ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Shiism in Sunnism Ijtihad and Taqlid Lexical Meaning of Ijtihad Lexically, Ijtihad means effort for getting something. Ibn Al-Athir writes, in Al-Bidayah wa’l-Nihayah , “Ijtihad means making effort in search of something. This word is in the same conjugation with the keyword jahd ,[^1] meaning strength and ability. The term Ijtihad was used in the same meaning in the Prophet’s age and his ’, until the end of the first century after the Prophet’s Hijra.

If my child is in Paradise, I will be patient otherwise I will make effort in crying.[^8] As a result, the lexical meaning of Ijtihad, during the Prophet’s age and a while after him, was to attempt or make effort. The only exception to this usage is the tradition of Mu’adh reading: أجْتَهِدُ رأيِي وَلا آلو. I will practice according to my opinion and do not fear.[^9] This will be discussed in details later on.

Idiomatic Meanings of Ijtihad Islamic scholars have used the term Ijtihad[^10] with different meanings. In general, Ijtihad is used to refer to two meanings—general and specific. Of course, this term was mostly used in its specific meaning for quite a while at first.