“Ijtihad”(ئؾطٙحد)源自词根 Jahada。从词源上说，它指在任何需要付出一定艰辛的事务中的努力或自我竭力。Usul（教法原理学）的伟大学者，如阿布·哈桑·阿里（又称 Al-Amidi，卒于公元 631 年）和穆罕默德·本·阿里·沙乌卡尼（Mohammad bin Ali Al-Shawkani，卒于公元 1255 年），将其定义为：“法学家为了从具体的经据中推导出伊斯兰教法规则，并以一定的或然程度加以判定，所付出的全部努力。”27

Ijtihad (ئؾطٙحد ) is derived from the root word Jahada. Linguistically, it means striving or self-exertion in any activity, which entails a measure of hardship. The great scholars of Usul such as Abu al-Husayn Ali otherwise known as Al-Amidi (d. 631 AH) and Mohammad bin Ali Al-Shawkani (d. 1255 AH) defined it as, „the total expenditure of effort made by a jurist in order to infer, with a degree of probability, the rules of Shariah from their detailed evidence in the sources.‟27

有人还在这一定义中补充道："以至于法学家（Mujtahid）觉得无法再付出更多努力。"从法学术语来说，Ijtihad（伊智提哈德）的本质是：竭尽全力深入研究某一问题，并从伊斯兰教法的渊源中寻求该问题的解答。

Others add, „in a manner the Mujtahid feels unable to exert any more effort‟ to this definition. Essentially as a juristic term, Ijtihad means exhausting all of one‟s efforts in studying a problem thoroughly and seeking a solution for it from the sources of Shari‟ah.