As salaamu alaikum,

Here are some notes I took from listening to a class with Shaykh Nasir Abdus Salaam entitled “The Ranks of the Jurists.”

The maratib (rank, order) of the fuqaha (jurists):

Mujatahid mutlaq or mustaqil– the scholar/ jurist who has the ability to derive independent foundations (usul) directly from the sources (Qur’an & Sunnah), who has mastery of the tools to do so
(mastery is to know the approximately 500 ayats related to rulings in the Qur’an, and the approximately 1500-2000 Hadith related to rulings, in addition to the sciences of both of those sources, i.e., mansikh and mansukh, muhkamat and mutashabbihat, amm and khass, grading of hadith)

Mujtahid muntasib -similar the mujtahid mutlaq; follows the mujtahid mutlaq but has the ability to take his place

Mujtahid al-madhhab or al maqayyid– the scholar who is restricted to the madhhab and specializes in the school; knows all of the relied upon (mu’tamad) positions in the school

Mujtahid al-fatwa – the scholar who has the ability to look at and transmit the different legal opinions (rulings) within the madhhab

The naqil– the one who is only able to transmit/relate texts of the madhhab

A couple of beneficial quotes from Shaykh Nasir:

“What identifies the scholar is not having an abundance of information, but having mastery of the tools of knowledge.”

“Before you can ask the people of knowledge, you have to know who they are.”