Part One: SEERAH (Biographical Sketch) CHAPTER

C:\Users\Admin\Dropbox\The Message - Material of Maulana\16. Books and Review\Apa's Books\Life And 72 topic. Starting with Shafi’s book Al-Umm, a great number of books have been written to date on this subject. According to these books, Mujtahid is of two kinds: Mutlaq (independent/unrestricted) and Muqayyad (dependent/restricted). Sunni Muslims in general recognise only four independent Mujtahid in Islamic history. First, Abu Hanifah (81-150 A.H.), with whom the Hanafi school of law is identified. Secondly, Malik ibn Anas (94-179), the founder of the Maliki School of Law, thirdly, Ash Shafii (150205), who is considered the founder of the Shafii School of Law, and lastly, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (164-241) the originator of the Hanbali School of Law. In the present chapter the vastness of the literature of Usul-al Fiqh preclude the possibility of lengthy discussion of the fundamental principles of Ijtihaad. The author is mainly concerned here with showing the relevance of Ijtihaad in the contemporary world. Traditional scholars hold that, after the above mentioned four Imams, no one is authorised to practice independent Ijtihaad. But an objective study of the Quran and hadith and other relevant books surprisingly led me to the following conclusions: a) Neither in the Quran nor in the hadith is there clear evidence in favour of the traditional notion that Ijtihaad is no longer allowed or required. b) None of the four Imams mentioned above ever claimed that the succeeding generations could do nothing but follow them, without ever feeling the need to attempt an independent Ijtihaad on any given subject. c) A considerable number of scholars, right from the earlier period to the present day have not only encouraged Ijtihaad but have also strongly criticised the notion of taqlid (as opposed to Ijtihaad). Among them are the names of scholars as great as (1) Ahmad ibn Hanbal, (2) Ibn Abdus-Salam, (3) As-Suyuti (4) Al-Shawkani (5) Bahrul Uloom Abdul Ali (6) Grand Shaykh Al-Azhar M. Al Maraghi. In view of these facts the whole of this chapter is devoted to examining (a) What is Ijtihaad in its applied form and (b) What are the areas or problems