Taqlidi versus Ijtihadi approaches: The Prophet based, Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam

Taqlidi versus Ijtihadi approaches: The Prophet based his decisions on what is possible and what is not

By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

(Translated by Yoginder Sikand)

But contemporary Muslim societies present a completely different picture. In modern times, their intellectual development has almost come to a halt. This is because they have developed a taqlidi, as opposed to ijtihadi, way of thinking, and consider ijtihad to be almost a sin. Many Muslims mistakenly believe that in terms of religious perspectives, the ulema of the past have accomplished all that there was to, and that today our task is simply to study the books that they wrote and strictly follow them.

This approach is a major hurdle in the path of our intellectual progress. In this regard, Muslims can adopt one of two positions: to recognise, like Shaw did with regard to Shakespeare, that their stature might be less than that of the ulema of the past, but that, despite this, they are standing on the latter's shoulders; or to believe that because their stature is less than that of the ulema of the past, they must remain forever at the latter's feet.

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