Ijtihad - Types of Mujtahideen

Types of Mujtahideen

  1. Mujtahid Mustaqil

He regulates the usul of his madhab He studies, researches, and engrosses himself in the verses and ahadith of the Blessed Prophet to find proof for issues that confront him. He favors one proof over the other when they contradict each other. He also expounds on the references from which he derived his rulings. He confronts new issues which have not yet been discussed and presents them in light of evidence (from the Quran and Sunnah).

  1. Mujtahid Muntasib: is one who is a follower of his teacher in the usul and who takes help from him in seeking evidence on rulings. He knows the rulings in light of their evidence and is fully capable of deriving rulings from the evidence.
  • Mujtahideen fil shara’: These are the four Imams who devised the usul and derived rulings from the four sources (i.e., Quran, Sunnah, Ijma’, Qiyas) without being muqalideen (followers) of anyone in fundamental or derivative rulings.
  • Mujtahideen fil madhab: As in Imam Abu Yusuf (rah), Imam Muhammud bin Hassan Shaybani (rah) and all the students of Imam Abu Hanifah (rah) who derived rulings using the usul of Imam Abu Hanifah (rah) which he derived from the main sources. Although they disagreed in some derivative rulings with Imam Abu Hanifah (rah), they are his muqallideen (followers) in the usul. The difference between them (mujtahideen fil madhab) and mu’aaredheen fil madhab (parallel scholarship) like Imam Shafi’ (rah) is that they (mujtahideen fil madhab) are his (Imam Abu Hanifah t) muqalideen in usul while Imam Shafi’ (rah) is not.
  • Mujtahideen fil masaail: They practice ijtihad in the rulings in which there is no known opinion of Imam Abu Hanifah (rah). This category includes scholars like Khassaaf, Tahawi, Shams ul-Aima Halwani, Shams ul-Sarakhsi, Fakhr-ul-Islam Bazdawi, and Qazi Khan, etc. This group of scholars follows Imam Abu Hanifah (rah) in his usul and his derivative rulings, but derives rulings, based on his usul, on issues in which there is no known opinion or ruling by Imam Abu Hanifah (rah).

Read more about this topic:  Ijtihad

Famous quotes containing the words types of and/or types:

    “Our children evaluate themselves based on the opinions we have of them. When we use harsh words, biting comments, and a sarcastic tone of voice, we plant the seeds of self-doubt in their developing minds.... Children who receive a steady diet of these types of messages end up feeling powerless, inadequate, and unimportant. They start to believe that they are bad, and that they can never do enough.”
    —Stephanie Martson (20th century)

    “Science is intimately integrated with the whole social structure and cultural tradition. They mutually support one other—only in certain types of society can science flourish, and conversely without a continuous and healthy development and application of science such a society cannot function properly.”
    —Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)