On the Origins of the Controversy about the Existence of Mujtahids and the Gate of Ijtihad

Abstract

In a recently published article I have tried to show that, contrary to the widespread notion, the 'gate of ijlihdd' was not closed, and that until the end of the fifth/eleventh century there was no reference in Islamic sources alluding to halting the practice of ijlihdd. () The first item of information directly related to the controversy about the continuity of ijlihad appeared around 500 A.H. in the form of scholarly disputation between the IHanbali jurist Ibn 'Aqil (d. 513/1119) and an anonymous scholar belonging to the IHanafi school of law. In this disputation Ibn 'Aqil refuted the argument of his adversary who maintained that the 'gate of judgeship'