Issues that form the subject of Ijtihad

Following are some of the issues that invite urgent attention of those who would dare to think to rationalize the prevailing provisions in the context of modern times: (a) The role of women in Islamic society: Determining the extent of her emancipation and empowerment to make her a useful and active citizen and participant in nations’ social, political and economic life. Women work on agricultural fields, road and building construction projects, factories, educational institutions, hospitals, banks, private business projects and offices of all kinds. They participate in social and political activities. This ground reality should be recognized and backed by religious sanction so that women nurse no sense of guilt and pursue these activities as legitimate careers endorsed by Islam. Polygamy is to end, leaving a window open for rare permission at the highest level under extra-ordinary compulsions. In times of war, for instance, when too many men are lost and too many surviving woman are to be accommodated. Illness of the wife or her failure to bear a child and such like excuses will not be considered valid for second marriage. (b) To evolve riba-free economic system. On what grounds, at one time, the Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar of Egypt declared interest on postal savings as profit. Did he base his ‘fatwa’ on the distinction between ‘usury’ and loans for investment? Incomes on usury are riba and income from investment loans are profits. Bank loans given or taken for investment produce profits. Any payment made out of profits would profit and nothing else; hence permissible. However where money is used as stock-in-trade and as a commodity its loaning is an act of usury producing riba and is therefore forbidden. For example, a bank proceeds on their credit/debit cards is riba because this activity is pure usury. The traditional money-lender ‘used’ money to make money and hence it was called usury. It involved the exploitation of the needy and was a pitiless system therefore declared Un-Islamic. In international trade and investment activity, if Pakistan continues to consider incomes accruing from it as from usury then it cannot legitimately participate in it. The ground reality has to be officially recognized that it is undoubtedly pure and simple profit. (c) Population control through natural measures to get religious sanction. Size of the family should be squeezed to stop wild growth. Population getting out of hand leads to all kinds of social vices, pressures on economic and educational facilities and miscellaneous civic amenities. Quality of life suffers. Its size is to be such which parents can easily handle, educate, groom and bring up as useful citizens of an Islamic state. (d) Feudalism to be declared un-Islamic in every form and manifestation to seal its fate for all times to come. (e) Jihad: How ‘Jihad’ is to be waged by a traditional military power when faced with nuclear threat. Obviously frontal confrontation would be stark suicide and total annihilation at the hands of the enemy. Also all those conditions should be specified when an activity is not Jihad. This is to stop the Mullah to declare Jihad as per his own perception. (f) Zakat being one of the fundamental pillars of Islam is a sensitive matter. It involves money. Its collection and distribution by an un-Islamic set up known for all round corruption leads to its misappropriation. Bank depositors lack faith in the system. They resent its deduction from their accounts by the government for three reasons. One: it is violation of their amanat.  Two: He is denied the right of distribution of zakat as per his own priorities. Three: Forcible deductions are made out of deposits that include ‘riba’ in one form or the other which disturbs the sanctity of zakat money. In an Islamic state, as per above, right of the depositor to distribute zakat in accordance with own priorities has been restored. In a riba-free system the depositors may pass on the responsibility of collection and distribution of zakat on their behalf to the government. Zakat is a rich ground for ijtihad’ because it can be used to eliminate beggary altogether and also discover non- conventional ways to put it to maximum use for which it is meant. Punishments for the crimes committed are an important domain where application of ljtihad’ has also become due. Death penalty is transcendental but the manner of awarding death is transient. Death by stoning or flogging in the presence of public is no more practiced for obvious reasons. Similarly amputation of hands and feet for the offence of theft should be the maximum punishment to be awarded rarely by the court because such an invalid person will lose the option of reformation. Moreover he will join the force of the beggars and become a burden on the society. Primarily it would be the responsibility of the state to create such happy and prosperous environment that no one thinks of indulging in theft or committing a crime that may warrant punishment. With the passage of time, many more areas will be identified for ‘Ijtihad.’ They will give progressive image to the state. However, if punishments for their violation will neither be available from the Quran nor Sunna nor the Islamized Penal Code, the same will be arrived at through analogies. For example, punishment for drinking was not given in the Quran or Sunnah. Hazrat Au argued since a drunk resort to wrong accusations, he should be awarded 80 lashes because that was the laid down punishment for the said offence. This shows how ‘Ijtihad’ operates. “Ijtihad is the ‘, collective wisdom’ displayed by high profile Islamic jurists. They are widely accepted scholars of not only Quran and Hadith but also of temporal subjects like Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Political Science, World Constitutions, Sciences, etc. They form Ijtihad Council.