Islamic Reformation and the Tools of Ijtihad

Abstract This chapter argues that jurists can employ various tools like public welfare and the principle of no harm to either modify earlier legal enactments or formulate new ones. It contends that these devices can provide only partial and temporary amendments to existing legal injunctions. The chapter also examines the role of custom (‘urf) in the reformation process and shows that the Qur’an presumes that its legal rulings will be understood based on prevalent customary practices and values. Contemporary jurists who insist on enforcing earlier edicts are, in effect, validating pre-Islamic Arabian cultural values and imposing them on contemporary Muslims. The chapter also argues that some of the laws that were instituted in a distinct cultural context will have to be revised especially when they encounter a different cultural framework. It also explores how local custom that is endorsed by people of sound mind can legislate laws in today’s diasporic context.