رسالة د. كهلان الخروصي
الجزء ١ · صفحة ٣٠However، the Sunn‚ madh~hib effectively closed the gates of ijtih~d، and this can be seen clearly in many standard texts، as، for example، we see in al-Maqr‚z‚' Khi\a\.(1) My statement does not ignore the fact that various Sunn‚s، and sometimes Western scholar such as Watt whose view was adopted strongly by Hallaq،(2) at different periods have claimed that the gates of ijtih~d were not shut،(3) and it is the case that many modern Sunn‚ writers argue that there was no closure.(4) Such claims basically reinforce the view that closure did take place، because they are the claims of a minority trying to change entrenched attitudes.
(1) Al-maw~`iŒ wa al-i`tib~r bi dhikr al-khi\a\ wa al-~th~r، also known as al-khi\a\ al-maqr‚ziyya، 2nd edn، (a photocopy of the Bul~q edition)، 2:343-4. I quoted him with comments and analysis in a previous paper '`Ulam~| al-Isl~m wa `il~qatuhum bi al-na‰ wa al-ijtih~d' in al-Ijtih~d f‚ al-Islam proceeding from the 6th conference of Mu|asasat >l al-Bayt، held in Muscat، December، 1998، pp.15-17.
(2) A brief but valuable illustration of this argument can be found in Michel Hoebink، 'Two halves of the same truth: Schacht، Hallaq and the gate of ijtih~d: An inquiry into definitions'، in Middle East Research Associates (MERA)، 1994. Pp.1-19
(3) Best examples are presented by the claims of Ibn Taymiyya and al-Suyƒ\‚، see the latter's al-Radd `al~ man akhlada il~ al-ar‡ wa jahila ann al-ijtih~d f‚ kulli `a‰rin far‡، ed. Khl‚l al-Mays، Beirut، 1983.
(4) Michel Hoebink، op. cit. p.2-3.