The Past, Present and Future of Shīʿī Ijtihād

Al-Mahdi Institute hosted its 6th annual fiqhī workshop on “The Past, Present and Future of Shīʿī Ijtihād” on the 5th-6th July, 2018.

This fiqhī workshop at the Al-Mahdi Institute sought to facilitate scholarship by directly addressing questions that analyse the developmental aspects of ‘Shīʿī Ijtihād’. Ijtihād, particularly in the Shīʿī milieu, has been continuously evolving in its function and application since its practice was formalised. The evolution of Shīʿī Ijtihād has been – and is being – informed by stances towards notions of Shīʿī religious authority. The workshop encouraged, and invited, paper proposals that analysed the following:

• The relationship between uṣūl al-fiqh and ijtihād; how historical and reformulist epistemic and ontological shifts within the Shīʿī legal discourse have impacted its hermeneutical standpoints and how this in turn has affected and continues to affect the practice ijtihād.
• Critical engagement with the development of orthodox Shīʿī notions of religious authority structures and their current status.
• An examination of developments in Ijtihād for Shīʿa Muslims in a western context.

The workshop, therefore hosted presenters from both traditional seminary and academic backgrounds, presenting from a range of disciplines and theological, historical and anthropological approaches – thereby enriching a multidisciplinary understanding of contemporary outlooks dealing with The Past, Present and Future of Shīʿī Ijtihād.

The participants who presented their findings at the workshop were: