Note: Dr. Zahra Akhwan Saraf is a university professor and a long-time researcher in the field of jurisprudence and the Qur’an. In recent years, in addition to Quranic researches, he has also shown interest in jurisprudential and fundamental researches. Akhwan was a student of great professors such as Ayatollah Montazeri, Ayatollah Garami and Ostad Alidoost, and he has been teaching Islamic sciences for many years in Qom district and universities of this city. Below we read the note of this university professor about the challenges of holding on to the public and applying it in solving contemporary jurisprudence issues.
1. The meaning of ijtihad and the reason for its need
The principle of the necessity of continuity of ijtihad in jurisprudence in all eras does not require any argument and is agreed upon in the contemporary scientific world. But it is important to have a correct understanding of this necessity. The answer to the question, “Continuous ijtihad is necessary to achieve what?” It will be decisive in our other scientific steps.
Are we looking to revise the foundations and evidences so that we can find out as a result of this revision, according to a reason and address, exactly which ruling belongs to exactly which subject and what were its limits and limitations? For example, if the basis of our special ijtihad in accepting the hadiths or in resolving their conflicts or in allocating the appearances of the Qur’an to the Sunnah or…, instead of the basis of A of the predecessors, becomes the basis of B, then we will understand that the address of C, from the first, established what ruling for what issue. Is?
Dr. Zahra Akhwan Saraf, professor of the field and university
Or is this not the only goal of continuous ijtihad, but we are actually looking to know what advices and obligations are directed to the contemporary believer as a result of Shari’i evidence? It is certain that this duty cannot be predetermined by a fixed procedure for all times and places, and we can only seek to discover that fixed duty in dynamic jurisprudence. The caveats of such a promise, besides being clear to a large extent, have been discussed in detail by scholars. Presumably, ijtihad in every era and time and place conditions and… – which we call historical conditions for short and permissible – requires religious advice to a believer in the same conditions – at least in some form, even if not personal and partial – to discover Therefore, the continuity of ijtihad, rather than re-reading the principles, methods and rules of understanding evidence – including evidence – should study and adapt the needs of specific people or specific societies of each age, otherwise there would be no need for continuous re-reading in this way; That is, we do not do ijtihad exclusively for the purpose of once again understanding with our premises and principles what ruling the Prophet (pbuh) had determined for those audiences at that time, but – in order to understand:
Is the matter in front of us under Sharia advice or not? And if so, what exactly is that advice?
Or is a believer today under a duty due to a religious reason or not? And if so, what exactly is that task?
Which of the above two aspects is the main question facing jurisprudence? Or should he analyze all the evidence attributed to the Sharia, lest he is assigned a duty for some reason and he does not understand? It is well known that a Muslim should learn the issues he needs and suffers from; However, which of the above two sections is the required issue, it is worth investigating, and perhaps the words of the scholars in this regard are based on the first one, not that it is necessary to consider all the texts in the chapters of the existing jurisprudence books, which may be more than what is required. Don’t have comprehensiveness and hindrance.
Once, only when we don’t need continuous ijtihad, in the second sense, to believe that all Shari’a recommendations are exactly the same as they were for the audience; Which, of course, is a mistake.
Dr. Zahra Akhwan Saraf, professor of the field and university
Dr. Zahra Akhwan Saraf, professor of the field and university
2. Challenges of contemporary jurisprudence
Constant reconstruction and updating of jurisprudence is a requirement of dynamic jurisprudence and ijtihad in the true sense. The characteristic of the contemporary era is the remarkable acceleration of human and world developments and related knowledge, and this puts contemporary jurisprudence in a position to respond to many challenges. This phenomenon is not specific to jurisprudence but is related to all human knowledge to the extent that “understanding the need to restore and restore all these knowledge” is considered one of the main indicators of the modern era.
