Ba’zi ulamolar ijtihodni ikki turga bo‘lganlar: birinchisi, hukmlarni istinbot qilish (chiqarib olish) bilan bog‘liq xos tur, ikkinchisi esa bu hukmlarni bo‘lakli (juz’iy) amallarga tatbiq etish bilan bog‘liq xos tur. Boshqalar esa ijtihodni mujtahidlarning darajalariga (marotib) ko‘ra bo‘lganlar, va ular uchtadir:

Some of the ‘Ulamaa divided Ijtihaad into two categories: A specific category related to the Istinbaat (deduction) of the Ahkaam and a specific category related to the application of these Ahkaam upon the partitive/branch actions (Al-Af’aal Al-Juz’iyah). That is whilst others divided it in accordance to the levels (Maraatib) of the Mujtahideen and these number three:

U u shunday mujtahiddirki, u Usul ul-fiqh qoidalarini (tamoyillarini) belgilashga qodir. Shu sababli u Usulning asoslarini o'rnatadi va o'z ijtihodida rioya qilishi va ularga bog'liq bo'lgan qoidalarni belgilaydi. U fiqhning barcha masalalarida ijtihod qiladi, chunki ijtihodning barcha shartlari unda to'liq mujassam bo'ladi. Bunday mujtahidlarga fiqh mazhablarining imomlari misol bo'la oladi, jumladan Imom Ash-Shofi'iy, Abu Hanifa, Imom Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Imom Molik, Ibn Hazm va Ja'far As-Sodiq hamda boshqalar.

He is the Mujtahid who has the capability to set the Qawaa’id (principles) of Usool ul-Fiqh. So he sets the foundations of the Usool and sets the Qawaa’id that he is bound and restricted to in his Ijtihaad. He undertakes or embarks on Ijtihaad in all of the Masaa’il of Fiqh and that is because all of the conditions of Ijtihaad are amply fulfilled within him. Examples of such a Mujtahid include the A’immah (Imaams) of the Madhaahib (schools of Fiqh) like Al-Imaam Ash-Shaafi’iy, Abu Haneefah, Al-Imaam Ahmad Bin Hanbal , Al-Imaam Maalik, Ibn Hazm and Ja’far As-Saadiq amongst others.

Ammo bu, mutlaq mujtahid har bir hukmni bilishi degani emas, degan ma'noni bermaydi, chunki bu insonning haqiqati emas va hatto Sahobalar (roziyallohu anhum) ham ko'plab masalalar (masoil) oldida to'xtab qolishgan. Masalan, Rasul (ﷺ) vafotidan keyin zakot to'lashdan bosh tortganlar bilan urush masalasida Umar (roziyallohu anhu) yoki buvining merosi masalasida Abu Bakr (roziyallohu anhu). Yoki Imom Molik misolida: u 40 ta masala (masoil) bo'yicha savol berilganda, ulardan 36 tasiga javob bergan: "ارِْدي أ ل" ("Bilmayman") deb.

This does not however mean that the Mujtahid Al-Mutlaq has ‘Ilm (knowledge) of every single Hukm as this is not what is meant. That is because this is not the reality of the human being and even the Sahaabah (rah) had cause to pause at a great number of issues (Masaa’il) like ‘Umar (ra) in respect to fighting those who withheld the paying of the Zakaah following the death of the Messenger (saw) or Abu Bakr (ra) in respect to the Mas’alah (issue) of the inheritance of the grandmother. Or like the example of Al-Imaam Maalik when he was asked questions in 40 Mas’alah (issues) and replied in respect to 36 of them: ‘ريِدْ أ ل) ‘I do not know).

Aksincha, nazarda tutilgani shuki, mujtahid mutlaq ijtihod qilish qobiliyati va salohiyatiga egaki, bu uni bir qator fiqhiy masalalarni tadqiq qilish, istinbot qilish va ularda, umuman olganda, Ahkomi Shar'iyyaning butunligini qamrab oladigan Usul va Qavoidlarni belgilashga qodir qiladi. Natijada shunday fiqh yuzaga keladiki, masalan, Shofe'iy yoki Abu Hanifa va ularning o'xshashlarining fiqhi kabi, va ijtihod jihatidan unga mazhab nisbat beriladi, ya'ni uning vafotidan keyin shogirdlari amal qiladigan aniq uslub nazarda tutiladi. Masalan, to'rtta mashhur mazhab, Ja'fariy mazhab va Zohiriy mazhab va boshqalar shular jumlasidandir.

