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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Culture and Religious Studies Book -4 Lesson 14 : Akham Why Study Them? We know that that Islam is not merely a collection of rituals, a few rules of conduct, and some sayings put together. It is an ideal and reasonable system of life that deals with every aspect of humanity. Once a person has developed strong faith and conviction, all his actions stem from this faith and become a sign of this inner belief.

Yet, despite this, Islam still imposes certain laws upon him. These rules and laws provide a means of understanding Islam better and developing a deeper relationship with Allah (S.W.T.) and a Believer not only pays great attention to carrying them out but also follows them without hesitation. Where do we Start? Having already understood why we need to follow Ahkam, the next step is to discover where we can find these heavenly rules and laws.

We know that Islam encompasses all the available knowledge and its concepts are extensive and diverse. Thus, it is not possible for every Muslim to be able to study and analyse the vast sources of Islamic Laws i.e. Qur'an, sermons, traditions and speeches of the Ma'soomeen (a.s.). For this reason, only some of people dedicate their lives to this study and become professionals in it.

These are the Fuqaha (Islamic Jurists) It becomes obligatory on every Mukkalaf (One who has attained Buloogh) to follow one of these scholars in matters of jurisprudence. He does this placing his trust in the superior knowledge of his chosen Marja'e Taqleed. The ordinary man does not question the scholar in his decisions (unless they obviously go against the Qur'an) and accepts them without doubt.

From the above description of Taqleed (the following of a Marja'e), it is obvious that taqleed is not allowed in matters of belief. Since belief is based on a person being convinced he must ask questions in this area. We can therefore say that general Islamic beliefs are divided into two: a) Usul-e-Deen (Roots of Religion) which refers to belief in Tawheed (Oneness of God), Adalat (Justice of God), Nubuwwat (Prophethood), Imamat (hip) and Ma'ad/Qiyamat (Resurrection/Day of Judgement).

b) Furu-e-Deen (Branches of Religion) which consist of the various acts of ebadah that a Muslim must perform. In matters of Usul, a person can raise any questions he requires answered in order to convince himself of their truth. Taqleed comes in the second group of Furu.