All subjects of rulings can be influenced and changed by time and place in the general sense, and when the subject and criteria of rulings change, the verdict necessarily changes, because the ratio of the subject to the verdict is similar to the ratio of cause to effect, and this includes all rulings on worship and transactions in the general sense. And we have only one fixed injunctive ruling, which is the obligation to preserve Islam.
There are three schools of jurisprudence and Ijtihad regarding the effect of time and place on Ijtihad and changing, generalizing, and allocating the subject of rulings (in non-fixed rulings):
1- Pure traditional Ijtihad and jurisprudence
Proponents of this jurisprudential thought believe that any change in the subject of rulings is not permissible and should only be relied on the appearance of verses and hadiths, and for reason – in deriving and extracting rulings – is not only a place but relying on it is a sin, And the rule of rational implication must be forgotten. This jurisprudential thought is the same school of jurisprudence that has been proposed by the Akhbaris, and the head of this group is Mohammad Amin Astarabadi. The result of this school of jurisprudence is the isolation of Islam and Islamic jurisprudence, as a result of which, Islamic jurisprudence will lose its maturity and dynamism, and it would seem that Islam is apathetic to the changes in society and the requirements of time and emerging issues; And on this jurisprudential basis, time and place have no role in ijtihad.
Imam Khomeini’s view on Ijtihad and pure traditional jurisprudence
Deceased Imam (RA) with regard to all aspects of this jurisprudential thought, wrote in response to one of the scholars of Qom: “And the proof at shooting and horse-riding competitions belongs to archery and horse-riding and anything like that and it is the same today. As you, Your Excellency, understand from hadiths and narrations, the new civilization must be completely destroyed and the people must be homeless or live in the desert forever.” And then he writes about the legitimacy of the Anfal [1] on the Shiites: “Anfal, which has become halal for the Shiites, even today, the Shiites can destroy the forests and destroy what is causing the health of the environment without any obstacles with so-called machines! And endanger the lives of millions of people and no one has the right to stop them!” He opposes the deficiencies of Shiite jurisprudence as he said that Shiite jurisprudence is the richest in the world.
Rulings on upcoming issues
The existence of upcoming issues at any time does not mean that these matters do not have rules and regulations in Islam; therefore, as stated before, there is no occurrence without law; Rather, all these matters are subject to the generalities and principles of Islamic law. It is the duty of the faqih and the mujtahid to apply the general rules to the details and to refer the branches to the principles by accurately recognizing the two elements of time and place in ijtihad; As Imam Reza and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon them) said: “We have to lay down the fundamentals and you have to branch out.”
Shahid Motahari, in his commentary on the written of Imam al-Mahdi (as) who said: “For the upcoming issues refer to narrators of our hadiths” writes: ” the upcoming issues are fresh matters that time to time and century to century happen … and Islamic jurists came to answer.”
Lack of authority of ijtihad of the personal verdict
Imam Khomeini’s jurisprudential thought about the role of time and place in ijtihad does not mean that he, like Sunni scholars, believes in taswib (ratification) or considers ijtihad by the personal verdict to be valid, because taswib is valid when there is a legal vacuum, and according to Shiite jurists, there is no legal vacuum; Likewise, ijtihad by the personal verdict is usually practical when there is a legal vacuum so that “ijtihad by the personal verdict” emerges and plays a greater role. Shahid Motahari writes: ” the forbidden ijtihad, in our (Shiite) opinion, is legislating the law, that is, the mujtahid makes a ruling that is not in the Holy Qur’an and traditions with his own mind and his own opinion, and this in the term” ijtihad by the personal verdict. This ijtihad is forbidden by the Shiites, but the Sunnis consider it permissible.”
Sources of ijtihad
The role of time and place in ijtihad does not mean that these two elements are considered as one of the sources of ijtihad; Because in traditional jurisprudence and ijtihad, that Imam believes in and inherited from the elders of his predecessors, the elements of time and place are not known as the source of ijtihad. Professor Mohammad Ibrahim Janati writes: “Imam Khomeini, like other Imami mujtahids, accepts sources of ijtihad are the book (Qur’an), tradition, consensus, and reason, and in this regard was no different from other Imami mujtahids. And same as prior scholars didn’t admit conjectural sources such as istiḥsān (juristic approbation).”
The role of reason in inferring rulings
According to this jurisprudential thought of Imam Khomeini, the intellect has a major role in inferring the rulings and discovering the criteria of the rulings. Hence, it has been proposed as an ijtihad source. Of course, according to this idea, the intellect does not have the position that Sunni scholars believe in ijtihad by the personal verdict, nor is it so ineffective that the Akhbaris consider it a sin to follow it.
The role of custom in recognizing customary subjects
The role of the custom in identifying customary matters is very important and effective; however, the custom is not considered as a source of ijtihad. Imam Khomeini’s fatwa on playing chess is based on custom.
Revising the social rulings of Islam due to changing of the subject
It has been stated before that the relation between the verdict and the subject is either the relation of cause and effect or quasi-cause and effect, there is no doubt that any change in the subject will affect the verdict. In other words, if the subject is changed, then the verdict is inescapably changed. The significant question that arises here is whether there is a relevance between the role of time and place in ijtihad with the famous hadith: “The Halal of Muhammad will be Halal until the Day of the Judgment and Haram of Muhammad will be Haram until the Day of the Judgment?” Does not this jurisprudential basis cause the lawful of God to be forbidden and the forbidden of God to be lawful? In response, it should be said that this jurisprudential thinking is not only inconsistent with the above-mentioned hadith, but also in harmony with it.
The influence of time and place in Ijtihad does not mean changing the nature of divine rulings
The effect of time and place in ijtihad does not mean changing the nature of divine rules; Divine rulings are always fixed and will never change, it is the subject that changes because of variation of internal and external conditions, characteristics and provision; then, due to the appropriateness of the verdict and the subject, the verdict is forcibly changed. Imam Khomeini, who has precise knowledge of the above hadith and the relationship between verdict and subject, says: “Time and place are the two decisive elements in Ijtihad: an issue that had an old ruling, apparently the same issue in the relations governing politics and society and the economy of a system may take a new ruling, meaning that accurate knowledge of economic, social and political relations of the first issue which in appearance is no different from the old, has really become a new subject that necessarily demands a new verdict.”
No vulnerability of rulings for changes
The role of time and place in Ijtihad does not mean that the jurist must follow any conditions and circumstances and submits the rulings and Islamic jurisprudence to the changes and events of the society; rather, it is up to the jurist to put events and changes in the path of Islamic rulings and to comply with Islamic laws.
By Benyamin Hamrahi
NOTE:
[1] It is movable and immovable plunders and gifts that have been given to the Prophet (PBUHH) by God and then to the Imams (AS).
