وَ هُوَ أَخِي عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ع وَ هُوَ فِيكُمْ...

وَ هُوَ أَخِي عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ع وَ هُوَ فِيكُمْ بِمَنْزِلَتِي فَقَلِّدُوهُ دِينَكُمْ وَ أَطِيعُوهُ فِي جَمِيعِ أُمُورِكُمْ The Holy Prophet -saww said (in his -saww Sermon of Ghadeer): ‘And he is my brother Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib -asws and he -asws is among you of the same status as I -saww am, so do his -asws Taqleed in your religion and obey him in all your affairs .’ [1] Hence, the Taqleed is submission to the Infallible Imam -asws and/or the words (Hadith) spoken by the Infallible Imam -asws .

So, when one emulates a person who is reporting and quoting Ahadith, that means one is acting on the Ahadith. The scope of the above Hadith does not extend to the following of a cleric’s decree (fatawa), which is usually manipulated that it is compulsory to follow sometime who issues fatawa.

Amir-ul-Momineen -asws says in a sermon while defining the characteristics of a guide (Imam): وَ كَيْفَ يَفْرِضُ اللَّهُ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ طَاعَةَ مَنْ يُحْجَبُ عَنْهُ مَلَكُوتُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ How could Allah -azwj make incumbent upon his servants the obedience of the one who is veiled from the mysteries of the heavens and the earth.

(An Extract) [2] Therefore, what is obligatory, are the words of Masomeen -asws , and certainly not the opinions and interpretations of someone other than a Masoom -asws . The Word ‘ Muqallid’ and ‘Taqleed’ implies total submission: عبدالله بن جعفر في ( قرب الاسناد ) عن أحمد بن محمد بن عيسى عن أحمد بن محمد بن أبي نصر ، قال : قلت للرضا ( عليه السلام ) : جعلت فداك ، إن بعض أصحابنا يقولون : نسمع الأمر يحكى عنك وعن آبائك ، فنقيس عليه ، ونعمل به ، فقال : سبحان الله !

لا والله ما هذا من دين جعفر ( عليه السلام ) ، هؤلاء قوم لا حاجة بهم إلينا ، قد خرجوا من طاعتنا ، وصاروا في موضعنا ، فأين التقليد الذي كانوا يقلدون جعفرا وأبا جعفر ( عليهما السلام ) ؟ قال جعفر : لا تحملوا على القياس ، فليس من شيء يعدله القياس ، إلا والقياس يكسره .

Abdullah Bin Ja’far in Qurb Al-Asnaad from Ahmad bin Muhammad Bin Isa from Ahmad bin Muhammad Bin Abu Nasr who said: ‘I said to Al-Reza -asws : ‘May I be sacrificed for you -asws , some of our companions say, ‘We have heard the order from you -asws and from your -asws forefathers, and compare them (analogy), and act upon them.’ He -asws said: ‘Glory be to Allah -azwj ! No, by Allah -azwj , this is not from the religion of Ja’far -asws . These people no longer have any need for us -asws .

They have exited from our -asws obedience, and have placed themselves in our -asws position.

✦ ✦ ✦