Studying Systemic Ijtihad, Existing Vacuum in Inference of Ownership Laws in Imamiya Jurisprudence, through a Review of Imam Khomeini’s Method of Independent Reasoning

One of the decisive factors in studying a subject matter that immensely affects the results of the study, is the method of drawing conclusions based on the gathered data. If a researcher adopts trivialist approach toward an issue, his findings will definitely and deeply differ from the results produced by a researcher taking holistic approach. Since “ownership” is one of the most fundamental legal and economic issues, this paper intends to find appropriate answers to the following questions: What is the chiefly adopted method of Imamiya jurists in inference of ownership laws, is it trivialist or holistic in nature? Is it proportionate to the function and status of ownership concerning other issues? This paper has gathered views of the jurists, researchers and Muslim scholars in general, and Imam Khomeini’s views in particular, as the most outstanding jurist who has adopted independent reasoning and jurisprudence in administration of social affairs. In the end, we have tried to pick one of the two methods based on conceptology and understanding of the ultimate goals of “ownership” as a proper method of independent reasoning for inference on related rules.