Q. 21:78–9: A Qur'anic Basis for Ijtihād?

Abstract

Verse 78 of Sürat al-Anbiyāↄ relates a deliverance of judgement by Dāↄüd and Sulaymūn concerning the matter of a field into which sheep belonging to persons unnamed had strayed at night, causing damage to the crop. As is almost always the case with Qur'anic narratives concerning the prophets, the mufassirūn and still more the authors of books belonging to the genre of qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāↄ offer a rich variety of partially conflicting detail concerning the matter and the way in which it was resolved. Of greater exegetical interest, however, is a conclusion apparently to be drawn from the stories concerning verse 78 once they are combined with the opening words of the succeeding verse (‘and We inspired in Sulaymän understanding of the matter’): that Dāↄūd and Sulaymān offered differing judgements and that it was the judgement of the latter that proved correct, despite his tender years. This has drawn many mufassirūn to suggest that the two prophets in question were engaged in ijtihād, the result of the father's ijtihād being erroneous and that of his son's correct. Insofar as ijtihād can yield only ẓann, a supposition of correctness, its attribution to prophets is, however, viewed by other exegetes as problematical.