معالم وضوابط الاجتهاد عند ابن تيمية

Abstract

This thesis critically analyzes the basic framework of ijtihad in Ibn Taymiyah's perception, starting from the concept of ijtihad, conditions of al-mujtahid, and types of ijtihad. Furthermore, the thesis points out lbn Taymiyah's understanding of maqisid al-Shari'ah ( objectives of the Shari'ah) and his objection on the restriction of necessities to only five known values of the Shari'ah. The study discusses Ibn Taymiya's jurisprudential practice in addressing contemporary issues pertaining to the people's life. This analysis is elaborated by means of comprehending the legal evidences of Ibn Taymiyah and then applying them to some jurisprudential examples. The research adopts an analytical deductive method to survey Ibn Taymiyah 's fatawa with a view to discover the directives of ijtihad in his approach that can be of great relevance to the ijtihad in our present time. From the jurisprudential examples analyzed in this dissertation, this study has identified seven directives that eventually constitute a suitable methodology of ijtihad. The most important finding of the study reveals that Ibn Taymiyah's approach on ijtihad gives primacy to the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah, which he considers inclusive and encompassing of all ahkam. That is to say no matter how unlimited and diversified particular issues might be, the general principles of all of them must go back to the texts. In this connection, he maintains that the disputed sources do not stand as independent sources to induce Shari'ah 's rulings (ahkam), but methods of understanding the scriptural texts. Thus, Ibn Taymiyah does not start from a set of pre-supposed Shari'ah objectives, instead he believes that such objectives are established by the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah under the purview of prescriptions and proscriptions ( awamir wa nawahi).