The Rank Of Mujtahid

[Ismail Dalbani]

Bismillah Ar-RaHman Ar-RaHeem wa alHamdu lillahi rabil ^alameen wa aSalatu wassalamu ^ala sayyidina MuHammadin ashrafil mursaleen wa Habeebi rabil ^alameen.

I remind you of what lies in store for those people going to Muslim nations and that is a great wealth of knowledge in all subjects of Islamic studies.

Among the noble scholars were: Imam Malik, Imam ash-Shafi^iyy, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal, and Imam Abu Hanifah.

These scholars reached the rank of Mujtahid. Their knowledge and ijtihad were of great benefit to Muslims.

Ijtihad is deducing religious edicts and rulings for which there is no explicit judgement in the Qur'an or in theHadith. 

The top scholars of this nation had differences in their ijtihad, regarding some matters where there is no explicit text or scholarly consensus about the judgement.

Ijtihad is reserved for those who are qualified to deduce judgements from the religious texts; it is not simply open to any person.  Otherwise, the true religious knowledge would be lost and the Religion would be corrupted; a matter which does not befit the Religion of Islam.

All of these scholars believe that Allah is One and that He has no partner.  He is not a body and is not attributed with any bodily characteristics, He has neither a beginning nor an end.

May Allah protect us and keep us steadfast. And Allah knows best