Fiqh in its root signifies “conception, comprehension.” Thus Muḥammad prayed for Ibn Masʿūd: “May God make him comprehend (Faqqaha-hu), and make him know the interpretation of the Qurʾān.” Muḥammad in his quality of Judge and chief of the Believers decided, without appeal or contradiction, all the affairs of the people. His sayings served as a guide to the Companions. After the death of the Prophet the first K͟halīfahs acted on the authority of the Traditions. Meanwhile the Qurʾān and the Sunnah, the principal elements of religion and legislation, became little by little the subject of controversy. It was then that men applied themselves vigorously to the task of learning by heart the Qurʾān and the Traditions, and then that jurisprudence became a separate science. No science had as yet been systematically taught, and the early Musalmāns did not possess books which would serve for such teaching. A change soon, however, took place. In the year in which the great jurisconsult of Syria died (A.H. 80), Nuʿmān ibn S̤ābit, surnamed Abū Ḥanīfah, was born. He is the most celebrated of the founders of the schools of jurisprudence, a science which ranks first in all Muslim seats of learning. Until that time and for thirty years later the learned doctors had all their knowledge by heart, and those who possessed good memories were highly esteemed. Many of them knew by heart the whole Qurʾān with the comments made on it by the Prophet and by the Companions; they also knew the Traditions and their explanations, and all the commands which proceed from the Qurʾān and the Sunnah. Such men enjoyed the right of Mujtahidūn. They transmitted their knowledge to their scholars orally. It was not till towards the middle of the second century of the Hijrah that treatises on the different branches of the Law were written, after which six schools (Maẕhabs) of jurisprudence were formed. The founders (all Imāms of the first class) were Abū Ḥanīfah, the Imāmu ʾl-Aʿz̤am or greatest Imām (A.H. 150), Sufyān as̤-S̤aurī (A.H. 161), Mālik (A.H. 179), ash-Shāfiʿī (A.H. 204), Ibn Ḥanbal (A.H. 241), and the Imām Dāwūd az̤-Z̤āhirī (A.H. 270). The two sects founded by as̤-S̤aurī and az̤-Z̤āhirī became extinct in the eighth century of the Hijrah. The other four still remain. These men venerated one another. The younger ones speak with great respect of the elder. Thus ash-Shāfiʿī says: “No one in the world was so well versed in jurisprudence as Abū Ḥanīfah was, and he who has read neither his works nor those of his disciples knows nothing of jurisprudence.” Ibn Ḥanbal, when sick, wore a shirt which had belonged to ash-Shāfiʿī, in order that he might be cured of his malady; but all this did not prevent them starting schools of their own, for the right of Ijtihād is granted to those who are real Mujtahidūn.
There are three degrees of Ijtihād:
1. Ijtihād fī ʾsh-Sharʿ, absolute independence in legislation.
2. Ijtihād fī ʾl-Maẕhab, authority in the judicial systems founded by the Mujtahidūn of the first class.
3. Ijtihād fī ʾl-Masāʾil, authority in cases which have not been decided by the authors of the four systems of jurisprudence.
The first is called a complete and absolute authority, the second relative, the third special.
(1) Ijtihād fī ʾsh-Sharʿ.
Absolute independence in legislation is the gift of God. He to whom it is given when seeking to discover the meaning of the Divine Law is not bound to follow any other teacher. He can use his own judgment. This gift was bestowed on the jurisconsults of the first, and to some of the second and third centuries. The Companions, however, who were closely connected with the Prophet, having transmitted immediately to their posterity the treasures of legislation, are looked upon as Mujtahidūn of much higher authority than those of the second and third centuries. Thus Abū Ḥanīfah says: “That which comes to us from the Companions is on our head and eyes (i.e. to be received with respect): as to that which comes from the Tābiʿūn, they are men and we are men.”
Since the time of the Tābiʿūn this degree of Mujtahid has only been conferred on the six great Imāms before mentioned. Theoretically any Muslim can attain to this degree, but it is one of the principles of jurisprudence that the confirmation of this rank is dependent on many conditions, and so no one now gains the honour. These conditions are:—
1. The knowledge of the Qurʾān and all that is related to it; that is to say, a complete knowledge of Arabic literature, a profound acquaintance with the orders of the Qurʾān and all their sub-divisions, their relationship to each other and their connection with the orders of the Sunnah. The candidate should know when and why each verse of the Qurʾān was written, he should have a perfect acquaintance with the literal meaning of the words, the speciality or generality of each clause, the abrogating and abrogated sentences. He should be able to make clear the meaning of the “obscure” passages (Mutashābih), to discriminate between the literal and the allegorical, the universal and the particular.