Ijtihad

The madhabs, the schools of Islamic law that developed methods for deriving rulings from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Four Sunni schools and the Shi'a traditions have guided Muslim practice for over a millennium; they are schools of method, not sects.

Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905 CE) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar and reformer who pioneered Islamic modernism. As Grand Mufti of Egypt, he reconciled Islamic teachings with modern thought and influenced generations of Muslim intellectuals.

Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (1703-1762 CE), pioneering Indian Islamic scholar and reformer who revitalized Islamic thought through synthesis of Islamic sciences, emphasis on ijtihad, and efforts to bridge sectarian divisions.