2. He must know the Qurʾān by heart with all the Traditions and explanations.
3. He must have a perfect knowledge of the Traditions, or at least of three thousand of them.
He must know their source, history, object, and their connection with the laws of the Qurʾān. He should know by heart the most important Traditions.
4. A pious and austere life.
5. A profound knowledge of all the sciences of the Law.
Should anyone now aspire to such a degree another condition would be added, viz.:—
6. A complete knowledge of the four schools of jurisprudence.
The obstacles, then, are almost insurmountable. On the one hand, there is the severity of the ʿUlamāʾ, which requires from the candidate things almost impossible; on the other, there is the attachment of the ʿUlamāʾ to their own Imāms, for should such a man arise no one is bound now to listen to him. The Imām Ibn Ḥanbal said: “Draw your knowledge from whence the Imāms drew theirs, and do not content yourself with following others, for that is certainly blindness of sight.” Thus the schools of the four Imāms remain intact after a thousand years have passed, and so the ʿUlamāʾ recognise since the time of these Imāms no Mujtahid of the first degree. Ibn Ḥanbal was the last.
The rights of the man who attained to this degree were very important. He was not bound to be a disciple of another, he was a mediator between the Law and his followers, for whom he established a system of legislation, without anyone having the right to make any objection. He had the right to explain the Qurʾān, the Sunnah, and the Ijmāʿ, according as he understood them. He used the Prophet’s words, whilst his disciples only used his. Should a disciple find some discrepancy between a decision of his own Imām and the Qurʾān or Traditions, he must abide by the decision of the Imām. The Law does not permit him to interpret after his own fashion. When once the disciple has entered the sect of one Imām he cannot leave it and join another. He loses the right of private judgment, for only a Mujtahid of the first class can dispute the decision of one of the Imāms. Theoretically, such Mujtahidūn may still arise; but, as we have already shown, practically they do not.
(2.) Ijtihād fī ʾl-Maẕhab.