, what are the conditions of ijtihad, and is it permissible for a scholar to claim ijtihad for himself merely by reading books and deriving what he needs from them, or is it not?
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The questioner : And we present to him the first letter, which was sent by the listener Sayyid Hasan Sayyid Yusuf from Iraq, in the province or district of Zakho, in the al-Alla area. He says: What is a mujtahid, what are the conditions of ijtihad, and is it sufficient for a scholar, for example, to claim ijtihad merely by reading books and deriving what he needs from them, or is it not?
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. A mujtahid is one who exerts his effort, meaning his capacity, to reach knowledge of the Shari'ah ruling with its evidence. If a person has knowledge of the meanings of words, and knowledge of the evidence in the Book and the Sunnah, including what is general and specific, absolute and restricted, abrogating and abrogated, and if he also has insight into what the scholars have said and the levels of their knowledge, then he can be a mujtahid in what he exerts his effort in to reach knowledge of the truth.
And ijtihad can be partial, being in a chapter of the sciences, such as the chapter of purification, or the chapter of prayer, or the chapter of zakah, or the chapter of fasting, or the chapter of Hajj. It can also be in a specific issue of the sciences, such as an issue in the book of purification, or in the book of prayer, or in the book of zakah, or in the book of fasting, or in the book of Hajj, or in marriage, or other matters in which a person can exert effort, look into the evidence, and understand the scholars' levels and their principles, until he acquires a skill that enables him to prefer one opinion over others based on what he has reached through his research.
And the statement that the door of ijtihad has been closed is not a statement to be taken in its absolute sense. Rather, ijtihad is possible, but as I said, it is partial, being in a chapter or an issue of the sciences.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And it is not possible for us to prohibit deriving evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), while the Book and the Sunnah remain, praise be to Allah, in our hands to this day. So it is not possible for us to tell people: Do not take the rulings of your religion from the Book of Allah or from the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but take them from what the scholars have written, which may be wrong or may be right. A person is only obligated according to what he is able to do. However, I do not think that every person can take the ruling from the Book and the Sunnah such that if he sees a text he acts upon it, while there is a possibility that it is restricted, specified, or abrogated in another place. Rather, a person should remain, pause, look, clarify, and verify until the truth becomes clear to him. Yes.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. A mujtahid is one who exerts his effort, meaning his capacity, to reach knowledge of the Shari'ah ruling with its evidence. If a person has knowledge of the meanings of words, and knowledge of the evidence in the Book and the Sunnah, including what is general and specific, absolute and restricted, abrogating and abrogated, and if he also has insight into what the scholars have said and the levels of their knowledge, then he can be a mujtahid in what he exerts his effort in to reach knowledge of the truth.
And ijtihad can be partial, being in a chapter of the sciences, such as the chapter of purification, or the chapter of prayer, or the chapter of zakah, or the chapter of fasting, or the chapter of Hajj. It can also be in a specific issue of the sciences, such as an issue in the book of purification, or in the book of prayer, or in the book of zakah, or in the book of fasting, or in the book of Hajj, or in marriage, or other matters in which a person can exert effort, look into the evidence, and understand the scholars' levels and their principles, until he acquires a skill that enables him to prefer one opinion over others based on what he has reached through his research.
And the statement that the door of ijtihad has been closed is not a statement to be taken in its absolute sense. Rather, ijtihad is possible, but as I said, it is partial, being in a chapter or an issue of the sciences.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And it is not possible for us to prohibit deriving evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), while the Book and the Sunnah remain, praise be to Allah, in our hands to this day. So it is not possible for us to tell people: Do not take the rulings of your religion from the Book of Allah or from the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but take them from what the scholars have written, which may be wrong or may be right. A person is only obligated according to what he is able to do. However, I do not think that every person can take the ruling from the Book and the Sunnah such that if he sees a text he acts upon it, while there is a possibility that it is restricted, specified, or abrogated in another place. Rather, a person should remain, pause, look, clarify, and verify until the truth becomes clear to him. Yes.