8. There are other requirements as well.

• Is every Mujtahid correct in his Ijtihad? Most ‘ulema’ say a mujtahid may be correct in his ijtihad but not necessarily in his opinion. There is no guarantee that everyone is right in his opinion. If someone claims that everyone is right in his opinion then he will be going against the following hadith of RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wa Sallam. ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas narrated, "When the Hakim makes Ijtihad and is correct, he will receive two rewards; while he who does so and is incorrect will receive one reward." (alBukhari) Therefore, if the opinion is wrong, the mujtahid is still rewarded. We can deduce from this hadith that a Mujtahid is fallible. A student of knowledge should try his best to find out what is right and what is wrong i.e. look for the truth. So we cannot say that all the madhahib are correct, but we can say that they are all valid. If we say all the madhahib are correct, then we will be accepting all the contradictory opinions. This is very confusing and justifies people jumping from one madhab to the other, following their desires, and convenience. However, the methodologies used by each madhab are valid. So if we chose to follow a madhab, we will be following a right methodology but the opinion may not be correct, and if we chose to stick to the opinion of the madhab, then may Allah subhaanahu wa ta'aala reward us for that. • Is Ijtihad possible today? There are people who are Mujtahid today, and it is possible for ‘ulema’ to arrive at this level. However, the mujtahideen are among the most humble people on earth and therefore, they do not expose themselves to the Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 108

public eye. In order to find them you have to seek them out – they may be at some classical schools or in little known remote areas. Today, Fiqh has been infiltrated by state supported mufteen, but these are like political positions rather than real fatwa positions. No one can really claim to be a mujtahid and if they do, then they have to prove their Fiqh. They can claim to be a muqallid but not mujtahid because if they do so, this will somehow affect their credibility. However, collective Ijtihad is possible, and easy to arrive at today. Conferences and gatherings take place where scholars of different specialties discuss rulings and arrive at a collective ijtihad. This is like a group ijtihad, and this form of ijtihad becomes the responsibility of the group, not the responsibility of individuals like it used to be in the past. With regards to absolute Ijtihad (which is a single person making Ijtihad), it is possible but very difficult to achieve. • Rulings of Talfeeq Talfeeq is mixing between opinions in order to get your own madhab so as to make things easy on yourself. Practicing talfeeq implies following the concession of all the madhahib. People choose rulings from different madhahib according to when it is convenient (an example would be following Ibn Hazm’s ruling on music but not following his ruling on praying Salaah in congregation). These concessions may be a mistake on the part of the madhab so the practice of Talfeeq is haram, and a deviation. • The advantages and disadvantages of allowing Ijtihad Advantages