Ijtihad

On the term Illa, i dont have a proper defanition but insha allah the following will make it more clear:

the underlying legal principles ('illa)

Empirical:

1. 1. Relying on or derived from observation or experiment: empirical results that supported the hypothesis.
   2. Verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment: empirical laws.

Before one can answer this question, one must understand there the scholars of usul al-fiqh have identified at least three types of ijtihad:

(1) takhrij al-manat;

(2) tanqih al-manat; and

(3) tahqiq al-manat.  

Takhrij al-manat roughly means "extraction of the grounds [of a divine ruling]. An obvious example would be that the grounds for the prohibition of khamr (grape wine) is its capacity to intoxicate.  While this example is obvious, other texts of revelation prove much more difficult in the extraction of the manat, and hence, the mujtahids have differed greatly in their opinions regarding the grounds of the divine ruling.  [note: "manat" when used in the context of takhrij al-manat is virtually synonymous with the term "'illa. " Of course, the scholars of usul al-fiqh have identified various types of 'illas of differing strength, something I am only superficially familiar with. A good source discussing this question is Imam al-Ghazali's "Shifa` al-ghalil fi masalik al'ta'lil," wherein the Imam discusses the various types of 'illas and their use in juridical analogy (qiyas). Wa-allahu a'lam. 

Because takhrij al-manat requires proper understand of the indicants of the divine ruling (the dalil), it is this type of ijtihad that requires mastery of the full spectrum of religious sciences with the additional stipulation of 'adala and piety. Obviously, the minimum required is that the mujtahid know all the proof texts that are relevant to solving the question before him, and that there is no unequivocal divine communication (khitab) governing the case. [Note: there are three types of "dalil" of a divine ruling, Qur'an, sunna and consensus. With the exception of the Qur'an, the different mujtahids had different opinions with regard to the manner in which the other two dalils had to be transmitted so as to constitute a valid dalil]. 

I believe Sidi Haddad only recently posted on the attributes of a mujtahid mutlaq, i.e., that scholar who is qualified to issue religious opinions on any matter based on his direct interpretation of divine revelation. It is commonly accepted that no one satisfies these requirements today. 

While this is erroneously claimed to be a defect, in fact, because we have the legacy of the mujtahid-imams, the advanced students of these Imams, by following the doctrines of their Imams, are able to derive rulings for unprecedented cases rather easily.  Indeed, according to Ibn al-Salah, it is easier for the muqallid of an Imam to arrive at a ruling on an unprecedented case by relying on the principles of his Imam than it would be to derive the rule solely on the dalils of shar', wa-allahu a'lam. This level of scholar is deemed mujtahid fi-l-madhhab (a mujtahid within a madhhab). 

[also "mujtahid muntasib = affiliated mujtahid") GFH:. ]

The second type of ijtihad, tanqih al-manat, is an intermediary step preceding takhrij al-manat, where the mujtahid, working as a scientist does, confronts a dalil, and hypothesizes that the ground for the rule contained in the dalil is X, Y or Z. He then tests this hypothesis against other data to see if the theory is sound. The mujtahid continues doing this until he determines which of X, Y or Z, or a combination of them, is the actual ground for the rule. 

It seems to me that at this stage of ijtihad, non-specialists in religious sciences have a critical, though ancillary role, to play in aiding the mujtahid's inquiry. Often, when a mujtahid is attempting to determine whether the 'illa is X, Y or Z, he will rely on some empirical theory, especially if the mujtahid believes that the 'illa should be "appropriate (munasib)" to the ruling. Appropriate in this case means that it serves one of the five maqasid kulliyya [comprehensive objectives] of the Shari'a, i.e.,

[1] the promotion of religion,

[2] the protection and/or enhancement of life,

[3] property,

[4] progeny and

[5] reason ('aql).  

Where a fatwa incorporates an empirical judgment, the mufti must take steps to ensure that the empirical judgment he is adopting is not clearly erroneous. 

Finally, tahqiq al-manat is that type of ijtihad concerned with accurate perception of the empirical world. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, in His mercy, obliged us to worship Him only conditionally, i.e., when certain conditions are met. Likewise, in His mercy, He also removes certain obligations from us when certain impediments exist. The conditions whereby an act becomes obligatory is called a "sabab," and a condition whereby an obligation is suspended is called a "mani'", literally, "an obstacle. "A common example of a sabab is the sun reaching its zenith in the sky being the condition for the obligation to pray zuhr. An obstacle removing the obligation of Pilgrimage would be, at least for Malikis, an absence of secure carriage to the Hijaz. In other situations, the divine rule itself requires the application of some empirical knowledge, e.g., facing the qibla at the time of prayer, or in the circumstance of the destruction of private property, an empirical determination of its fair market value. 

The point is simply that in many situations, properly obeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala requires making an accurate determination of an empirical situation, and this type of knowledge is not necessarily within the preserve of a mujtahid, unless he is also, independently of his mastery of religious sciences, also a master of the particular empirical science at issue. 

Al-Qarafi gives a good example of an empirical error underlying Imam Malik's (may Allah be please with him!) opinion regarding the beginning of the lunar months in the Islamic calendar. The mashhur of the madhhab is that once the moon is seen anywhere, the month begins for the entire Muslim community. This position is known as "ittihad al-matali'. "The other position, adopted by the Shafi'is, at least according to al-Qarafi, is that each town has its own moon, i.e., months begin and end according to local moonsightings. Qarafi explains, however, that Malik's position was based on the erroneous empirical theory that the moon was visible at the same time everywhere.   Al-Qarafi, being trained in astronomy, knew this to be false, and stated that the position of the moon relative to human observers varies depending upon the position of the human observer, and therefore, the Shafi'i position is correct. (See, al-Furuq, al-farq al-awwal, al-farq bayna al-riwaya wa-l-shahada). 

