Quote:
Originally Posted by dishdash  The danger of less-qualified individuals misunderstanding the sources and hence damaging the Shari`ah is a very real one, as was shown by the discord and strife which afflicted some early Muslims—and even some of the Companions themselves—in the period which preceded the establishment of the Orthodox Schools. Prior to Islam, entire religions had been subverted by inadequate scriptural scholarship, so it was vital that Islam be secure from a comparable fate.
In order to protect the Shariah from the danger of innovation and distortion, the great scholars of usul laid down rigorous conditions which must be fulfilled by anyone wishing to claim the right of ijtihad for himself.[43] These conditions include:
(a) mastery of the Arabic language, to minimise the possibility of misinterpreting Revelation on purely linguistic grounds;
(b) a profound knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah and the circumstances surrounding the revelation of each verse and hadith, together with a full knowledge of the Quranic and hadith commentaries, and a control of all the interpretative techniques discussed above;
(c) knowledge of the specialised disciplines of hadith, such as the assessment of narrators and of the matn [text];
(d) knowledge of the views of the Companions, Followers and the great imams, and of the positions and reasoning expounded in the textbooks of fiqh, combined with the knowledge of cases where a consensus (ijma) has been reached;
(e) knowledge of the science of juridical analogy (qiyas), its types and conditions;
(f) knowledge of ones own society and of public interest (maslahah);
(g) knowing the general objectives (maqasid) of the Shariah;
(h) a high degree of intelligence and personal piety, combined with the Islamic virtues of compassion, courtesy, and modesty.
A scholar who has fulfilled these conditions can be considered a mujtahid fil-shar, and is not obliged, or even permitted, to follow an existing authoritative madhhab" - Abdel Hakim Murad in UNderstanding the 4 Madhabs.
I'd suggest having a look through this work. |
Peace, Dishdash.
I am aware of those constraints. It is hard to find good scholars!
I spoke of a day I might write something of worth, but what we really need is a new generation. By this, I meant that someday, I might have something useful to say in a coherent manner, but that deep scholarship can only be learned over a lifetime of committment. This is something that also tends to make people very conservative, trapped in their books and established patterns of thinking.
I agree totally with the requirements, but there is also a place for people who have learning but are not
mujtahid fi sh-shar. There are people who have useful knowledge and can write on topics intelligently and with both faith and scholastic merit. Abou el Fadl, Amina Wadud, Asma Barlas: these three have skillz, as we might say, and their contributions should not be ignored, nor should works by Muslims about their faith.
Only a handful will ever be mujtahid fi sh-shar, but we can learn from others as well. The history of Islam is full of scholars who grew in wisdom and learning and became important, changing the face of Islam and the Umma.