What are the conditions of ijtihad, and who is the muqallid?
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The questioner : What are the conditions of ijtihad? And who is the muqallid?
The Shaykh : As for the conditions of ijtihad, the scholars differ on them.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : However, it is necessary that a person have knowledge of the scriptural evidence and the points of disagreement among the scholars, and that he possess the ability to prefer the stronger position and refute the weaker one.
Ijtihad can be partial, meaning that a person may be a mujtahid in one branch of knowledge but not in others, or in one issue of knowledge but not in others. For example, a person may have ijtihad in the book of ritual purity.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : He clarifies it, verifies it, examines the opinions of the scholars, looks at the evidence, and concludes from this that he is able to prefer one opinion over another according to the known rules of the scholars. He may be a mujtahid in an issue of ritual purity, such as wudu, but not be able to exercise ijtihad in other matters.
As for the muqallid, he is one who does not have knowledge but takes knowledge from others by following their words, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nahl 16:43] The scholars have reached consensus, as Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, that the muqallid is not considered among the people of knowledge, no matter how far he goes in following others, and no matter how much he reads the books of those he follows. This is because, in reality, if he speaks, he is merely transmitting from others, and if he refers to the books of those he follows, he is following others. Therefore, he is not among the scholars. For this reason, it is not permissible for a person to seek a fatwa from a muqallid when he is able to seek a fatwa from someone who has ijtihad.
Then, if necessity calls for seeking a fatwa from a muqallid, he does not issue a fatwa attributing it to himself. Instead, he says, "So-and-so said such and such," or "So-and-so said such and such," or "The Hanbalis said such and such," or "The Shafi'is said such and such," or something similar, from those who issue fatwas by following them or based on following them. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The second paragraph is from the message of the listener Ali Ibrahim from Riyadh, who says:
The Shaykh : As for the conditions of ijtihad, the scholars differ on them.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : However, it is necessary that a person have knowledge of the scriptural evidence and the points of disagreement among the scholars, and that he possess the ability to prefer the stronger position and refute the weaker one.
Ijtihad can be partial, meaning that a person may be a mujtahid in one branch of knowledge but not in others, or in one issue of knowledge but not in others. For example, a person may have ijtihad in the book of ritual purity.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : He clarifies it, verifies it, examines the opinions of the scholars, looks at the evidence, and concludes from this that he is able to prefer one opinion over another according to the known rules of the scholars. He may be a mujtahid in an issue of ritual purity, such as wudu, but not be able to exercise ijtihad in other matters.
As for the muqallid, he is one who does not have knowledge but takes knowledge from others by following their words, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَThen, if necessity calls for seeking a fatwa from a muqallid, he does not issue a fatwa attributing it to himself. Instead, he says, "So-and-so said such and such," or "So-and-so said such and such," or "The Hanbalis said such and such," or "The Shafi'is said such and such," or something similar, from those who issue fatwas by following them or based on following them. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The second paragraph is from the message of the listener Ali Ibrahim from Riyadh, who says: