Then he must study and gain expertise in Usūlu ’l-Fiqh (the...

Then he must study and gain expertise in Usūlu ’l-Fiqh (the Principles of Jurisprudence) which involves the methodology of defining and using the sources of the sharī‘a. One also has to study the Qur’ānic verses on laws, the hadīth literature, and also the conclusions reached by the past mujtahids.

In studying the hadīth literature, one has to also study ‘ilmu ’r-rijāl which deals with the narrators of hadīth—otherwise he will not be able to distinguish the authentic hadīth from the inauthentic ones. In short, ijtihād is not everyone’s cup of tea. The social life of human beings is based on mutual co-operation: each one of us takes the duty of fulfilling one of the needs of the society, and, in return, each one of us expects to benefit from the expertise of the others.

Just as not everyone can become his or her own doctor, in an Islamic society, not everyone can become a mujtahid. Those who are not mujtahid will follow the sharī‘a by doing taqlīd—following the opinions of a high-ranking and pious mujtahid. (A) Is Taqlīd Reasonable? First of all, taqlīd is not “blind following,” it is based on an informed decision taken by the individual Shi‘a man or woman.

Before you start following the opinions of a mujtahid in the sharī‘a laws, you have to ascertain that he has the required expertise and that he is of upright character. Secondly, it is not always unreasonable to follow others and to hold uncritical faith in them.

We can logically distinguish four possible forms of imitation: an ignorant person imitating another ignorant person; a more learned person imitating a less learned person; a less learned person imitating an ignorant person; a less learned person imitating a more learned person. It is quite clear that the first three forms of imitations are unreasonable and can serve no purpose.

However, the fourth kind of imitation is obviously not only reasonable, but also necessary and a matter of common sense; in our everyday life we follow and imitate others in many things; we like to take the advice of experts in matters outside our own knowledge. Someone who wishes to build a house, explains the basic idea of what he wants to the builder and then submits to his advice as to how he should go about the actual construction.

The patient follows the treatment advised by the doctor; a litigant consults a lawyer when drawing up his case for a court.