The Absence of an Absolute Mujtahid in the Present Era and Its Impact on Contemporary Ijtihād 10.35781/1637-000-153-002

Abstract

Abstract The question of whether an age can be devoid of a mujtahid is governed by three considerations: the consideration of rational permissibility, concerning which there is no doubt that such absence is rationally possible; the consideration of legal (sharʿī) permissibility, which is the point of disagreement; and the consideration of actual occurrence, which represents the practical dimension of the issue in our present age. This study has shown that the present age has in fact been devoid of an absolute mujtahid, yet it has not been devoid—up to the present time—of an affiliated (or school-based) mujtahid. Nor has it been established that there was any earlier period in which time was entirely devoid of an affiliated mujtahid. People, in every place, still find scholars to whom they refer, whom they consult for legal opinions, and from whom they learn what is lawful and unlawful. The mujtahid has come to rely primarily on deriving rulings by extrapolating from the statements of the imams in newly arising issues, when an analogue can be found in matters on which they previously issued rulings. This type of ijtihād remains extant due to people’s need for it. This research has addressed the meaning of the issue of an age being devoid of a mujtahid, presenting the views of both sides of the debate along with their evidences. This necessitated clarifying the meaning of ijtihād, the ranks of the mujtahids, and their attributes, in order to shed light on the practical reality of this issue, and to affirm that ijtihād is a collective obligation (farḍ kifāyah) that must be realized in every age for legal responsibility to be properly established. The study then turned to discussing the derivation of rulings based on the authoritative statements of the imams as relied upon in contemporary ijtihād. Keywords: Ijtihād, Absolute Mujtahid, Affiliated Mujtahid, Absence in an Era , Juristic derivation.