The Holy Prophet Makes Amir-ul-Momineen’s Taqleed Obligatory...

The Holy Prophet Makes Amir-ul-Momineen’s Taqleed Obligatory: وَ هُوَ أَخِي عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ع وَ هُوَ فِيكُمْ بِمَنْزِلَتِي فَقَلِّدُوهُ دِينَكُمْ وَ أَطِيعُوهُ فِي جَمِيعِ أُمُورِكُمْ The Holy Prophet -saww said (in his -saww Sermon of Ghadir): ‘And he is my brother Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib -asws and he -asws is among you of the same status as I -saww am, so do his -asws Taqleed in your religion and obey him in all your affairs .’ [49] The whole of religion is based on obligatory Taqleed: All our religion is based on total submission as per Divine Commands, i.e., يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلاً O you who believe!

Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end (4:59).

وبهذا الاسناد، عن معلى بن محمد، عن الحسن بن علي قال: حدثنا حماد ابن عثمان، عن بشير العطار قال: سمعت أبا عبدالله عليه السلام يقول: نحن قوم فرض الله طاعتنا وأنتم تأتمون بمن لا يعذر الناس بجهالته It is narrated from Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad from al-Hassan ibn Ali who has said that Hammad ibn ‘Uthman narrated to us from Bashir al-‘Attar who has said the following: “I heard Imam Abu Abd Allah -asws saying, ‘ We are the people, obedience to whom is obligatory by the Command of Allah -azwj , and the obligation of following ‘A’immah -asws do not cease because of people’s ignorance and not knowing them -asws .’ [50] Mujtahids Make their taqleed [51] Obligatory: Generally, the ‘Mujtahids’ say: Al-‘amal bidoon taqleed batil, which translates to ‘Acts without taqleed are void’.

It is best to do ‘taqleed’ and follow a mujtahid, If one dies without taqleed, then it is doubtful if one’s whole life’s acts of worship will be accepted. Wallahu ‘Alam – And Allah -azwj Knows best- There are several references, in most of the ‘Rasala, Touzi al Masail’ [52] .

There are, however, no proofs given from the Book and the Ahadith in their ‘Touzi al Masail’ with the exception of the logic that one needs to go to a specialist and we are the specialist of the religion, i.e., for the treatment of hair loss, one should consult a doctor rather then trying to become a doctor himself.

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