İbn Berhân's views on ictihad in his book of el-Vusûl ile'l-usûl.

This thesis examines the views of Ibn Barhan (d.518/1124) about ijtihad (independent judicial reasoning) in his work named al-Wusul ila al-Usul. It studies his life, teachers, the personalities who influenced him, his views regarding ijtihad and taklid (following a mujtahid). The study has found out that Ibn Barhan did not strictly follow his predecessors and did not always share the perspectives of his teachers meaning that he was able to think independently. It has also revealed that he had the view that the Prophet Muhammed exercised independent judicial reasoning, and mujtahids cannot follow the views of sahaba (the companions of the Prophet), and each mujtahid reached the right opinion, and people can follow any mujtahid whom he desires. The view attributed to Ibn Barhan that people does not have follow a specific mujtahid in all matters has not been verified. The subjects which he examined in his book are still under discussion.