THE NEED FOR A TRANSFORMATIVE MINDSET

Shah Waliullah (d. 1762), a distinguished Islamic scholar and theologian from India, addressed the concept of ijtihad (independent reasoning) and the qualifications of a mujtahid (one who exercises ijtihad) in his book, Aqd al-Jayyid fi Ahkam al-Ijtihad wa al-Taqlid (p. 4). He outlined that a mujtahid must possess five essential types of knowledge:

1.        Knowledge of the Book of God (Quran),

2.        Knowledge of the Sunnah of the Prophet,

3.        Knowledge of the statements of early scholars, encompassing both consensus and disagreements,

4.        Proficiency in the Arabic language,

5.        Understanding of qiyas (analogical reasoning) and istinbat (inference).

While Shah Waliullah and other scholars accurately outlined these qualifications, they are primarily applicable to restricted forms of ijtihad. For unrestricted ijtihad, these qualifications alone are insufficient.