Critical Look at the Methodology of “Comprehensive Ijtihād” in NAJMA

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

گروه مدیریت/ مؤسسه آموزشی و پژوهشی امام خمینی/ قم/ ایران

10.30471/rsm.2026.11241.1493

Abstract

Extended Abstract
 
Introduction and Objectives: Various ideas and models have been proposed for applying the ijtihād method (rawish-i ijtihādī) to studies related to Islamic management. One of the most significant of these models is “NAJMA,” which stands for “Comprehensive Map of Islamic Management” (Naqshih-ʾi Jāmiʿ-i Mudīriyyat-i Islāmī). This map is the result of efforts by a group of researchers and experts in Islamic management, developed and presented within one of the subcommittees of the “Council for the Transformation and Advancement of Humanities” (Shawrā-yi Taḥawwul wa Irtiqā-yi ʿUlūm-i Insānī). This council is one of the councils affiliated with the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (Shawrā-yi ʿĀlī-yi Inqilāb-i Farhangī).
The importance of NAJMA stems from two factors:
1. Unlike many other ideas and plans presented by individual thinkers, NAJMA is the product of collective work (the Fundamental Working Group of Islamic Management).
2. It was prepared and compiled under the support and high-level management of the highest institution responsible for such affairs, namely the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
The primary goal of NAJMA is to provide a guide and comprehensive map for Islamic management in three areas: education (āmūzish), research (pizhūhish), and implementation (ijrā). Among these three areas, the research domain was prioritized, and efforts were made to design and present a comprehensive map for Islamic management in research. The results of these studies have been published in six editions, with the latest edition dating to 1398 H.sh. (2019-2020), which is also considered the final edition concerning the “research domain of Islamic management.”
The purpose of this article is to provide a brief introduction to this perspective and then examine this model with a critical approach.
Method: The present study is a documentary research (muṭāliʿāt-i asnādī) written using a descriptive-analytical method. The text under critique is the published work entitled “Comprehensive Map of Islamic Management” (NAJMA). As its compilers have indicated, this text is the result of purely theoretical discussions conducted collectively and in groups.
Naturally, based on the methodological foundations of documentary research, critiquing this text required first carefully studying it and extracting the important and fundamental views presented therein. Therefore, considering the critical approach of the research and the space limitations of the article, an effort was first made to provide a summary and selective report of NAJMA, thereby describing what is presented in NAJMA and presenting an image of the entirety of the book. Naturally, in this report and description, certain parts of NAJMA that the author intended were given more attention. Subsequently, based on scientific evidence and documentation, the views and opinions of NAJMA are analyzed and critiqued.
Results: In a general and brief assessment, the results of the present study show that the plan—or rather, the model—presented under the title of “Comprehensive Ijtihād Methodology” in NAJMA faces ambiguities and questions that need to be addressed by its proponents. Mentioning all these ambiguities and questions and providing detailed explanations is beyond the scope of an article and requires an independent book. Therefore, the present study attempts to briefly address some of these ambiguities and questions, the most important of which are as follows:
1. The phrase “Methodology of Comprehensive Ijtihād” (rawishshināsī-yi ijtihād-i jāmiʿ) is not precise and correct. Instead, “Method of Comprehensive Ijtihād” (rawish-i ijtihād-i jāmiʿ) or similar expressions should be used.
2. With the definition that NAJMA provides for “Comprehensive Ijtihād,” all scientific efforts in any scientific field—whether in the seminary (ḥawzah) or the university—can (and indeed should) be called ijtihād. This not only contradicts the common practice in scientific communities of the seminary and university but also contributes to scientific confusion (ightishāsh-i ʿilmī).
3. NAJMA introduces “experience” (tajribih) as one of the tools and methods of acquiring knowledge in Comprehensive Ijtihād and believes that it is possible to achieve “definitive achievements” (dastāward-i qaṭʿī) in the field of Islamic management through the empirical method. Moreover, “probabilistic achievements” (dastāwardhā-yi ẓannī) obtained from the empirical method (like its definitive achievements) also have religious and Islamic value. The article explains that these two claims are flawed and debatable.
4. NAJMA also lists “intuition” (shuhūd) as another tool of knowledge in studies related to Islamic management. Regarding this, it is argued:
• First, no jurist (faqīh) or mujtahid has theoretically considered intuition as a tool for acquiring knowledge in the path of ijtihād, nor is there a single case in practice where a jurist has relied on intuition to prove their opinion or used the intuitive method.
• Second, the realm of conventional sciences, including management, is the realm of acquired knowledge (ʿulūm-i ḥuṣūlī) and has no connection with presential knowledge and intuition (ʿilm-i ḥuḍūrī wa shuhūd).
• Third, the definition of intuition that NAJMA provides differs from its common definition in Islamic epistemological discussions and includes things like dreams and visions (khwāb wa ruʾyā). However, it is not accepted in any science—let alone in conventional ijtihād of the seminaries—to prove or disprove something based on dreams and visions.
5. NAJMA has expanded the sources of ijtihād. In its classification, it places the Qurʾān, Sunnah (sunnat), and consensus (ijmāʿ) among “legislative sources” (manābiʿ-i tashrīʿī) and reason (ʿaql) among “creational sources” (manābiʿ-i takwīnī). In addition to accepting the four well-known sources of conventional ijtihād, NAJMA adds the following:
• Human beings and human phenomena (insān wa pādīdihʹhā-yi insānī), including the individual, family, group, organization, institution, governing system, society, and history.
• Nature and natural phenomena (ṭabīʿat wa pādīdihʹhā-yi ṭabīʿī)
• The supraphysical/metaphysical realm (mā warā-yi ṭabīʿat), including the angelic realm (malakūt) of the heavens and the earth and the like.
The article explains that it is not clear what NAJMA means by this statement, and in any case, any meaning considered for it is debatable.
6. Another issue raised in NAJMA’s proposed plan for conducting Islamic management studies is the discussion of “collective ijtihād” (ijtihād-i jamʿī). In this regard, it is argued that based on Islamic epistemological foundations, collective ijtihād has numerous problems and is therefore unacceptable.

Keywords

References

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