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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taqleed & Ijtihad The History of Ijtihad First of all it is important to know what Ijtihad is, so that it gets easier to understand all of its aspects. The origin of word Ijtihad is either johod or jahad. All known vocabulary experts tell us that johod implies force and strength, whereas, jahad means hard work and struggle. The original word has been used at different places in Quran in several forms.

In addition, Arabic linguists such as Raghib Isphahani and Fura’ Ozbedi also say that this word is used on the occasions of either expending mental energy or physical hard work. As to the word – Ijtihad.

The first explanation is that it is related to the faculty of Principles of Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh) and Usul al-Fiqh is the name for the collection of those rules and regulations that help a Faqih reach a required decision related to Shariah.[^1] That is, Ijtihad is finding the solution to a problem by putting in full efforts with the help of solid arguments and a scholarly approach proven in the affairs of life. Let us have an open discussion on this subject.

As has been stated before, a few people who have scholarly minds and who stay abreast of new findings and occurrences keep on collecting proofs relevant to the issues and strive to find solutions to problems according to the religious law (sharia). In the days of Virtuous Imams every inquirer was able to get answers to his questions directly. Then times changed and direct access to the real source of guidance was no more there.

Then some trustworthy elders who used to play the intermediary role between an average person and the Imams passed away one by one. In addition, the number of narrators of the commands increased manifold. The result was that it became necessary to verify every command as sometimes the subject of the narration was doubtful, other times the quality of language was below par and in some instances there were suspicions about the narrator.

So for an average man on the street finding out solutions to his problems became a big headache and a threat to his faith. At that time some religious scholars (fuqaha) with a vision stood up and in the name of Allah started following the guidelines provided by the virtuous Imams. Eventually this step very quickly led to an intellectual and scholarly movement and with the Grace of Allah (SWT) school of Ijtihad came into being.

Had this effort not been undertaken, God knows where shariah would have gone.