Abstract
Following the triumph of the over the Akhbārīs in the eighteenth century, the political and social status of the Shi‘i ‘ulama was reinforced by the Uṣūlī theory. According to the theory, the mujtahids who can exercise ijtihād guide the mujtahids or the non-mujtahid believers, who must emulate (taqlīd) them (i.e. the mujtahids). Although the theory has been well studied and well-known, the direct impact of the Uṣūlīs’ triumph on the Shi‘i community has never been fully examined in the field of social history. The biggest questions are who was a mutjahid in the community, and how one became a mujtahid. In this paper, I will examine the Shi‘i licensing (ijāza) system that prevailed during the nineteenth century, analyze the relations between ijāzas and the status of mujtahid, and attempt to demonstrate the direct impact of the Uṣūlī doctrine on the Shi‘i community.
There were two types of ijāzas: an ijāza of ijtihād and an ijāza of riwāya. Modern researchers maintain that an ijāza of ijtihād permitted the holder to exercise ijtihād, and that attaining the was a prerequisite to being a mujtahid. Further, they suppose that an ijāza of riwāya permitted the holder to transmit traditions in teachers’ name, and was the less prestigious than an ijāza of ijtihād. However, my detailed analysis of the texts pertaining to the ijāzas, and their backgrounds demonstrates that the grounds for these assumptions are weak. First, an of did not permit the holder to exercise but rather certified that the holder had achieved the stage of Therefore, it was possible that ‘ulama would exercise without having an ijāzas of ijtihād when he had the ability. Second, there is no proof that ijāzas of ijtihād were systematically issued, or that every mujtahid had acquired an of before becoming a mujtahid. I will propose a new concept of ijtihād and mujtahid that reflects the actual practices of the nineteenth century and attempt to show what the real prerequisites for becoming a mujtahid was in the nineteenth century.
