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REFLECTION ON THE RE-AWAKENING OF IJTIHAD

This essay is likely to be called as the most embryonic attempt to

translate Iqbals mind about Ijtihad, particularly from one of his essaysnamed THE PRINCIPLE OF MOVEMENT IN THE STRUCTURE OF

ISLAM in his time-honoured lectures published under the name of The

Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam I guess this attempt willnot do to the veteran readers. If it only attracts a single new and seriour

reader to our National Poet, I honestly think, my sole desire will be

accomplished.

The character of knowledge in religious experience is something not yet whollyintelligible to the captive of time and space. Knowledge is to get that religious experience

piecemeal. Man although singular in approach and genius in outlook is still confined in

the den of sense perception. Nothing under the sky you learn which you cannot possiblyperceive and from such standpoint mans best conception regarding the caracter of

knowledge is subject to disagree and liable to mistakes. Knowledge is something

impersonal and impartial inquiry of things. It is an infinite voyage through finite

chambers. Where it unlocks successively different doors to altogather new views andvisions which may partially or sometimes fully eclipse the back view, as Darwins The

Origin of Species made us to revise or if possible, to reconstruct some of our basic

visions of Quran, and in the 20th century Einstein equally did a remarkable job. Theory ofRelitivity provides new channals of inquiry to the questions which if I am not wrong

have long been perceiced by Muslims quite embryonically with reference to the

interpritation of Quranic verses. Its miserable that we measure,although divine attributeswith the frail yardstick of our sense perception, and if we just imagin God something

imperceptible from our standards of perception then our bird comes out of the cage and

this is the vision of Quran which convulses you out of yourselves and history provides

witness for the same.

Almighty dwells apart from our latest and most advanced cognitive domain.

Therefore Quran is the only and mighty propelling force for our pacing minds. We on ourintellectual side,are going for the same end that Quran emphasises,and to this pace of

knowledge guided by an immortal divine message nothing is alien in the fathomless

depths of this universe,and this is the same perpetually on going attribute of Islamicteaching that Goethe,while making its general review said to the Eckermann You see this

teaching never fails; with all our systems, we cannot go,and generally speaking no mancan go, farther than that.Quran stirs intellectual gallop and inspires from its novel

inspirations,but most unfortunately, Muslims from the very beginning comitted anunpardonable mistake in their failure to recognize motion as the fundamental

characteristic of knowledge in the light of Quran. Rather, in a form of Islamic

Jurisprudence they halted development of Islamic out look and teaching. Since life in allits forms is an evolutionary process, similarly Quran is the book witch guides mankind at

every stage of evolution which we have undergone or even not sofar, quite like an

insignificant seed which has in itself a complete machanism to come out to be a tall andconspicuous pine tree.Quran catches our intellect with same magnitism as it did 14

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centuries back and it will do altogather same for an innumerable centuries to come. It is

something prescriptive with descriptive spirit, and it is an unprecidented crime to try to

make its principles stagnant,and the highest misfortune of the Muslim nation is the samestagnation and its persistence for centuries.In such a long time illusions crept into our

minds in such a manner that our every thought comes out of the same illusional filter and

in its consolidated form it seems to be adverse to the Quranic vision and individuals ofnation after nation couldnt be convinced even perhaps in their most personal thinking

and beliefs.

To cast your minds back over the centuries you will see the Europe in the same

boat, jolted by the blows from either side by church and state. This historical quibbling

was initiated due to the social and political blindness of christanity, and its undynamic

and static view regarding life. It completely lacks the spirit of universal integration as aliving factor. Whereas Islam on the other side assumes the spirit of universal integration

with the magnetism of Ijtihad. In this respect the Prophet himself appears to be an

obvious exponent and we may put forward an instance when Maad was appointed as the

ruler of Yemen. Prophet (SAW) is reported to have asked him as to how he would decidethe matters coming up before him Ill judge matters according to the book of Godsaid

Maad. But if book of God contains nothing to guide you then Ill act on theprecedents of the Prophet of God But if the precedents fail? then Ill exert to form

my own judgemant this exertis what Islam means by Ijtihad. Such vived instances

even in the life of Prophet (SAW) illustrate the fact of novelty and innovation held by

Muhammad (SAW) himself alone suffices Islam to be an iconoclastic (but not entirelyunrestrand, rather guided by the general atmosphere created by Quran). Then one may

stand inquisitive about the nature of finality in Islamic Jurisprudence. This needs acute

and purely an objective probe through the different ages of history of Islam.

