Para Sahabah (ra) biasa berijtihad pada zaman Rasulullah ﷺ dan berbeza dalam pengambilan hukum-hukum (Ahkam), dan Rasulullah ﷺ menerima perkara ini. Hal ini dapat dilihat dalam peristiwa-peristiwa berikut:

The Sahabah (ra) used to make Ijtihad in the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw) and differ in their deduction of Ahkams and the Messenger (saw) accepted this. This can be seen in the following incidents:

1) Bukhari meriwayatkan daripada Aisyah bahawa apabila Nabi ﷺ pulang dari peperangan Khandaq (parit), baginda meletakkan senjata dan mandi. Jibril datang dan berkata, "Engkau telah meletakkan senjata? Demi Allah, kami malaikat belum lagi meletakkan senjata. Maka bergeraklah menuju mereka." Rasulullah ﷺ bertanya, "Ke mana?" Lalu Jibril menunjuk ke arah Banu Quraizah. Nabi ﷺ memerintahkan Muazzin supaya melaungkan azan, lalu dia mengumumkan kepada orang ramai:

1) Bukhari narrated from Aisha that when the Prophet (saw) returned from the battle of Khandaq (ditch) and laid down his arms and took a bath. Jibreel came and said, “You have laid down your arms? By Allah, we angels have not laid them down yet. So set out for them.” The Messenger (saw) asked, “where to go?” so Jibreel pointed towards Banu Qurayzah. The Prophet (saw) instructed the Mu`azzin to give Azan and so he announced to the people:

"Sesiapa yang beriman kepada Allah dan Hari Akhirat, maka janganlah dia menunaikan solat Asar kecuali di Bani Qurayzah." Maka mereka berangkat menuju kubu-kubu Bani Qurayzah, namun mereka berbeza pemahaman tentang apa yang telah disabdakan oleh Rasulullah ﷺ kepada mereka. Sebahagian mereka mengambil makna zahirnya, lalu mereka tidak menunaikan solat sehingga sampai ke Bani Qurayzah selepas Maghrib. Dan sebahagian yang lain memahaminya sebagai perintah untuk segera pergi ke sana, lalu mereka menunaikan solat Asar di Madinah atau di sepanjang jalan. Apabila Rasulullah ﷺ mendengar hal ini, baginda menerima tindakan kesemua mereka.32

“Whosoever believes in Allah and the Day of judgement he should not pray Asr except in Bani Qurayzah.” So thy headed towards the fortresses of Bani Qurayzah, however they had different understandings of what the Messenger (saw) had said to them. Some took the literal meaning and they did not pray until they reached Bani Qurayzah after Maghrib. And others took it to mean that they should go there quickly, so they prayed Asr in Madinah or on the way. When the Messenger (saw) heard about this he accepted the action of all them.32

2) Sabda Nabi ﷺ ketika baginda mengutus Mu'adh sebagai Qadi ke Yaman:

2) The saying of the Prophet (saw) when he sent Mu‟adh as Qadi to Yemen:

"Dengan apa kamu akan memutuskan hukum?" Dia menjawab: Dengan Kitab Allah. Nabi ﷺ bersabda: Jika kamu tidak menemukannya di sana? Dia menjawab: Dengan Sunnah Rasulullah ﷺ. Nabi ﷺ bertanya: Dan jika kamu tidak menemukannya? Dia menjawab: "Aku akan berijtihad dengan pendapatku sendiri." Maka Nabi ﷺ bersabda:

“By what will you pass judgement?‟ He said: By the Book of Allah. The Prophet (saw) said: If you do not find it there? He said: By the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saw). He said: And if you do not find it? He said: 'I will exercise my own Ijtihad‟. He (saw) said:

"Segala puji bagi Allah yang telah menjadikan utusan Rasulullah ﷺ sesuai dengan apa yang dicintai Allah dan Rasul-Nya."33

“Praise be to Allah who has made the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to accord with what Allah and His Messenger loves.”33

3) Hadis Rasulullah ﷺ:

3) The Hadith of the Messenger (saw):

"Jika seorang hakim memutuskan hukum dan berijtihad, lalu dia benar, maka dia akan mendapat dua pahala. Dan jika dia salah, dia akan mendapat satu pahala."34

“If a judge passes judgment and makes Ijtihad and he is right then he will have two rewards. And if he makes a mistake he will have one.”34

4) Rasulullah ﷺ telah menjadikan Sa‟d b. Mu‟adh sebagai hakim ke atas Bani Qurayzah, lalu beliau memberikan keputusan bahawa mereka hendaklah dibunuh dan anak-anak mereka dijadikan tawanan. Rasulullah ﷺ bersabda:

4) The Messenger of Allah (saw) made Sa‟d b. Mu‟adh to judge over Bani Qurayzah so he gave the judgment that they should be killed and their offspring to be taken prisoners. The Messenger (saw) said:

"Engkau telah memberikan hukum yang datang dari atas tujuh langit."35

“You have given a judgment that is from above the seven heavens.”35

Dari contoh-contoh ini kita dapat melihat bahawa para Sahabah biasa berijtihad pada zaman Rasulullah ﷺ, dan bahawa baginda ﷺ menerima ijtihad mereka serta memberitahu mereka bahawa orang yang tepat ijtihadnya akan mendapat dua pahala, manakala orang yang tersilap akan mendapat satu pahala.

From these examples we can see that the Sahabah used to make Ijtihad in the time of the Messenger (saw) and that he used to accept their Ijtihads and tell them that the one who got it right will get two rewards while the one who got it wrong will get one.