The Islamic jurisprudential term Ijtihad refers to?

Explanation: Ijtihad refers to the independent exercise of scholarly reasoning to derive new religious rulings on matters not explicitly addressed in the Quran and Sunnah. A scholar qualified to perform Ijtihad is called a Mujtahid. Many classical scholars debated whether the gate of Ijtihad is still open with most contemporary scholars affirming that qualified scholars can and should continue practicing it.