Ijtihād and Reform in Modern Shiʿism

Abstract New issues and contingencies have forced Muslim jurists to engage in fresh scholarly research and ijtihād in order to provide relevant guidance to their followers. This chapter initially examines the history and development of ijtihād in Shīʿīsm. It looks at how the principles and tools of ijtihād developed so as to make it more vibrant and relevant to the needs of the time. In recent times, some scholars have called for a re-evaluation of traditional ijtihād and new strategies for a new form of ijtihād. These scholars have also called for a rethinking of the hermeneutical tools inherent in Islamic legal theory (Usul al-Fiqh). The chapter will consider the views of those fuqahaʾ who argue for the renewal of ijtihād. They maintain that the interpretations of Islamic revelation were interwoven to the specificity of certain times and places. Jurists can only pronounce general principles, not rulings that are to be enforced at all times and places. For them, the real test for any legal system is its practical implementation in the community of believers. To what degree is this call for a renewed ijtihād relevant and feasible? What is the relationship between Quranic tafsir and modern-day hermeneutics? What are the tools that can be invoked in ijtihād? This chapter examines the current discourse on these topics as scholars and jurists are engaged in hermeneutic and interpretive exercises to provide a coherent re-evaluation of classical formulations and to assert an Islamic theoretical basis that will incorporate sociopolitical fatawa that are germane to modern times.