al-Qawl al-Mufid fi Adillat al-Ijtihad wa al-Taqlid
- Author died
- 1250 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Qalam
al-Qawl al-Mufīd fī Adillat al-Ijtihād wa-al-Taqlīd ("The Beneficial Discourse on the Proofs of Independent Reasoning and Blind Following") is a treatise on legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh) by the Yemeni scholar Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shawkani (d. 1250 AH / 1834 CE), dedicated to refuting blind adherence to legal schools (taqlīd) and defending the obligation and continuity of independent legal reasoning (ijtihād) .
Background and Composition
Al-Shawkani authored the work in response to an inquiry from an accomplished scholar who requested an exhaustive examination into the validity of taqlīd that would leave no lingering doubts . Because the question came from an advanced scholar, al-Shawkani structured his response according to the rules of dialectical argumentation and disputation (‘ilm al-munāẓarah) . The author completed writing the treatise in Dhu al-Hijjah 1203 AH . Al-Shawkani also refers to the treatise in his Quranic commentary Fath al-Qadir under the title al-Qawl al-Mufīd fī Ḥukm al-Taqlīd .
Structure and Core Arguments
The treatise systematically examines the arguments surrounding ijtihād and taqlīd by presenting the debate between two viewpoints, framing the discussion around what "the imitators said" (qāla al-muqallidūn) and what "the preventers said" (qāla al-māni‘ūn) .
Al-Shawkani begins by delineating the degrees of acquiring religious knowledge into three stages:
- Mastery of the Arabic linguistic disciplines .
- Knowledge of legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh) .
- Direct knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah .
He asserts that whoever attains these qualifications is obligated to exercise ijtihād in any legal question that arises . For individuals who lack the ability to reach independent reasoning, al-Shawkani argues that they are not required to adopt taqlīd of a specific jurist; rather, their duty is to seek transmitted rulings directly supported by scriptural evidence . In this model, non-specialists ask qualified scholars to convey what is established in the Quran and the Sunnah, acting upon narration (riwāyah) rather than following uncritical juristic opinion (ra’y), just as commoners did during the era of the Prophet's Companions and Successors .
Al-Shawkani defines taqlīd as accepting another's statement without knowing its textual proof and characterizes the institutionalization of school-based imitation as an illegitimate historical innovation (bid‘ah) unapproved by earlier mujtahids . To reinforce his position, he cites historical consensus and statements from early authorities rejecting taqlīd, including Ibn Abd al-Barr, Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf, and Malik ibn Anas, who insisted that their statements should only be accepted if they aligned with scripture .
Transmission and Reception
The treatise has been widely quoted by later scholars advocating direct engagement with scriptural sources, including Siddiq Hasan Khan in al-Hittah fi Dhikr al-Sihah al-Sittah . It is also preserved and published as part of al-Shawkani's collected fatwas, al-Fatḥ al-Rabbānī min Fatāwā al-Imām al-Shawkānī .
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