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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Spirituality of the Shi‘ism and Other Discourses Discourse Fifteen: Ijtihad and Taqlid according to the Shi‘ah Discourse Fifteen: Juristic Authority [Ijtihād] and Following [Taqlīd] according to the Shī‘ah The words ijtihād and taqlīd, with their opposite meanings (which we superficially know), are used extensively among Muslims.

Of course, in view of the well-known Shī‘ah law that one cannot initially follow a deceased authority—which is a Shī‘ah juristic dogma whereby after the death of a mujtahid (an expounder of Islamic laws) his followers [muqallidīn] are obliged to follow a living one—these two words are used by Shī‘ah Muslims more than by other Islamic sects.

In short, nowadays ijtihād and taqlīd are used to mean the qualities of having jurisprudential authority and of following a person with such authority, respectively. However, by referring to the history of the advent of Islam, we see that after the death of the Prophet (S) in the parlance of the sahābah and tābi‘īn the word ijtihād was used to mean things other than the common meaning used today.

However, in light of the fact that in this paper I intend to talk about the currently established meanings of ijtihād and taqlīd and their religious roots, and due to the fact that determining their other meanings is historical in nature, I will refrain from discussing the latter.

The religious origins of ijtihād and taqlīd In order to understand the comprehensive meaning of ijtihād and taqlīd and their religious origins, I must note several points: First of all, in the opinion of the Shī‘ahs, in addition to the fact that the pure religion of Islam consists of a series of primary teachings regarding the Origin [mabda’] and Resurrection [ma‘ād] and other teachings regarding moral principles, it also possesses a string of rules and regulations regarding human actions that completely cover all aspects of human life in the society.

These laws obligate all responsible [mukallaf] persons—including the black, white, Arabs, non-Arabs, men, and women in all possible environments and conditions—to conform their personal and social behavior to said laws and to adhere to them, the entirety of which is called the sharī‘ah. Of course, no action can be collated to its respective law before the law is scientifically analyzed and understood.

This is why acquiring knowledge of the scientific laws and secondary decrees of Islam is one of the duties of Muslims.