ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taqleed & Ijtihad What Does Nature Say? Taqleed is not something that has been imposed on people from outside. Rather it is something in the human being’s nature. And remember if something is part of a man’s system, it cannot be taught from outside. It keeps simmering inside and then surfaces in all the people irrespective of nationality or gender all over the world. The result is that descendants of Adam have no choice but respond to this call of nature.

As an example; The urge to know the truth; love for beauty; desire to excel; quest for knowledge; wish for honor and respect; feeling for sacrifice and selflessness; and longing for well-being and goodness. Every one of these conditions swells up from the depths of heart; and it is only due to these states coming to the surface that people choose another man as an ideal and nations choose heroes. By the same token nature truly longs for taqleed.

Benefiting from research by the experts is a natural phenomenon. If nations give up taqleed; i.e., move away from excellence; let expertise go astray; pay no attention to skills; can you expect that their civilization will prosper; that their social life will bloom; that inventions will multiply; that industry will grow; that trade will thrive? Certainly not! The hustle and bustle, the pomp and glory, and the abundance we are used to, it is all because of taqleed.

If taqleed loses its effect, everything will stop, all activities will come to a halt. We all agree that everyone wants to portray himself as an accomplished person. The only way it can be done is to overcome one’s weaknesses by benefiting from another individual who has achieved excellence in that particular field. And it is not a secret that religion is the most important part of our culture because it is directly linked to the affairs of hereafter.

Therefore, it is imperative that in order to know and follow the rules and regulations of sharia, we illuminate our minds with the sayings of those great fuqaha who have devoted their lives for teaching the religion. Ijtihad is the effort Ulama put in and taqleed is the act of benefiting from this effort by general public.

In this context the teacher of the Ulama, Akhund Mulla Muhammad Kazim Khorasani (died 1329 H) has a beautiful saying: ثم انه لا يذهب عليك ان جواز التقليد ورجوع الجاهل إلى العالم في الجملة يكون بديهيا جبليا فطريا لا يحتاج إلى دليل.