Ijtihad

The disciplined effort of a qualified scholar to derive a ruling from the sources.

Also written · Ictihad · Ijtehad · Ijthihad · Ijtihaad · Mujtahid · Mujtahed · independent reasoning · legal reasoning · deriving rulings · scholarly effort

The meaning

What Ijtihad means in Islam

The root means to exert oneself to the limit. It applies where the texts are not decisive, since nobody performs ijtihad against a clear and settled ruling. Classical scholars set demanding conditions for the mujtahid, including Arabic, command of the Qur'an and hadith, and knowledge of where consensus lies. The Prophet taught that one who judges by ijtihad and is right has two rewards, and one who tries sincerely and is wrong still has one.

Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named

Read beside it

Words that sit beside it

TaqlidFollowing a qualified scholar's ruling without knowing the underlying evidence yourself.تَقْليد
Usul al-FiqhThe science of how rulings are derived: which sources count, and how they are read.أُصولُ الفِقْه
MadhhabA school of law: a settled method of deriving rulings, carried by generations of scholars.مَذْهَب
IkhtilafScholarly disagreement, which classical Islam treated as normal rather than as a crisis.اِخْتِلاف