Analysis of Ijtihad Requirement in Adjudication with an Emphasis on the Element of Law

According to the famous (in the meaning of prevailing) view of jurists, ‘Ijtihad’ is a prerequisite for making judicial decisions. Some others permit the adjudication by non-Mujtahid judges. Although both sides of arguments are based on reasoning with references to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, there is an objection to the way of reasoning of both sides, since they have been made in the absence of the analysis of practical process of adjudication and in the ignorance of the element of ‘codified law’. The establishment of the regime of Islamic Republic of Iran and legislative process based on Sharia standards indicates a transformation in the subject of adjudication, requiring reconsideration and reexamination of Ijtihad requirement in the light of such a transformation. The current article reviews the common jurisprudential arguments on Ijtihad requirement for adjudication and analyses its process and stages. Then, with an emphasis on the extent of the influence that religious rulings have on law and human measures, with taking into account the nature of Ijtihad and comparing it with the nature of dispute resolution, accompanied by the consideration of certain requirements of judicial system, such as the uniformity of judicial practices, it will ultimately reinforces the perspective that is in favor of non-necessity of Ijtihad in making judicial decisions.