ikhtilāf

ikhtilāf, in Islam, differences of opinion on religious matters. Such diversity is permissible as long as the basic principles of Islam are not affected. Ikhtilāf is thus the opposite of ijmāʿ (consensus). The existence of ikhtilāf on a given issue permits Muslims to choose the interpretation of religious teachings that best suits their own circumstances and causes the least harm. Two famous sayings from Hadith in favour of ikhtilāf were attributed to the Prophet Muhammad: “Difference of opinion in the Muslim community is a sign of divine favour”; and “It is a mercy of God that the theologians differ in opinion.”

Ikhtilāf thus enabled the emergence of four equally orthodox legal schools: the Mālikī, the Ḥanafī, the Shāfiʿī, and the Ḥanbalī, within each of which there have been diverse interpretations of the same religious texts. Disagreements among Muslim theologians usually focus on details of legal practices, which, though relatively minor when compared with the great tenets of the faith, are nevertheless most relevant in everyday life.