The Principle of Ijtihad in Islam

Brief biography of Ayatullah Mutahhari, definition, types, permissibility and history of Ijtihad, Akhbarism, and Taqlid. The article hereunder translated into English, first appeared in the collection “Bahthi dar bara­yi Marja`iyat wa Ruhaniyat” 1, which was reviewed by Lambton2. This volume contained essays by figures that were then prominent in the anjumanha­yi islami, an organization of groups with a religiously educated leadership concerned to initiate public debate of, and interest in, Islamic solutions to contemporary political, economic and social problems.