Al-Hilli says...

Al-Hilli says, "ijtihad means to strive for deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources."[^4] The change through which the meaning of "ijtihad" has undergone clears the confusion about the legality of ijtihad: some of the sayings of the Imams (a.s.), the writings of their companions and the early Shi'ah ulama condemn ijtihad in its pre-7th century meaning of " ra'iy "; they are not opposing the ijtihad in the post-7th century meaning of "the process of deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources".

The condemned ijtihad is a source of the shari'ah laws, while the recommended ijtihad is only the process of deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources. The permissibility of ijtihad in its post-7th century meaning is beyond any doubt. The Process of Ijtihad The process of deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources is based on two main branches of Islamic sci­ences: usulu’l-fiqh and fiqh.

" Usulu’l-fiqh " is the science of the method of deriving the shari'ah laws -- it is the methodology of ijtihad. " Fiqh " is the practice of ijtihad -- it…