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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islam: Faith, Practice & History Lesson 23: Ijtihād, Taqlid & Ihtiyāt Introduction As mentioned in the previous lessons, a Muslim must follow the sharī`a in every aspect of his or her life. If Islam is a religion which is to stay till the end of time, then there must always be some people who can guide the Muslims in the changing circumstances of time and of place.

After the Prophet of Islam, the most ideal persons to guide the Muslims were the Imams of Ahlu ’l-bayt. However, the Present Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi (a.s.) has gone into the Occulation and will re-appear when Allāh wishes him to appear. So what is to be done in the meantime? Are the Shi‘as to suspend the sharī‘a? No, of course not! Islam is the religion for all times and places.

Ijtihād The Imams of Ahlu ’l-bayt had foreseen the time of the Occulation and had prepared their followers for the situation in which they will not be in direct contact with their Imam. This preparation was done by training the Shi‘as in the science of Islamic laws, or in other words, in ijtihād. (Ijtihād means “the process of deriving the laws of the sharī‘a from its sources.”) Ijtihād is an essential phenomenon for the survival of the Islamic sharī‘a during the Occultation of the Imam (a.s.).

Without the system of ijtihād, we would not be able to apply Islamic laws in the rapidly changing circumstances of human society. Ijtihād is not only permissible, but essential from the Islamic point of view. It is an obligation in Islam to study everything that is necessary for the spiritual development and material wellbeing of the Muslim community.

However, this obligation is of the category which is known as wājib kifā'i .[^1] In the present instance, for example, Islamic society needs experts in the medical sciences, in physics and chemistry, in engineering, education; and as long as there is a lack of expertise in these areas, it is an obligation on the community as a whole to acquire it. This means that a group of Muslims must devote themselves to research so as to benefit the Muslim community.

Similarly, an Islamic society without experts in the sharī‘a cannot properly consider itself Islamic, and so it is an obligation for a group of persons from this society to devote themselves to the study of the religious sciences to provide proper guidance to all Muslims.