Thus, as a general matter, one can say that any fatwa that is based on an empirical premise known to be wrong is itself certainly wrong, although the pure rule that the mujtahid relied on in issuing his opinion may nonetheless be sound. 

[The Matali` or visible moon positions per Malik and the Hanafi School are unified in effect for Ramadan and Shawwal on the grounds - Allah knows best - not of the empirical theory that the moon should be visible at the same time everywhere, but the explicit wording of the Prophet (saws) said to "fast at its sighting and cease fasting at its sighting" in absolute sighting terms, i.e. no matter where, one true sighting sufficing for the whole Umma, - which is what is meant by ittihad al-Matali` - and this is why Ramadan and `Eid al-Fitr are or should be unified.  This is the agreement of the Four Schools according the Jedda-based International Fiqh Council including the Shafi`i Ulema such as the late Shaykh Mustafa al-Zarqa, Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Dr.  Wahbe al-Zuhayli. . .  so the present orientation of the Umma has endorsed the fatwa of Imam Malik after all, regardless of his or the Hanafi Imams' knowledge in astronomy.  Whereas for Dhul Hijja the Matali` must be precisely differentiated in every respective area and it is therefore allowed that their respective dates for `Eid al-Adha differ.  WAllahu a`lam.  G. F.  Haddad. ]

Another example might make this more clear:according to Imam Malik, any land that the Muslims conquered by force is waqf, and therefore, not eligible to be privately owned. Imam Malik also gave the fatwa that the land of Egypt was a waqf based on the historical (empirical) assumption that Egypt had been conquered, not that it had voluntarily (sulh) entered Islam.  Qarafi points out that whether Egypt was or was not conquered is a matter of shahada (empirical knowledge) not riwaya (transmission of revelatory knowledge), and therefore, Imam Malik's opinion on this empirical fact is not an appropriate object of taqlid. Indeed, others, e.g., al-Layth b.  Sa'ad, who were closer to events, who reported the opposite, are more worthy to be believed, not because their knowledge of revelation exceeded that of Malik, but rather that their specialized empirical knowledge regarding the circumstances whereby the territory of Egypt entered Islamic dominion is more accurate than that of Malik. 

One can conclude by a general observation. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed this umma by making His commands consistent with reason ('aql), the attribute by which He distinguished the descendants of Adam, 'alayhi al-salam, from the rest of His creation.  Accordingly, we Muslims, when called upon to exercise our mental process in the process of obeying our Creator, are always obliged to follow the best information we can find. Thus, as non-specialists in the revelatory sciences, we know that the opinions of the mujtahid-Imams are superior to the opinions of the unlearned, and accordingly, we follow their opinions, not those of the uninformed. Likewise, we also know that mujtahid imams are not necessarily the best source of information on empirical matters, and accordingly, where our worship of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, requires ascertaining that a certain empirical circumstance be confirmed, or negated, we must rely on experts in that empirical field for that piece of information. 

In short, valid ijtihad consists in following the best available evidence, whether that evidence is revelatory or empirical, as the context requires.  Wa-allahu 'alam.

Community wrote: Fiqh?, if you mean the knowledge on how to preform the salat for instance then i say, there are different ways in which muslims preform salat, the basics are all the same but they differ in details, more over the knowledge on how to pray should be passed on through people, not books, the prophet taught his companions and they taught their childeren and others and so on, for us to learn how to pray should depend on whom we trust for that sort of knowledge, the best way is listening to what the person, if what he says is true and good and if the person is of a higher moral standard, basically how much he fears Allah. Nowadays people look into books too much concerning the faith, remember the prophet is the unlettered prophet. Anyway my question still stands for those who believe in the words of man i.e "the scholars" who believe in their set rules and regulations on how to derive "knowledge"....another question is: where did all these regulations and rules come from? if you can prove it please do so with the koran, because i see what trusting man's words does, just look at the jews with their "obey the scholars", and the christians with their "the holy spirit came upon me and i wrote it down it is God's work".

 Brother,fiqh includes the knowledge more than salat, please work more on qur'an then u will understand how the scholars take decisions from...i can suggest u a book which i have newly conducted to the board which may help u,it's name is way to the Qur'an,so many answers are waiting u...wa salaam...

a note:the book is at the qur'an and sunnah section...sorry for my short answer,i am outside the discussions...wa salaam...

Community wrote: 22:78 And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the way(trod)of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness over you, and ye be witnesses over mankind! So establish Prayer(salaat), give Charity, and hold fast to Allah. He is your Protector - the Best to protect and the Best to help! There is no mention of the word ijtihad in the koran i must note, just jihad, striving for His cause. I have a question for you, In the koran it says that the punishment for an adulterer or adulteress is 100 lashes, after ofcourse the act of adultery has been witnessed by 4 witnesses, there is no mention of stoning of the adulterer or adulteress in the koran, in the hadith there is, but if we look closely we will see that this stoning was for a jewish adulterer, and the jewish law say that the punishment for adultery is stoning, so the prophet saws basically implemented the jewish law when those involved were jewish, so how come "the shari'ah" implements stoning for adultery when it involves muslims?

Es_Selam'un Aleykum,

 I don't agree...there are so many examples in the life of the last prophet that he made ijtihad with his companions...then you are claiming that there is no fiqh?,think about more...wa salaam...