Ijtihad refers to the rigorous intellectual effort of qualified Islamic legal scholars to derive or infer legal rulings from the Quran and Hadith in areas not explicitly addressed in the primary sources. It allows qualified scholars to use reasoning and intellect to enact new regulations and laws. The person who performs ijtihad is called a mujtahid. Ijtihad differs from rulings directly from the Quran and Hadith and gives scholars space to use their minds within strict requirements.