Al-Nass wa l-ijtihad (book)
 | |
| Author | Al-Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din |
|---|---|
| Original title | النَّص و الاِجتِهاد |
| Language | Arabic |
| Series | 1 vol. |
| Genre | Theology |
| Publisher | Dar al-Qari • Uswa Publication • Dar al-Ta'aruf • Maktabat Narjis |
| English translation | |
| En. title | Al-Nass Wal-Ijtihad |
| En. publisher | Ansariyan Publications, Qom |
| En. full text | www.al-islam.org/al-nass-wal-ijtihad |
Al-Naṣṣ wa l-ijtihād (Arabic: النَّص و الاِجتِهاد) or al-Ijtihād fī muqābil al-naṣṣ (Arabic: الاجتهاد فی مقابل النص) is a book concerning imamate and caliphate written by Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-'Amili, a Lebanese scholar.
The book is concerned with proofs for the superiority of Imam Ali (a). It cites about hundred cases in which caliphs and some companions opposed the Qur'an and explicit words of the Prophet (s). Without evaluating these oppositions, the author only cites them from the main Sunni sources.
Al-Sayyid Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim wrote a relatively long introduction to the book. The book was translated into Persian and English. The Persian translator of the book is Ali Dawani.
Author
Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi al-'Amili (b. 1290/1873-4 - d. 1377/1957) was a Shi'a mujtahid in Lebanon and an advocate of the proximity of Islamic sects. He made a great deal of efforts to unify Shi'as and Sunnis and to solve the roots of their disagreements. He was also a leader of the Lebanese Independence Movement. He wrote this book when he was about eighty years old.
His best-known book is al-Muraja'at which concerns the immediate succession of Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali (a) as the first Imam after the Prophet (s).
Title
The word, "nass", means an explicit word or sentence whose meaning is obvious, having no more than one meaning in a way that it cannot be interpreted in different ways.[1] The word, "ijtihad", literally means to try and attempt, and terminologically it means the deduction of the rulings of sharia from reliable sources.[2]
"Nass" in the title of the book refers to explicit words of God and the Prophet (s), and by "ijtihad" the terminological meaning is meant. The phrase, "ijtihad in the face of nass", is a term in principles of jurisprudence meaning to exercise one's personal opinion in the face of the explicit words of God and the Prophet (s).[3]
Contents
The book consists of eight chapters, enumerating hundred cases in which early caliphs, rulers, and some of their associates exercised "ijtihad" in the face of "nass" (that is, exercised their personal opinions in the face of explicit words by the Prophet (s)) during or after the Prophet's (s) period.[4] The author leaves the judgment to the reader. Sharaf al-Din expresses his scholarly and critical views with respect to each of these cases.[5]
These oppositions to explicit words of the Prophet (s) are of two types: some are not compatible with any principle (even according to Sunni views), and some are out of ignorance of the real ruling which were corrected after learning about the real rulings.
Below are some cases of such ijtihads (personal opinions):
Ijtihads by the First Caliph
In the first chapter of the book, Sharaf al-Din enumerates the cases in which the first caliph, Abu Bakr b. Abi Quhafa, exercised his own personal opinions in the face of explicit words by God or the Prophet (s):
- The story of Saqifa
- Opposition to the commandership of Zayd b. Haritha
- Refusal to join the army of Usama b. Zayd
- Rejecting the share of "those whose hearts are made to incline to Islam"
- Rejecting the share of "kinsmen"
- Disobeying the Prophet's (s) order to kill Dhu l-Thadya twice
- Fighting those who failed to pay zakat to him
- His overlooking Malik b. Nuwayra being killed at the command of Khalid b. Walid
- Prohibition of writing the Prophet's (s) hadiths
- Agreeing with some polytheists who wanted to take back their slaves who had converted to Islam.
