Rethinking the Concepts of Ijtihād and Taqlīd in the Ḥanafī Tradition: What Did the “Closing of the Gate of Ijtihād” Actually Change?

This study examines how the concepts of ijtihād and taqlīd were perceived in the Hanafī tradition between the 4th/10th and 10th/16th centuries. It argues that from the 4th/10th to 7th/13th centuries, Hanafīs restricted the scope of the term muqallid to the laypeople without legal training and knowledge and regarded jurists who completed their legal training, and were competent to evaluate legal opinions and make choices among them on juridical grounds as mujtahid mutlaqs, even if they were affiliated with a particular legal madhhab. The study further demonstrates that this understanding of ijtihād and taqlīd gradually transformed beginning in the 7th/13th century. By the 10th/16th century, when this shift was complete, jurists affiliated with a madhhab came to be classified as muqallids rather than mujtahids, regardless of their legal expertise. Finally, the study contends that, given there was no substantial difference between jurists of the two periods in the way they engaged with fiqh and their relationship with the Ḥanafī corpus of furūʿ al-fiqh, the shift in the conception of ijtihād and taqlīd was primarily discursive, in other words, jurists who were afilliated with a madhhab, had completed their legal training, and were competent to evaluate legal opinions and make choices among them on juridical grounds were regarded as mujtahid mutlaqs during the earlier period (4th/10th–7th/13th centuries) when the former understanding prevailed, but were depicted as muqallids after the 10th/16th century when the new understanding took hold.