Advice of Scholars - IJTIHÂD AND MUJTAHID

Sayyid Abdulhakîm Arwâsî (rahmatullahi ’alaih) says in his book Ashâb-i kirâm, “İjtihâd means to work with all one’s might, to strive and to take pains. In other words, it is to strive to derive the rules to solve problems that have not been explained clearly and openly in the Qur’ân or in the hadîths by likening them to matters that have been explained clearly and in detail. This can be done only by our Prophet (sall Allahu ’alaihi wa sallam), by all his Ashâb and, from among other Muslims, by those who have been promoted to the grade of ijtihâd; these exalted people are called Mujtahid. Allahu ta’âlâ commands us to perform ijtihâd in many places of the Qur’ân. Then, it is a binding rule for mujtahids to perform ijtihâd.