اجتہاد کی شرعی حیثیت اورعصر حاضر ميں اجتہاد کی عملی صورتیں

محمد تاج الدین * ڈاکٹر ظہور اللہ الازہری

Abstract

Ijtihad is an invaluable secondary source of the Muslim jurisprudence. In Islamic law, ijtihad refers to the independent interpretation of problems not precisely covered by the sacred scripture of Islam, Qur’an, and Prophetic traditions. The savants who undertake ijtihad must be firmly rooted in knowledge and savvy what the demands of the contemporary era are. Since new challenges call for innovative solutions, the faithful cannot genuinely live by Islam without their jurists deriving the laws of sharia from its sources.
Whenever complications arose in a Muslim community, the complication which the primary Islamic sources did not address, their religious leaders came up with answers drawn from the Qur’an and the Sunna. Thus a huge body of the Muslim jurisprudence evolved from the efforts of scholars. In the present time, on certain social, economic, religious and political issues the Muslim jurisprudence proposes scant support. However, adequately qualified jurists, in the light of the divine inspiration of the Qur’an, may come up with solutions to the current challenges by exercising original thinking.
The present dissertation deals with the legal status of ijtihad and investigates how ijtihad may be exercised in our time.