[lit-ideas] Re: Sunday Review
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 1 May 2006 02:42:50 -0700 (PDT)
--- Paul Stone <pas@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Now, if only those who have the power -- mullahs,
> imams, ayattolahs
> etc. could read this book and others like it with an
> open mind to Ijtihad.
*The notion of ijtihad is well-known, but not
unproblematic. First, ijtihad is not a completely
arbitrary personal judgement as it is sometimes
understood, but independent legal judgement derived
from qualified interpretation of Islamic texts,
primarily the Qur'an and the Sunna of the Prophet.
(Originally ijtihad means "effort.") There is also
ijtihad-bi-al rai, i.e. legal judgement which is not
based on texts but completely on the personal opinion
of the official, but this has never been widely
accepted.
Most Muslim scholars have thought since the 10th or
11th century that "the door of ijtihad has been
closed." This means that no scholar or jurist is
qualified to issue independent decisions which have
legal force, but is obliged to follow the guidelines
of one of the major traditional schools of
jurisprudence. (The main ones are Hanafi, Hanbali,
Shafi'i and Maliki in Sunni Islam, Jafa'ari in Shia
Islam.) This might seem like a very conservative
notion but it has probably prevented a lot of abuse
based on arbitrary interpretations by corrupted judges
and rulers. Others, though, have maintained that only
ijtihad bi al-rai is not to be utilized, while ijtihad
in the above sense remains legitimate.
There is also fathwa, which means a personal opinion
of a scholar. This is not a legal edict but may be
followed or not depending on the authority of the
scholar. The replacement of ijtihad by fathwa may
reflect a situation where there is no longer one
central authority in Islam which decided whose
opinions are to have legal force and whose are not.
Obviously you can't have everyone quote a few passages
from the Qur'an or the Sunna and proclaim that their
opinions have legal force. The revival of Ijtihad, if
it is to take place, should take place in the context
of a parliamentary democratic system where qualified
majority decided whose interpretation is to be
accepted as valid.
O.K.
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