By Mawlana Taha Karaan The charge leveled against Imâm Taqiyy ad-Dîn as-Subkî is that despite possessing all the requirements for ijtihâd, he did not perform ijtihâd, and preferred to remain within the bounds of his madhhab, since the adoption of independent ijtihâd would preclude him from rising to positions which were reserved for fuqahâ of the madhâhib. This allegation appears in a conversation between Abû Zur‘ah Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-‘Irâqî and his teacher Sirâj ad-Dîn ‘Umar ibn Ruslân al-Bulqînî. The former asks the latter the reason why as-Subkî does not adopt independent ijtihâd despite having all the requirements. The latter…