He both disputed the need for Islamic jurists and scholars (ulema) and at the same time declared himself a principal Muslim jurist and scholar (mujtahid). He also abandoned traditional Sunni reliance on collections of hadith and the sunnah in favour of exclusive reference to the qur'an as interpreted by himself. Gaddafi was considered by many Islamic jurists to have thus rejected the whole body of sharia jurisprudence in favor of a process of interpretation (ijtihad) concentrated on his own opinions.