Explain how individuals may interpret teachings (ijtihad) according to one school of thought in Islam.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2023). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [10] Mark according to the AO1 – 10-mark levels of response marking grid for knowledge and understanding.
2. [Content] Answers may include some of the following ideas, but all valid material must be credited.
3. [Content] Questions which have not already been clearly solved by the Qur'an, Sunnah and by the consensus of scholars (ijma), could be answered by ijtihad, which is the individual effort and interpretation of a scholar, called a mujtahid. If a question has already been clearly answered, then it is considered invalid to perform ijtihad.
4. [Content] Hadiths of Muhammad (pbuh) provide the basis for ijtihad for Sunni scholars. From these, it was suggested that it was a religious duty to perform ijtihad to find answers for questions; a duty which would help the Muslims. During the early years of Islam, jurists made many rulings on the basis of their individual opinions. Scholars who performed ijtihad gained the special title: mujtahid.
5. [Content] Hanbali scholars said that ijma was performed by Muhammad's companions (sahaba) but that it was difficult to reach ijma after those times, so there was still a role for ijtihad to be performed by individual mujtahids.
6. [Content] Most scholars from Hanafi and Shafi'i schools of thought decided that the days of ijtihad were over. The scholar al-Ghazali also took that opinion, and after his time it was said that the 'gates of ijtihad' had closed.
7. [Content] Many Salafis recommend ijtihad because they say this strengthens the Muslim community, who have become too reliant on following scholar's taqlid. The companions (sahaba) left knowledge which the Muslims of today could read about and make their own interpretations.
8. [Content] For the Shi'i, when the twelfth Imam became occluded or hidden, Imams made rulings to guide their people, considering what the twelfth Imam might have guided. Shi'i Imams had always taken into account reasoning ('aql) rather than analogy (qiyas), a difference between them and Sunni scholars in the process of deriving shariah rulings.
9. [15] Mark according to the AO2 – 15-mark levels of response marking grid for analysis and evaluation. Answers may refer to any religious theory or teaching. Candidates may propose, analyse and evaluate some of the following arguments. All relevant arguments must be credited.
10. [Definitions] The statement focuses on whether ijtihad is still valid in the present, suggesting opposition to the idea that the 'gates of ijtihad' closed with al-Ghazali.
11. [Agree] Ijtihad helps Muslims answer new questions which have arisen from issues arising in modern society. As society has changed so much with new technology, healthcare and issues of living in multicultural societies, new interpretations are needed to address these issues.
12. [Agree] The Prophet's companion Mu'adh bin Jabal sent him to Yemen and asked him how he'd judge matters. He said he'd decide matters when the Qur'an and Hadith did not give clear answers and he said he'd use his personal judgement. This suggests Muslims can use it today.
13. [Agree] Ijtihad can help Muslims engage more with their religion, and search the original sources, Qur'an, Hadith and the examples passed on by the companions (sahaba).
14. [Agree] Some schools of thought recommend ijtihad in the modern world and argue the gates of ijtihad have never really closed since the Middle Ages. Scholars who perform ijtihad are highly trained; this training makes their exercise in ijtihad valid in the modern world.
15. [Disagree] The early Muslim community exercised ijtihad because many of them were companions (sahaba) of the Prophet (pbuh) and knew what he would have done, so were qualified to make individual interpretations. We have long since become far more distanced from this knowledge, so interpretations of ijtihad made today are no longer valid.
16. [Disagree] The schools of thought (madhab) settled nearly all questions not answered by the Qur'an and Hadith. This means that scholars today do not need to perform ijtihad; they can perform taqlid, which meant they could follow existing rulings and apply them, without having to make fresh interpretations.
17. [Disagree] Ijtihad might lead to division because individuals make different opinions, leading to more division amongst the Muslims who are already divided into many groups in the present day.
18. [Conclusions] Conclusions should make an overall judgement focusing in on the words 'valid' and 'today', to draw the discussion back to the statement and make a personal response.