There are three ways of identifying a Mujtahid...

There are three ways of identifying a Mujtahid, and the A’lam: · 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’lam; · When two persons, who are learned and just and possess the capacity to identify a Mujtahid or the A’lam, 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 identitya 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. There are four ways of obtaining the verdicts of a Mujtahid: · When one hears from the Mujtahid himself. · When the verdict of the Mujtahid is quoted by two just persons.

· When one hears the verdict from a person whose statement satisfies him. · By reading the Mujtahid’s book of Masa’il (religious rules or matters), provided that, one is satisfied about the correctness of the book. If an A’lam Mujtahid gives a Fatwa on some matter, his follower cannot act in that matter on the Fatwà of another Mujtahid.

But if he does not give a Fatwà, and expresses a precaution (Ihtiyat) that a man should act in such and such a manner, for example if he says that as a precautionary measure, in the first and second Rak’ah (unit) of the prayer (Salat) he should read a complete Surah after the Surah of A*amd, the follower may either act on this precaution, which is called obligatory precaution (Ihtiyat-ul-Wàjib), or he may act on the Fatwa of another Mujtahid, while consideringthe srquence of learnedness hence, if he (the second Mujtahid) rules that only Surat-ul-A*amd is enough, he (the person offering prayers) may drop the second surah.

The position will be the same if the A’lam Mujtahid expresses terms like Ta’ammul (contemplation) or Ishkal (objection). If The A’lam Mujtahid observes precaution after or before having given a Fatwà, for example, if he says that if a Najis (impure) vessel is washed once with a kurr water (about 388 litres), it becomes Tahir (pure ), although as precatonary measure, it should be washed three times, his followers can abandon acting according to this precaution.

This precaution is called recommended precaution (Ihtiyat-ul-mustahab).