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TAQLID : Following a Mujtahid The ruling of Hujjatu-Allah Sayed Seestani
1.
* It is necessary for a Muslim to believe
in the fundamentals of faith
with his own insight and understanding,
and he cannot follow anyone in this
respect i.
e.
he cannot accept the word
of another who knows, simply because
he has said it.
However, one who has faith
in the true tenets of Islam, and
manifests it by his deeds, is a Muslim
and Mo'min, even if he is not very
profound, and the laws related to a Muslim
will hold good for him.
In matters
of religious laws, apart from the ones
clearly defined, or ones which are
indisputable, a person must:
Either be a Mujtahid (jurist)**
himself, capable of inferring and deducing
from the religious sources and evidence;
Or if he is not a Mujtahid himself,
he should follow one, i.
e.
he should act
according to the verdicts (Fatwa)
of the Mujtahid;
Or if he is neither a Mujtahid
nor a follower (Muqallid),
he should act on such precaution which
should assure him that he has
fulfilled his religious obligation.
For
example, if some Mujtahids consider
an act to be haraam, while others say
that it is not, he should not perform
that act.
Similarly, if some Mujtahid
consider an act to be obligatory
(Wajib) while others consider it to be
recommended (Mustahab), he should
perform it.
Therefore, it is obligatory
upon those persons who are neither
Mujtahids, nor able to act on precautionary
measures (Ihtiyat), to follow a
Mujtahid.
** Mujtahid is a jurist competent
enough to deduce precise inferences
regarding the commandments from the holy
Qur'an and the Sunnah of the holy
Prophet by the process of Ijtihad.
Ijtihad
literally means striving and
exerting.
Technically as a term of jurisprudence
it signifies the
application by a jurist of all his faculties
to the consideration of the
authorities of law with a view to finding
out what in all probability is the
law.
In other words Ijtihad means making
deductions in matters of law, in the
cases to which no express text is applicable.
(See, Baqir Sadr, A Short
History of 'llmul Usul, ISP, 1984).
2.
Taqlid in religious laws means acting
according to the verdict of a
Mujtahid.
It is necessary for the Mujtahid
who is followed, to be male,
Shi'ah Ithna Ash'ari, adult, sane, of
legitimate birth, living and just
('Adil).
A person is said to be just when
he performs all those acts which
are obligatory upon him, and refrains
from all those things which are
forbidden to him.
And the sign of being
just is that one is apparently of a
good character, so that if inquiries are
made about him from the people of
his locality, or from his neighbors, or
from those persons with whom he
lives, they would confirm his good conduct.
And if one knows that the
verdicts of the Mujtahids differ with
regard to the problems which we face in
every day life, it is necessary that the
Mujtahid who is followed be A'lam
(the most learned), who is more capable
of understanding the divine laws than
any of the contemporary Mujtahids.
3.
There are three ways of identifying
a Mujtahid, and the A'alam: When a person is certain that a particular
person is a Mujtahid, or the most
learned one.
For this, he should be a
learned person himself, and should
possess the capacity to identify a Mujtahid
or an A'alam;
When two persons, who are learned
and just and possess the capacity to identify a Mujtahid or the A'alam,
confirm that a person is a Mujtahid or an A'lam, provided that two other
learned and just persons do not contradict them.
In fact, being a
Mujtahid or an A'lam can also be established
by a statement of only one
trusted and reliable person;
When a number of learned persons
who possess the capacity to identify a Mujtahid or an A'lam, certify that
a particular person is a Mujtahid or an A'lam, provided that one is satisfied
by their statement.
4.
* If one generally knows that the verdicts
of Mujtahids do vary in day to
day matters, and also that some of the
Mujtahids are more capable than the
others, but is unable to identify the
most learned one, then he should act on
precaution based on t heir verdicts.
And
if he is unable to act on
precaution, then he should follow a Mujtahid
he supposes to be the most
learned.
And if decides that they are
all of equal stature, then he has a
choice.
5.
There are four ways of obtaining the
verdicts of a Mujtahid:
When a man hears from the Mujtahid
himself.
When the verdict of the Mujtahid
is quoted by two just persons.
When a man hears the verdict from
a person whose statement satisfies him.
By reading the Mujtahid's book
of Masae'l, provided that, one is satisfied about the correctness
of the book.
