Al-Suyuti Dan Kontroversi Strata Ijtihad: Telaah atas Klaim Mujtahid Mutlaq al-Suyuti dan Landasan Normatifnya
Abstract: The 6th century of
Islam witnessed the first emergence of the new class of ‘ulama that tended to
“close” the gate of ijtihad. By the closure of the gate of ijtihad I do not
mean that the gate of ijtihad can indeed be closed. At some point of its
development, the legal system of various schools of thought of Islam has
finally been established, the resultant consequence of which being that some
‘ulama felt that ijtihad can only be done on elaborating further the views of
the previous ‘ulama and not on proposing original views on particular legal
issue of Islam. Al-Suyuti emerged during the era where legal system of Islam
has already been established. He claims interestingly, that he is a mujtahid
mutlaq, that is, some one who has the absolute and independent authority to do
ijtihad and to extrapolate rules from the legal sources of Islam. This comes as
a sharp contrast to the general belief at the time that no mujtahid mutlaq may
any longer emerge. Al-Suyuti wrote al-Radd to legitimize his claim; a claim
that inevitably prompted a strong objection from his fellow legalists. Although
his claim was not received with enthusiasm from the public, al-Suyuti has
nonetheless made a valuable contribution in the field of the study of ijtihad.
His works are applauded as a great evaluation on the subject. On various
occasions, al-Suyuti wrote that the Muslim intellectuals should not be
satisfied with the views of the previous ‘ulama (taqlid) and that they should
instead exercise their intellectual acumen via ijtihad.
Keywords: mujtahid mutlaq,
mujaddid, al-Suyuti, mazhab Shafi’i
Penulis: Ahwan Fanani
Kode Jurnal: jpperadabanislamdd080001
