The ideas of Dr. Hameed Ullah (1908-2002) related to Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic law

Abstract

Dr. Hameed Ullah has a great name in Hadith, Jurisprudence and Law and is the
author of many books. According to him, the most important principle of
Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic law is ijtihad, because only on the basis of
ijtihad, the challenges of the present age and the times to come can be faced.
According to him, the door of ijtihad has never been closed nor can it be in the
future, rather, they consider ijtihad as the principle of life for Islamic law. They
present examples of ijtihad from the companions. However, he does not give the
right of ijtihad to everyone, rather he says that the right of ijtihad belongs to
experts and jurists in Islamic jurisprudence. If there is a difference between
them, there is no problem, in case of disagreement, priority will be given to the
opinion of the majority. But in another place, it is understood from his own
words that he gives the right of ijtihad to everyone. He was convinced of tajazzu
ul ijtihad. This means that a person who is an expert in that field will have the
right to Ijtihad. Even a mujtahid can do ijtihad in only one issue. He who knows
the department to which he is affiliated can do ijtihad in that department. He was
also convinced of the ijtihad of parliament. According to him, ijtihad can be
done individually or collectively, if this ijtihad is accepted, then it is correct,
otherwise the majority opinion of the parliament will be implemented. He
consider the Qur'an as the first source of Islamic law. While in other sources,
Hadith and Sunnah, Ijtihad, Ijmaa aka the first shariats also consider Isthisan and
Istislah as sources.