The eleventh Imam (as) says...

The eleventh Imam (as) says: "فأما من كان من الفقهاء صائنا لنفسه حافظا لدينه مخالفا لهواه مطيعا لأمر مولاه فللعوام ان يقلدوه." “General public should follow in taqleed those fuqaha who control themselves, take care of Din, stay away from inner desires and are obedient to Allah.” For the consumption of those people who say that this tradition has only been mentioned in an unreliable Commentary of Qur’an, here are references from eighteen books that clearly mention this hadith: Wasayl ush-Shia, Sheikh Hurr Al-Amili, vol 27, p 131, Intisharate Muassasa Ahlul Bayt, Qum Al Ihtijaj, Sheikh Ahmed Ibn Ali Tabrisi, vol 2, p 263, published Muassasa tul A’alami, Beruit Tafsir Imam Hasan Al-Askari (as), p 300 Mustanad Ush-Shia, Muhaqqaq Naraqi, vol 2, p 519 Bihar Ul-Anwar, Allama Majlisi, vol 2, p 88, published Muassasa tul Wafa, Beruit Kanzud Daqaiq, Mirza Muhammad Mashhadi, vol 1, p 381 Faraidul Usul, Sheikh Murtadha Al-Ansari, vol 1, p 141 Awaid Ul-Ayyam, Muhaqqaq Naraqi, p 199, Manshurat, Maktaba Basirati, Qum Nihayatul Afkar, Sheikh Zia Uddin Iraqi, vol 4, p 244 Hasarul Ijtihad, Aaqa Buzurg Tehrani, p 51 Kitabul Qaza, Sheikh Ansari, p 341 Al-Urwatul Wusqa, Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Yazdi, vol 1, p 10, published Muassasatul A’alami, Beruit Mustamsak Al-Urwatul Wusqa, Sayyid Mohsin Hakeem, vol 1, p 41, published Beruit Alfiqatul Istidlali, Sayyid Abul Qasim Khooi, vol 1, p 81, 105, 221, 230, 231, 236 Al-Ijtihad wal-Taqleed, Sheikh Ahmed Azari Qummi, vol 1, p 32, Intisharate Muassasa Darul Ilm, Qum Masail Minul Ijtihad wal-Taqleed, Sheikh Hussain Noori, p 101, Markaz Ul-Nasharul Islami, Qum Al-Ijtihad wal-Taqleed, Sheikh Muhammad Mehdi Al Asafi, p 105, published Markaz Al Ghadir, 3rd edition, Qum Awalim Ul-Uloom, Sheikh Abdullah Bahrani, part 3, p 410, published Qum To conclude we need to commit to memory a decree of Current Imam (as).

It provides us a very thoughtful rule for accepting a tradition. The greatest faqih and expert on traditions in Shia school of thought, Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Hassan Hurr Al-Amili writes, “This sacred command from the Current Imam (as) was transmitted by Muhammad Ibn Abdul Aziz Kushi via his book “Al Rijal” to Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Qatiba who then handed it over to us through Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Maraghi.

The command says: "فإنه لا عذر لأحد موالينا في التشكيك فيما يؤديه عنا ثقاتنا." “Our friends should not hesitate to accept our messages when they come through our trusted people.” [