U shunday mujtahidki, u o‘z imomiga usullarda ergashadi — imom belgilagan va o‘rnatgan usullarda. Shu sababli u, imom hukm chiqarmagan masalalarda, uning asosida ijtihod qiladi va yangi amaliy shar’iy ahkomlarni istinbot qilib chiqaradi. Demak, u imom o‘rnatgan ijtihodning qoidalari (qavoid) va minhaji (uslubi) doirasida ish yuritadi. Bunday mujtahidlarga misol qilib Imom Abu Hanifa, Imom Shofi’iy va Imom Ahmad ibn Hanbal ashoblari yoki shogirdlarini, shuningdek boshqalarni keltirish mumkin. Mujtahid al-mazhab — mujtahid mutlaqning ortidan boradigan kishidir. Mujtahid mutlaq esa unga usullarda asoslarni belgilab bergan va qoidalarni o‘rnatgan zotdir. Masalan, Ibn Qudoma al-Maqdisiy hanbaliy mazhabidagi mujtahid al-mazhabdir; Imom Abu Hanifaning shogirdi Abu Yusuf esa hanafiy mazhabidagi mujtahid al-mazhab bo‘lgan, garchi u ba’zan Imom Abu Hanifadan (rahimahulloh) farqli fikrlarga ham kelgan bo‘lsa-da.

He is the Mujtahid who follows his Imaam in the Usool that the Imaam set and laid down. He therefore performs Ijtihaad upon its basis in the process of deducing or extracting new practical Ahkaam Shar’iyah in the issues which his Imaam had not deduced a ruling. He therefore proceeds within the constraints of the principles (Qawaa’id) and Minhaj (methodology) that his Imaam had set for Ijtihaad. Examples of such Mujtahideen include the companions or followers of Al-Imaam Abu Haneefah, Al-Imaam Ash-Shaafi’iy and Al-Imaam Ahmad Bin Hanbal amongst others. The Mujtahid Al-Madh’hab is a follower of the Mujtahid Mutlaq who set the foundations for him in Usool and laid down the principles. So for example Ibn Qudaamah Al-Maqdasiy is a Mujtahid Madh’hab within the Hanbali Madh’hab, Abu Yousuf, the student of Al-Imaam Abu Haneefah, was a Mujtahid Madh’hab within the Hanafiy Madh’hab and even if he sometimes deduced contrary opinions to Al-Imaam Abu Haneefah (rh).

U'sha — mas'alalardan (shar'iy masalalar) to'g'ri va sog'lom tekshiruv o'tkazishga qodir yoki shunga layoqatli bo'lgan, hamda o'sha masalani yoki bir nechta, cheklangan miqdordagi masalalarda hukmni chiqarish uchun zarur bo'lgan shar'iy va tilga oid bilimlarni egallagan shaxs. Mujtahid al-mas'ala boshqa masalalarda, ya'ni o'zi ijtihod qilmagan masalalarda muqallid (ergashuvchi) bo'ladi. Buning sababi shuki, ijtihod bo'linadi: kimki masalalardan biriga oid dalilni biladi va unga tegishli ijtihod shartlarining zarur bo'lgan qismlarini o'zlashtirgan bo'lsa, u holda o'sha qism yuzasidan ijtihod qilishi, qolgan masalalarda esa taqlid qilishi uning uchun lozim bo'ladi. Sahobalar (roziyallohu anhum) mujtahid edilar, shunga qaramay ularning ba'zilari boshqaning fikriga ergashish uchun o'z fikridan voz kechardi.

He is the one who is able or enabled to undertake a correct and sound examination of a Mas’alah from amongst the Masaa’il (Sharee’ah issues) and provide the Hukm Ash-Shar’iy for it. That is after acquiring knowledge of the necessarily required Shar’iyah and linguistic areas of knowledge needed to deduce the Hukm in that issue or in a few or limited number of issues. The Mujtahid Al-Mas’alah would be a Muqallid (follower) in other than what he has performed Ijtihaad in. That is because Ijtihaad is partitioned and so whoever has knowledge of the Daleel of an issue from amongst the issues and he has encompassed what is necessarily required from the conditions of Ijtihaad related to it, then it is for him to undertake Ijtihaad in respect to that part and to make Taqleed in respect to the remaining Masaa’il (issues). The Sahaabah (rah) were Mujtahideen whilst some of them would abandon their own opinion to follow the opinion of another.