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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Ijtihad: Its Meaning, Sources, Beginnings and the Practice of Ra'y Section 2 : the Holy Qur'an As the First Source of Ijtihad The Holy Qur'an as the First Source of Ijtihad Jurisprudents of the various Islamic sects have expressed different views concerning the sources of ijtihad. Before these are examined in detail, their brief description will be in order. The first view pertains to the majority of Imamiyyah jurispru­dents of the Ja'fari school.

They maintain that the Book, the Sunnah, ijma ` (consensus), and `aql (reason) constitute the sources of ijtihad. However, some, like the Akhbaris, who follow Mulla Muhammad Amin al-'Astarabadi (d. 1033/1623) accept only the Sunnah as the source for derivation of ahkam.

Some, like the jurisprudents of the Hanafi school, regard the Book, the mutawatir Sunnah, statements of the , the Com­panions' consensus, qiyas, istihsan and ‘urf (custom) as the sources of ijtihad - as mentioned by Abu Zuhrah in his Ta'rikh al-madhahib al- 'arba`ah.

Some others, like the `ulama' of the Maliki school, followers of Malik ibn Anas al-'Asbahi, believe these sources to be the Book, the Sunnah, consensus of the jurists of Madinah, masalih mursalah (a kind of qiyas), such statements of the as are not based on ray, and qiyas mansus al-illah. This is according to Dr. Subhi Mahmasani, in his book entitled Falsafat al-tashri` Al al-'Islam.

Another group, like the Shafi'i jurisprudents, followers of Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i, regard the Book,the Sunnah, ijma`, and qiyas mustanbat al-illah as the sources of ijtihad. This too has been men­tioned in Falsafat al-tashri` fi al- Islam.

According to some others, like the `ulama' of the Hanbali school, followers of Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani, the sources of ijtihad are: the Book, the Sunnah and the fatwas of the Sahabah when these do not contradict the Book and the Sunnah - even mursal and daif traditions. Some others, like the `ulama' of the Zahiri school, followers of Dawud ibn 'All al-Zahiri al-Isfahani, restrict themselves to the Book, the Sunnah, and ijma `.

Furthermore, they see no scope for ijma ` after the era of the Caliphs. In the words of the second leader of this school, Ibn Hazm al-'Andalusi al-Zahiri, anyone who claims ijma` on questions arising after the period of the Caliphs makes a false statement. It is notable that whatever has been mentioned above on the subject are not the only viewpoints; there are many others as well.