On March 19, 2004, the United States Institute of Peace and the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy cosponsored a workshop entitled “Ijtihad: Reinterpreting Islamic Principles for the Twentyfirst Century.” The discussion focused on how the sacred texts of the Qur’an and the sunna could be reinterpreted to take account of contemporary realities and to promote greater peace, justice, and progress within the Muslim world and in its relations with the non-Muslim world. The four presenters, all experts on Islamic law and interpretation, were Muzammil H. Siddiqi, a member of the Fiqh (Islamic Law) Council of North America who teaches at California State University and Chapman University; Imam Hassan Qazwini, director of the Islamic Center of America, based in Detroit; Muneer Fareed, associate professor of Islamic studies at Wayne State University; and Ingrid Mattson, professor of Islamic studies and director of Islamic Chaplaincy at Hartford Seminary. The workshop was cochaired by Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, and David Smock, director of the Religion and Peacemaking Initiative of the United States Institute of Peace. This report, which provides background on ijtihad and summarizes the panel discussion, was written by David Smock.