Ijtihād and the Science of Legal Theory

It is narrated that, after the Prophet Muḥammad had passed away, his close Companions and successors Abū Bakr and ʿUmar went to visit the old Abyssinian woman Umm Ayman, just as the Prophet used to visit her in his lifetime. During their visit Umm Ayman cried. ‘Do not cry over the death of God’s Messenger’, they tried to comfort her, ‘for he has gone to a better place’. That is not why I cry’, she replied. ‘I know he is in a better place. I cry because revelation has been cut off from the Heavens’. This made them cry, too. Knowing how to be a good Muslim was relatively easy during the Prophet’s lifetime, as one could simply observe the Prophet’s actions or ask him questions, but after his death there was bound to be uncertainty and disagreement.

Of course, there were times even during the life of the Prophet when the Companions could not refer to him. In one famous incident, the Prophet gave his Companions instructions to hurry on to a specific location, telling them not to pray their mid-afternoon prayer except there. As they travelled there in groups, many of the Companions realised that by the time they arrived at that location the time for the mid-afternoon prayer would have passed. Some took the words of the Prophet literally and only prayed upon reaching the location, even though that entailed performing the prayer after the end of its designated time, while others performed it on time before reaching the specified location, understanding the Prophet’s command as an exhortation to hurry. In this incident, the Prophet did not criticise either group, and nothing is narrated about whether he revealed to them which course of action was more correct.

The Prophet also sent commanders in charge of military expeditions to enemy fortresses, and if a truce or treaty were to be signed, he was not there to supervise.