Ijtihad (Arabic: اجتهاد‎, ʼijtihād) is the making of a decision in Islamic law (sharia) by personal effort (jihad), independently of any school (madhhab) of jurisprudence (fiqh). as opposed to taqlid, copying or obeying without question.

Ijtihad is mainly associated with the Usuli Shi'a Muslim Jafari school of jurisprudence. To be valid and accepted it has to be rooted in the Qur'an and the hadith and it is required that no established doctrine rules the case. A mujtahid is an Islamic scholar who is competent to interpret sharia by ijtihad. Whereas Akhbari Shi'a Muslim outright reject ijtihad and do not imitate a mujtahid who practice ijtihad.

The word derives from the three-letter Arabic verbal root of ج-ه-د J-H-D (jahada, "struggle"): the "t" is inserted because the word is a derived stem VIII verb. In Islamic political theory, ijtihad is often counted as one of the essential qualifications of the caliph, e.g. by Al-Baghdadi (1037) or Al-Mawardi (1058). Al-Ghazali dispenses with this qualification in his legal theory and delegates the exercise of ijtihad to the scholars of religion (ulema).

Muhammad Asad (2 July 1900 - 23 February 1992, Urdu: محمد اسد), born Leopold Weiss, was a Austrian Jew who converted to Islam, and a 20th century journalist, traveler, writer, social critic, linguist, thinker, reformer, diplomat, political theorist, translator and scholar. Asad was one of the 20th century's most influential European Muslims.

In 1947, Asad was given Pakistani citizenship by the newly established Muslim state of Pakistan and appointed the Director of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction by the Government of Pakistan, where he made recommendations on the drafting of Pakistan's first Constitution. In 1949, Asad joined Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as head of the Middle East Division and, in 1952, was appointed Pakistan's Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Nations in New York.

Muhammad Asad is famously known for his two publications - The Road to Mecca, a biographical account of his life up to the age of 32, his conversion to Islam from Judaism and his journey to Mecca, and his magnum opus, The Message of the Qur'an, a translation and commentary of the sacred book of Islam, the Qur'an.

Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri (in Punjabi and Urdu: محمد طاہر القادری) (born February 19, 1951, Jhang, Pakistan) is a Pakistani Sufi scholar and former professor of international constitutional law at the University of the Punjab. Qadri was recently described by the CNN-IBN as the 'International Peace Ambassador'. Qadri was nominated for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize

Qadri is the founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, a broad-based global Sufi organization working in the fields of welfare, human rights and education. Its objectives are the promotion of a moderate and non-extremist vision of Islam, the establishment of good relations and understanding between communities and religions, and the education of youth through "employing the methods of Sufism". He also founded The Minhaj University of which he is the head of the Board of Governors, as well as an international relief charity, Minhaj Welfare Foundation.

Qadri was also the founding chairman of the political party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), although he is no longer involved in politics. Qadri spoke at the World Economic Forum in January 2011.

Khwaja Muhammad Tahir Bakhshi Naqshbandi (Urdu: حضرت خواجہ محمد طاہر بخشی نقشبندی, born 1962), also known as Sajjan Saeen (Urdu: سجن سائیں, Sindhi: سڄڻ سائين), is a prominent Naqshbandi Sufi shaykh in Pakistan. He was born on March 21, 1962 at dargah Rahmatpur Sharif, district Larkana, Pakistan. He is successor to Khwaja Allah Bakhsh, also known as Sohna Saeen, whose lineage goes to Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz Hadhrat Fazal Ali Shah Qureshi. His followers and partisans are all over Pakistan and in countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

He is patron-in-chief of Jamaat Islah-ul-muslimeen, Rohani Talaba Jamaat and Jamiyat-e-Ulema Tahiriya. He has more than 300 deputies (Khulafa') who are dedicated to spread the Naqshbandi message across the world.

The shaykh was born on January 6, 1962 at dargah Rahmatpur sharif, in district Larkana, Sindh. As per the Islamic principles, his grandsheikh Hadhrat Khwaja Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar said the Azan and Iqamat in his ears at birth, since his father was out of station for Tabligh (preaching). His name was also suggested by his grandsheikh, which was happily accepted by his parents. Pir Mitha died on December 12, 1964. He was under two years of age that his parents migrated from Rahmatpur sharif to another village in Dadu district in January 1965. In April 1965, his father Khwaja Allah Bakhsh established a new village and center for peaching called Faqeerpur sharif, near Radhan Station in Dadu district. There, he passed his childhood while the center was being established. Later, his parents migrated to the new and current center Allahabad sharif situated in district Naushehro-Feroz, and resides there since then.