Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope

It is generally claimed that some of the outstanding features of modern age are the ‘rule of law’ and the emergence of ‘civil society’. In spite of supposedly civil and caring societies, millions of people around the world are still suffering from diseases, crimes and injustice. On the global pol...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ali, Mohd Mumtaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Islamic University Malaysia 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/1/11-Ijtih%C3%89d_A_Reflection_On_Its_Role_And_Scope.pdf
id iium-22031
recordtype eprints
spelling iium-220312017-02-17T08:09:08Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/ Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope Ali, Mohd Mumtaz BP140 Islamic law (Fiqh) It is generally claimed that some of the outstanding features of modern age are the ‘rule of law’ and the emergence of ‘civil society’. In spite of supposedly civil and caring societies, millions of people around the world are still suffering from diseases, crimes and injustice. On the global political scene, "might is right" prevails; more weapons are being produced than rice and wheat. Sense of insecurity and violence is dominating everywhere. To overcome this phenomenon, some analysts are suggesting a need for strong link between law and social obligations, and some others are emphasizing the need to integrate moral and ethical values into the sociopolitical sphere of our lives. However, our contention is that all these measures have proven superficial. The predicament of modern societies cannot be alleviated unless and until a strong relationship in between law, social obligations and ijtihad is established and practiced in all spears of life. In this paper, it is argued that the real cause of contemporary malaise lies in the absence of ijtihad. Ijtihad is either neglected or restricted to certain legal dimensions. This paper contends that only the application of ijtihad as the main methodology of thought and action would enhance consciousness of social obligations of individuals, policy makers, scientists, and political authorities, and would guarantee real civilizational development. Hence, ijtihad should be taken as the methodology of development and civilization. International Islamic University Malaysia 2011-03 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/1/11-Ijtih%C3%89d_A_Reflection_On_Its_Role_And_Scope.pdf Ali, Mohd Mumtaz (2011) Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope. Journal of Islam in Asia, Spcl (1). pp. 443-462. ISSN 1823-0970 http://www.iium.edu.my/jiasia/ojs-2.2/index.php/Islam
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
topic BP140 Islamic law (Fiqh)
spellingShingle BP140 Islamic law (Fiqh)
Ali, Mohd Mumtaz
Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope
description It is generally claimed that some of the outstanding features of modern age are the ‘rule of law’ and the emergence of ‘civil society’. In spite of supposedly civil and caring societies, millions of people around the world are still suffering from diseases, crimes and injustice. On the global political scene, "might is right" prevails; more weapons are being produced than rice and wheat. Sense of insecurity and violence is dominating everywhere. To overcome this phenomenon, some analysts are suggesting a need for strong link between law and social obligations, and some others are emphasizing the need to integrate moral and ethical values into the sociopolitical sphere of our lives. However, our contention is that all these measures have proven superficial. The predicament of modern societies cannot be alleviated unless and until a strong relationship in between law, social obligations and ijtihad is established and practiced in all spears of life. In this paper, it is argued that the real cause of contemporary malaise lies in the absence of ijtihad. Ijtihad is either neglected or restricted to certain legal dimensions. This paper contends that only the application of ijtihad as the main methodology of thought and action would enhance consciousness of social obligations of individuals, policy makers, scientists, and political authorities, and would guarantee real civilizational development. Hence, ijtihad should be taken as the methodology of development and civilization.
format Article
author Ali, Mohd Mumtaz
author_facet Ali, Mohd Mumtaz
author_sort Ali, Mohd Mumtaz
title Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope
title_short Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope
title_full Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope
title_fullStr Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope
title_full_unstemmed Ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope
title_sort ijtihad: a reflection on its role and scope
publisher International Islamic University Malaysia
publishDate 2011
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/22031/1/11-Ijtih%C3%89d_A_Reflection_On_Its_Role_And_Scope.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T20:33:41Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T20:33:41Z
_version_ 1777408904312913920