Its first cause was a Rationalist movement in the early days of Abbasides. Their

controversies with conservatives made them out spoken to an extent that Nazzam practically rejected traditions and openly declared Abu Huraira to be an unworthy

reporter. Their such unrestrained motives made conservatives to cope with the situation in

quite an unliberal way, though their main purpose was to preserve the social integrity ofIslam.

Ascetic Sufiism thrust out from the same quibbles of early doctors mainly as a

revolt,and victomised Sufyan Suri,the accutest legal mind of an age,from the hot watersof argumentative fatigue to the peaceful lap of hermitage. And the general attitude of

indifference towards Appearance (zahir) obsecured Islamic social vision. Subsequently

absorbtion of the best minds, muslim state fell in the hands of intellectual mediocrities,and having no support of any person of the high calibre masses found their security in

blind following of the schools of Fiqh.

Last and perhaps the greatest cause is the fall of Baghdad in the middle of 13 th

century. It was an unparallel collapse on one hand of the centre of Muslims intellectual

life, and on the other hand of the very forces of integration in entire Muslim nation.

Conservatives expounded Shariat on the same static principles laid by early doctors,

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basically to re-organize the constituents of devastated muslim nation. Their focus

primarily was a social aspect of the muslim nation which ultimatly crushed individuality

and to this the verdict of history is that says modern writer worn out ideas have neverrisen to power among a people who have worn them out.

The history of revolt against such static ideas is something more intresting owing toits right place and character against its counterpart,for it is quite obvious that the potential

behind any revolt is more vulnerable to prejudices and in this way spirit of an impartial

and objective inquiry of reality is robbed by the personal and subjective feelings ofrenunciation,because sometimes,and in this case most of the times, it is hard not to

believe what you want to believe. It is much like a communist revolution in Russia. Lenin

laid its first brick as a repudiator.He repudiated norms, values, religion, God, rituals and

at the end when he was convinced he repudiated himself. Which Churchill puts like that,He saw, he turned, he perished. the collective revolt is more like a mob psychology

with specticles of Shakespearian Julius Caesar and is therefore more susceptible to

illusions and obsecurities because the predicessors of different schools in Islam never

claimed finality of their principles. It was rather a collective attitude of followers thatthey stopped the spirit of movement in Islam.They committed this unpardonable mistake

because their belief in Islam was over shadowed by their reverence towards thepredicessors of the particular schools. They rather muddled Islam and personalities and

believed in somewhat exaggerated mixture of opposits, quite unlike the spirit of Omer-

the first critical and independent mind in Islam who at the last moment of Prophet

(SAW),had the moral courage to utter these remarkable words The book of God issufficient for us

If you go against the misinterpritation of Islam then only way left to you is tointerprit it in the best knowledge and wisdom of an age, regardless to the notion that you

are going to revolt, but you are going to correct, not by your own will but in accordence

with the spirit of Quran.

Ibn-i-Taimiyya, born five years after the fall of Baghdad in 1263 AD sparkled as the

first revolt against the finality of schools. He claimed freedom of Ijtihad for himself.Suyuti in 16th century claimed the privilage of Ijtihad with addition that, at the end of

each century there must be a renovator. But the fullest expression of Ibn-i-Taimiyya is

reported to have started as a movement in 18th century from the sands of Nejd,described

by Macdonald as the cleanest spot in the decadent world of Islam. Nearly all themovements in Asia and Africa got their direct or indirect inspiration from the same

movement of Muhammad Ibn-i-Abdul Wahab who born in 1700 AD and studied in

Madina. This movement was the great turn,though inwardly too was conservative in itsown fashion, because its vision of past was wholly uncritical and falls back on the

traditions of Prophet (SAW) and appeared more conservative than supporters of Fiqh.

Written by

Nazir Ahmad

(Lecturer in English,GPGC,Haripur)