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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Ijtihad: Its Meaning, Sources, Beginnings and the Practice of Ra'y Critique of the Tradition Narrated About Mu'adh The tradition about Mu'adh is not acceptable for several reasons: From the point of view of sanad (chain of transmission), as it is narrated on the authority of al-Harith ibn `Amr alone. There is no other line of transmission besides this. Moreover, al-Harith ibn `Amr is an unknown narrator (majhul al-hal) whose character is not known.

This objection was also raised by Abu Muhammad `Ali ibn Hazm al-'Andalusi al-Zahiri (d.456/1064) in his al-'Ilham li usul al-'ahkam (vol.5, pp.373-375). Al-Bukhari has also, in al-Ta'rikh al-'awsat, stated that there is no mention of the name of al-Harith in any text of tradition or book of rijal except this sole Riwayah. Moreover, his character is also obscure. Therefore, it is not proper to consider the Riwayahreported from him to be reliable.

From the point of view of meaning (dalalah), also, the recourse to this tradition for arguing in favour of ray is unjustified. Because, ijtihad in the sense of legislation of laws and determination of ahkam for the new and emergent issues by means of ray and personal judgement was not in vogue during the lifetime of the Prophet (S), as the Prophet (S) him­self was alive and there was no need for it.

Why would an individual like Mu'adh in spite of having access to the Prophet (S) practise ra’y or exercise his personal opinion, when the ahkam and the precepts regarding the religious duties, in detail and in every aspect, could have been understood very easily and simply by referring to the Prophet (S)?

The Prophet's contemporaries could also refer to individuals trained under the guidance of the Prophet (S) who had acquired firsthand learning of the Divine teachings and the wahy, regarding any problem of scientific, religious, ethical; social, economic, penal, commercial, agricultural or some other nature, and get a satisfactory and complete answer to it. In such conditions, there were no grounds for practising ra'y and personal opinion.

Moreover, during the course of a long journey when it was not possible to contact the Prophet (S) immediately or anyone trained in Islamic teachings, there was still the possibility for Mu'adh to find out the Divine commandment in a certain case by sending a messenger. Hence distance could not be a justification for exercising ray and personal judgement.