Published Paper


The Classification of the Levels of the Jurists Devised by IBN Kamal Pasha: A Review

Mohammad Rabiul Alam
Lecturer, Department of Islamic Studies, University of Chittagong, Chattogram, Bangladesh
Page: 803-815
Published on: 2024 June

Abstract

The basic laws of Islamic Sharia are contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah. If there is no detailed information in those two sources, mujtahid (jurists) will research by using their intelligence to solve any problem. Ijtihad  is a term of  the Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the Qur'an and Sunnah. The opposite of ijtihad is taqlid (imitation). A person who applies ijtihad is called a mujtahid. To become a mujtahid, one needs to be qualified to derive legal rulings from the primary sources: the Quran, the Sunna, and other sources of Islamic jurisprudence. Moreover, not all mujtahids are of the same level; rather, there are several categories or ranks of mujtahids. It is necessary to know about the ranks. Knowing the level of the mujtahid makes it easier to prefer one interpretation over another.There are several lists of hierarchies of mujtahids. The list written by Ibn Kamal Pasha (d. 1534) is quite famous among them. It is followed throughout the Hanafi madhhab (school of thought); but according to us, we have different observations about the hierarchy of this list. It contains various inconsistencies. Despite this, Islamic jurists have been following it for four hundred years. As a result, it has a negative impact on the Islamic society, especially in the Indian subcontinent. Because of this stratification, some Hanafi scholars believe that the scope of ijhitad is closed. Now there is no opportunity for ijtihad on any matter. This article reviews Ibn Kamal Pasha's classification using qualitative methods. According to us, this hierarchy is not only the hierarchy of mujtahids; rather, the hierarchy of mujtahids, jurists and general scholars. Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad are the mujtahid of the first level.

 

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