As religious law continued to develop over time, "ra'y" became insufficient in making sure that fair legal rulings were being derived in keeping with both the Qur'an and Sunna. However, during this time, the meaning and process of "ijtihad" became more clearly constructed. "Ijtihad" was “limited to a systematic method of interpreting the law on the basis of authoritative texts, the Quran and Sunna,” and the rulings could be “extended to a new problem as long as the precedent and the new situation shared the same clause.”