3. Generalization of the meanings of texts
With the above two introductions, solving the challenges of contemporary jurisprudence to a large extent depends on the accuracy in generalizing the Shari’a texts or tamask to the public and their application. Anke’s explanation: From a rational point of view, it is only possible to hold on to aspects of the inclusion of a word that that word was in the position of its expression. As the status of expression is limited by verbal evidences such as taqiyd, it may also be limited by non-verbal evidences. Considering the fact that intellectuals take into account the dignity of affairs in their speech and justifying their speeches, and also that Shari’i texts are dependent on their historical conditions[1] and also that Shari’i texts mainly have the dignity of descent and a specific direction of issuance, for example, following and as a question It has been stated that in order to understand the scope of any statement, one must know all the contexts and conditions of its issuance and then extract the desired principle. After the general form or application of a text – which is directed to a specific audience in specific circumstances and issued in specific circumstances and for example in response to a specific question – its inclusion cannot be used for the circle that the words of that text have the capacity to cover. So, by knowing these fields and knowing the developments of the various aspects raised in the ruling and the relevant issue, it is possible to know which elements of that Shariah advice are transferred from the conditions of issuance to the contemporary conditions and what kind of advice each of them constitutes in the current issue. In addition, even if the whole order or a part of it is related to a specific situation, considering that Shari’a texts are verbal proof for us, even if the person of a ruling is not directly used in the contemporary believer’s practice, any use and extraction of the general message from It may be able to adapt to the current situation.
4. Qur’an, Prophetic Traditions and Imams’ Traditions (AS)
Here, the difference between Quranic texts and narrative texts is worth noting. The Qur’anic text was revealed once and cannot be repeated. In the theological foundations of our ijtihad, it is clear that the Qur’an or Taqal Akbar is a general divine authority for all times and places. So the principle in the Qur’anic text is inclusive of all audiences, even if they are not familiar with it. The prophetic tradition can be divided into two types, the Prophet (PBUH) besides being a preacher and expounder of the Qur’an and from this point of view, he established a tradition that is a general proof for everyone, the proof of the imam of the time and the smaller proof for his contemporaries. and in this respect, a tradition similar to the traditions of the infallible imams was issued by him. Paying attention to the universality of the Qur’an’s explanation on the one hand and the philosophy of the existence and repetition of divine proofs in all ages on the other hand, requires that the principle in the first part should be generalization and in the second part, it should be reserved for the scholars, unless in each case, there is a proof of to disagree The tradition of the infallible imams is more about questions related to the conditions of their own audience, and naturally, any comprehensive use of them must be documented with a reason that shows our unity with the audience in the matter and ruling, especially since the traditions are based on non-verbal evidences such as the status of the question and Capabilities and conditions of his society and… rely on.
In addition, according to Muslim scholars, the Holy Qur’an is the constitution, and the legal provisions and notes and what is directly used in Muslim practice are obtained from other evidences, such as the traditions of the imams of the ages; However, since the same constitution is expressed in a historical format and with a specific audience, in order to have the ability to adapt to the contemporary era, it must be abstracted from the historical characteristics and, so to speak, culturally translated.
5. So far, it has become clear that the “attribution of judgment to its own case” is appropriate. It is clear that here it is not meant to assign the judgment to the addressee, for example, but the mentioned interpretation refers to the necessity of examining all the conditions and contexts of issuing the text. Now we must pay attention to the obstacles. In front of this requirement, obstacles such as “Halal Muhammad is lawful forever until the Day of Judgment and Haram is forbidden forever until the Day of Resurrection” may be raised. The fact is that such texts cannot be considered an obstacle to the above; because all the words in them are “halal and haram of Muhammad (pbuh)”; It means what His Holiness has considered as halal or haram; And here there is a doubt whether, for example, the said respect is given to the developed subject, despite all the new punishments, or it is out of it in a specialized or allocated way. Therefore, the aforementioned content has nothing to do with such texts.
[1] This word here represents a concept of both history and geography and other conditions.
This article is part of the file “New Evidence in Contemporary Jurisprudence” and will be prepared and published in collaboration with Ijtihad Network.