Nineteenth-century reformers redefined ijtihad as free reason against tradition.

Evidence

Ijtiha¯d (a term used by earlier Muslim scholars to refer to independent legal reasoning on matters about which they were not in agreement) was made to mean the general exercise of free reason, or independent opinion, directed against taqli¯d (the unreflective reproduction of tradition) and in the cause of progressive social reform. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 1050 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Nineteenth-century Muslim modernists stretched ijtihad from narrow legal reasoning into general free reason — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 1050; Modern Muslim reformers redefined sharia into a private sphere of conscience — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 1196

Broader Connections

• Nineteenth-century Muslim modernists stretched ijtihad from narrow legal reasoning into general free reason #expands (0.97) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 1050