ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Basics of Islamic Jurisprudence Jurisprudence Jargon Duty (Taklif) The Arabic term taklīf is derived from the term kulfah which means difficulty. It is used to mean the forcing of an action. For example the sentence; Zayd forces ( kallafa ) ‛Amr to do an action; he forces him. Divine laws are called taklīf because they are sent from the Master, glory be to him, and it is necessary for the mukallaf to obey them.

So, taklīf means a forced action given to an adult by the Master, glory be to him. These actions encompass different aspects of man's life, for example his personal life, his worship, his family life and his social life. These laws give order to his life. Examples of these laws are: prayer being obligatory and adultery being forbidden.[^1] Ijtihad From the beginning of Islam until its middle ages there was another word for fiqh , it was ijtihād .

Ijtihād is derived from the term juhd which means effort and struggle. The jurist is called a mujtahid because of his efforts and struggle in making religious rulings. The word istinbāt has a similar meaning. It is derived from the word nabat (al-mā') which literally means taking water out of the ground.

A jurist performs a similar action when he struggles to take the religious ruling from its source.[^2] The term ijtihād is used by the religious scholars to mean obtaining a proof for a religious ruling.[^3] The Necessity of Ijtihad Islamic rulings are not mentioned for every situation. That would be impossible, because there are countless situations that happen all the time. Instead it gives general principles and rules.

Therefore, when a jurist must make a ruling for a certain situation he must look into the official sources and give his ruling. Here is where fiqh is synonymous with a deep, precise and inclusive understanding.[^4] Mujtahid Definition: a mujtahid is one who has reached the level of ijtihād in understanding religious laws. This means that he has the ability to deduct religious rulings from the Qurān and traditions.

This mujtahid is able to deduct religious laws in all the subjects that the mukallaf needs or only certain subjects because of their ease. In the first case he is called a pure mujtahid and in the second a minor mujtahid . The sciences that a mujtahid needs to know in order to be able to deduct religious rulings are: Arabic grammar; syntax, morphology, vocabulary and eloquence.