Abdal Hakim Murad - The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology

244 Umar F. Abd-Allah
neutral. When tobacco-smoking first appeared in the Muslim world,
some jurists classified it as a forbidden bid‘a, while others held it to be
reprehensible, depending on their estimation of its effect on health and
other considerations. The establishment of educational institutions was
assessed as an ‘‘obligatory’’ innovation (there had been no such institutions
during the prophetic period). Shading marketplaces from the heat
of the summer sun was a ‘‘recommended’’ bid‘a, while novel refinements
in food and drink were ‘‘neutral’’ as long as they were not
excessive.
Ijtihad, on the other hand, was a dynamic, forward-looking component
of the law. As Weiss observes, it demonstrated that God’s law
was not meant to be passively received and applied. 21 Santillana notes in
his analysis of the ancillary instruments of ijtihad that the point of
departure of the entire system was that God had instituted laws for the
well-being of society and the individual. Human beings were not made
for the law; the law was made for human beings. 22
The domain of ijtihad encompassed non-ritual matters, since they
had legal rationales and were open to review and modification according
to circumstance. One maxim (qa‘ida) of Islamic law stated: ‘‘Modifications
of legal judgements will not be denounced when they reflect
changing times, places, and circumstances.’’ 23 A famous statement of
the Prophet declared: ‘‘If a judge performs ijtihad and gets the right
answer, he receives two rewards. If he is [honestly] mistaken, he
gets one. ’’ 24
Ijtihad was seen as a standing obligation in Islamic law; to neglect it
was not merely a cause for censure but also an act of disobedience to
God. 25 The widespread notion that the ‘‘door of ijtihad was closed’’ in
later centuries as a matter of theological principle has been shown in
recent scholarship to be without historical foundation. 26
islamic law and classical theology
Opinions differ regarding the influence of theology on Islamic law.
Fazlur Rahman stresses that the origins of theology and of law were distinct,
and that even in the case of the Mu‘tazila there is no evidence that
their theology affected their positions in positive law. 27 The profound
influence of kalam was in classical legal theory; by contrast, in all legal
schools, the content of positive law remained essentially untouched,
regardless of the influence kalam was wielding upon legal theory.
Schacht notes, however, that since the earliest times a close conjunction
existed between the pursuit of theology and the eponyms of
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