In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Blessings and peace be upon the noblest of the Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and Companions.
This is a detailed summary of what was covered in this part of the explanation of Imam al-Shafi’i’s al-Risalah, focusing on the important points and clarifications, with some additions that help in understanding the issue more deeply:
The Chapter on Ijtihad (paragraph 1311 onward): the definition of ijtihad, its conditions, and its divisions:
In this chapter, Imam al-Shafi’i addresses the topic of ijtihad, explaining its linguistic and technical meanings, its conditions, and its relation to analogy, and answering some objections that may be raised about it.
- The linguistic meaning of ijtihad: exerting effort and enduring hardship and fatigue in a matter. One does not say “he exerted ijtihad” about an easy matter; it is said only about a great or weighty matter.
- The technical meaning of ijtihad: the jurist’s exertion of his utmost capacity in seeking the truth regarding legal rulings.
- The relation of ijtihad to analogy: Imam al-Shafi’i holds that ijtihad is broader and more general than analogy, so analogy is one of the kinds of ijtihad.
- An objection to ijtihad: The debater objects to al-Shafi’i, asking: Is the ijtihad you speak of valid given what you have described? That is, given your description of ijtihad as an attempt to arrive at the truth outwardly or inwardly.
- Arguing from the verse of the qiblah: Al-Shafi’i cites the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And from wherever you go out [for prayer], turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you [believers] may be, turn your faces toward it” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:150). The point of the argument is that people exert ijtihad in determining the qiblah; some of them are correct and some are mistaken, yet their prayer is valid as long as they have exerted their utmost in seeking it.
- The meaning of “shatr al-Masjid al-Haram”: Al-Shafi’i explains that shatrahu means toward it and in its direction. He cites as evidence a line of poetry from the tribe of Hudhayl: “Inna al-‘asira biha da’un mukhamiruha, fa-shatraha basaru al-‘aynayni masjurun/mashurun” (roughly: the untamed she-camel has an ailment that wears her out, and the sight of her eyes, turned toward it, is dim). He explains that al-‘asir may refer to an untamed she-camel or a pregnant she-camel; mukhamiruha means that which exhausts and wearies her; shatraha means its direction; and masjur/mashur means dimmed and failing.
- Knowledge and certainty: Al-Shafi’i explains that knowledge encompasses the fact that whoever faces toward al-Masjid al-Haram by ijtihad is correct, as long as he has exerted his utmost in seeking it and made use of the available indications.
- Different directions with valid ijtihad: He clarifies that the direction chosen by mujtahids in determining the qiblah may differ because of the differing indications available to each of them; nevertheless, both are correct, because each has fulfilled what was required of him, namely striving to know the truth.
- The objection to permitting mujtahids to differ: The debater objects, saying: It is not possible for two people to exert ijtihad, differ, and both be correct; rather, one of them must be mistaken.
- The debate over the qiblah: Al-Shafi’i gives the example of two knowledgeable people who differed in determining the direction of the qiblah. He explains that neither is obliged to follow the other; rather, each prays according to his own view, and they are not charged with anything else. He explains that both acts of ijtihad are valid outwardly, and any inward error has been lifted from them.
- Holding the debater to what he must accept in testimony and analogy: Al-Shafi’i holds the debater to what he must accept in matters of testimony and analogy, where witnesses or mujtahids may differ in view, yet it is not said that one of them is definitively mistaken.
- The lifted error: The debater points out that this is a “lifted error” (khata’ mawdu’), that is, one that carries no consequence.
Some additional benefits:
- Clarifying the importance of ijtihad as a source of legislation when there is no explicit text.
- Emphasizing that ijtihad concerns matters that require effort and hardship in seeking the truth.
- Clarifying that differences of opinion among mujtahids are permissible, as long as they have exerted their utmost in seeking the truth.
- Touching on the concept of the lifted error.
We ask Allah the Exalted to grant us success in understanding His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ, and to make us among those who follow them.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Risala by Shaykh Dr. Ahmad al-Naqeeb