ijtihadn.
/ˌɪdʒtiːˈhad/, /ˌɪdʒtiːˈhɑːd/, U.S. /ˌɪdʒtiˈhæd/, /ˌɪdʒtiˈhɑd/ Islam.
The exercising of discretionary judgement (traditionally by a mujtahid) in order to deduce a law or rule of conduct which is not self-evident in the scriptural sources; the right to exercise this judgement (sometimes figuratively described as a gate, either closed or open depending on whether such a right is thought to exist). Cf. mujtahid n.Such judgement is generally now more widely exercised in Shia Islam than in Sunni Islam.
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1808 J. H. Harrington tr. Aboo Bukr bin-i Musô-ood Budáyiâ in Asiatick Researches 10 495 The legal meaning of Ijtihád is the diligent exercise of the mental faculties in search of the thing desired... A person whose general rectitude exceeds his deviations from the right, may lawfully practice Ijtihâd, or disquisition.
1881 W. S. Blunt in Fortn. Rev. 30 332 They know that as long as there is an Ottoman caliph..moral progress is impossible, that the ijtahad cannot be re-opened, and that no such reformation of doctrine and practice can be attempted.
1900 Jrnl. Soc. Compar. Legislation 2 34 The Prophet himself had approved of the ijtihad, or constructive effort, by which one of his officers said he proposed to deal with cases for which there was no rule provided.
1949 Jrnl. Compar. Legislation & Internat. Law 31 23 A clear distinction has indeed been made between rules resting on Qur'anic or Traditional texts and those based in ijtihad, and the suggestion has been made that while the former are immutable..the latter are capable of indefinite adaptation and amendment.
1982 Times 30 June (Saudi Arabia Special Rep.) p. iv/5 The Hanbalis had never accepted the view of other Sunni schools of thought that the ‘gate of ijtihad’..had been closed.
2006 Nation (Pakistan) (Nexis) 7 Apr. The Quran and the Sunnah should constitute the point of reference for all advances through ijtehad.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1808