Ijtihads by the Second Caliph
In the second chapter of the book, Sharaf al-Din enumerates cases in which the second caliph, 'Umar b. al-Khattab, exercised his personal opinions in the face of opposing words by God and the Prophet (s):
- Audacity in front of the Prophet (s), preventing his will to be written
- Objection to the Hudaybiyya Peace Treaty
- Objection to the Prophet (s) when he said that worshippers of God will go to the Heaven
- Prohibition of Hajj al-Tamattu'
- Prohibition of temporary marriage (mut'a)
- Heresy (bid'a) in adhan for morning prayer
- Heresy in adhan and iqama
- The third divorce
- Four takbirs in funeral prayer
- Ignorance of some obvious rulings of the sharia
- Permitting a grandfather to inherit from the dead although the departed has a brother
- Permitting an uncle to inherit from his sister's child
- 'Idda for a pregnant woman after her husband's death
- Permitting a woman whose husband is lost to get married
- Selling bondwomen who have children
- Not saying prayer when there is no water
- Prohibition of saying two rak'as of recommended prayer after the afternoon prayer
- Relocating the Maqam Ibrhaim
- Prohibition of crying for the dead
- Violating the rulings of fasting in the early days of Islam
- Drinking wine even after the revelation of Quranic verses[6] in which wine was declared as forbidden, which made the Prophet (s) so angry that he hit 'Umar with something that was in his hand
- The Prophet's (s) prohibition of killing 'Abbas b. 'Abd al-Muttalib and Banu Hashim in the Battle of Badr and 'Umar's insistence on killing them
- Killing the prisoners of the Battle of Hunayn
- Escaping the battlefield
- Inspecting the houses of Muslims
- Changing the hadd of theft, ignoring it in the case of servants who had stolen things
- Whipping a person for an extra-marital sexual intercourse although it was not proved
- Ignoring the hadd of adultery in the case of Mughira b. Shu'ba
- Exiling Dabi' al-Tamimi and hitting him because he had asked questions about difficult verses of the Qur'an
- Inappropriate exile of Nasr b. Hajjaj
- Exceeding the hadd on his son twice
- Cutting the tree of Hudaybiyya
- Umm Hani's complaint of 'Umar
- His negligence of Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan's actions
- Issuing orders that were against the sharia, and canceling them after learning that they were against the sharia
Ijtihads of the Third Caliph
In the third chapter of the book, Sharaf al-Din enumerates cases in which the third caliph, 'Uthman b. 'Affan, exercised his personal opinions in the face of explicit words by God and the Prophet (s):
- Donation from the public treasury (bayt al-mal) to his kinsmen
- Respecting people who were banished by the Prophet (s)
- Saying complete prayer on travel
Ijtihads by Aisha
In the fourth chapter of the book, Sharaf al-Din enumerates cases in which Aisha exercised her personal opinions in the case of explicit words by God and the Prophet (s):
- Saying complete prayer on travel
- Aisha's defamation of Mariya, the Prophet's (s) wife
- The Prophet's (s) marriage to Asma' Juniyya
- Hafsa and Aisha's conspiracy against the Prophet (s)
- Hafsa and Aisha ordered to make repentance
- Objection to the Prophet (s)
- Reproaching 'Uthman and ordering his murder
- Her hadiths from the Prophet (s)
- Her riot against 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a)
Ijtihads of Khalid b. Walid
- Disobeying the Prophet's (s) order
- Killing people in the Banu Judhayma tribe
Ijtihads of Mu'awiya
- Attributing Ziyad b. Abih to Abu Sufyan
- Coercing others to pledge their allegiance to Yazid
- His brutal acts in Yemen
- Killing righteous people
- Mu'awiya's and his agents' acts
- His enmity with Ali (a)
- His battle with Ali (a)
- His forging hadiths to reproach Ali (a)
- His betrayal to Imam al-Hasan (a)
In chapter seven, some ijtihads by Sunni scholars in the face of explicit words of the Qur'an and the Prophet (s) are enumerated, and in chapter eight (the epilogue) the competence of 'Ali (a) for the immediate caliphate of the Prophet (s) is discussed.
Translations and Publications
The book has frequently been different publishers under al-Nass wa l-ijtihad or al-Ijtihad fi muqabil al-nass.[7] The book was translated by Ali Dawani to Persian and was published in 1351 sh/ 1972-3 and was since then reprinted many times. It was also translated into English by Abd Allah Shahin in 2004 and was published by Ansariyan Publications.[8]
Notes
- ↑ Dihkhudā, Lughatnāma, under the word "Nass".
- ↑ Dihkhudā, Lughatnāma, under the word "Ijtihad".
- ↑ Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, Ijtihād dar muqābil-i naṣṣ, Introduction of the translator in first edition.
- ↑ Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, al-Mawsūʿat al-Imām Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn Sharaf al-Dīn, Author's sermon.
- ↑ Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, al-Naṣṣ wa al-ijtihād, p. 132-137.
- ↑ Qur'an 2:219; Qur'an 4:43.
- ↑ Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, al-Naṣṣ wa al-ijtihād, printed by Maktabat narjis.
- ↑ al-Naṣṣ wa al-ijtihād.
References
- Dihkhudā, ʿAlī Akbar. Lughatnāma. 2nd edition. Tehran: Intishārat-i Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1377 Sh.
- Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Al-Mawsūʿat al-Imām Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn Sharaf al-Dīn. volume 2. Beirut: Dār al-Muwwarikh al-ʿArabī, 1431 AH.
- Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Al-Naṣṣ wa al-ijtihād. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār al-Muwwarikh al-ʿArabī, 1431 AH.
- Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Ijtihād dar muqābil-i naṣṣ. Translated to Farsi by ʿAlī Dawānī. [n.p]. Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, [n.d].