Ijtihod lug'atda biror ish yoki vazifaga nisbatan kuch-quvvatni sarflash va imkoniyatni to'liq ishga solish ma'nosini bildiradi. U faqat ichida mashaqqat bo'lgan narsa uchun ishlatiladi. Masalan, aytiladi: "Odam og'ir tosh - qo'l tegirmonini ko'targanda ijtihod qildi, lekin patni ko'targanda ijtihod qilmadi."
Al-Ijtihaad linguistically means the exertion of effort and exhaustion of capability in respect to an action or undertaking. It is not used except for that which includes within it effort. It is said for instance: That the man made Ijtihaad when carrying a heavy stone hand milling grinder but he did not do Ijtihaad when carrying a feather.
Istilohda ijtihod:
Al-Ijtihaad in Al-Istilaah (terminological definition):
Bu – shar'iy hukmlardan biror masalaning zann-i ğolibini (eng ehtimolli bo'lganini) izlashda, mujtahidning o'zida bundan ortiq harakat qilishga qodir emasligini his qilgan holatda, qobiliyat va (harakat) kuchini sarflashdir.
It is the exertion of the capability (and effort) to seek the Zhann (what is thought most probable) of a matter from the Ahkaam Ash-Shar’iyah in the case where the Mujtahid feels that he is incapable of doing any more (or exerting any more effort).
Bu shuni anglatadiki, mujtahid amaliy shar'iy hukmlarni ularning batafsil dalillaridan chiqarib olish uchun aql-idrokini ishga soladi, qachonki u o'zi erishgan (ya'ni xulosa qilib, chiqarib olgan) narsadan aniqroq yoki to'g'riroq narsani topishga va keltirishga qodir emasligini his qilsa.
The meaning of this is that the Mujtahid exerts his mental efforts to deduce the practical Ahkaam Ash-Shar’iyah from its detailed evidences, in the case where he feels the inability to come up with and produce anything more accurate or correct than what he has arrived at (i.e. concluded and deduced).
Ijtihod nusus (matnlar) borasida amalga oshadi, ularning dalillari zanniy (noaniq) bo‘ladi. Ya’ni, bir necha ma’noni ko‘tarish qobiliyatiga ega bo‘lgan matnlar nazarda tutiladi. Masalan, quyidagi oyat kabi:
Ijtihaad occurs in respect to the Nusoos (texts), the evidences of which are Zhanniyah (indefinite). Meaning those texts which have the potential to hold more than one meaning. This is like the Aayah: