everything, but I think I have enough of Islamic culture to hopefully answer your questions, Inshallah.
Anwar:I hear that religiously following a clerk (Taqlid) is not permitted when it comes to the Principles (Osul Al-Din). Why is that?
Hasan:First of all, you need to know about these Principles (Osul Al-Din).
Anwar:Yes, with all pleasure!
Hasan:There are five fundamental elements on which the religion of Islam is based on. Each of them is called a Principle (Asl).
The first Principle is Monotheism (Tawhid) and it means to believe that Allah is the only God Who is unmatched, Who has no associates and Who holds the entire superior and perfect qualities. This is emphasized by the Noble Quran in one of its chapters which is also named after this principle:
﴾Say: He is Allah, the One۞Allah, the eternally Besought of all۞He begetteth not nor was begotton۞And there is none comparable unto Him﴿112; 1-4
The second is Justice (‘Adalah) which means to believe that it is impossible that Allah treats his creatures unjustly as it is mentioned in the Noble Quran:﴾Allah is no oppressor of His bondmen﴿.3; 182
Prophecy (Nobowa) is the third principle. It is to believe that Allah sent the Prophets and the messengers to guide mankind. The Glorious Allah says in the Noble Quran:﴾And verity We sent messengers to mankind before thee﴿.13; 38
The fourth is Imamate (Imamah). This principle means that Allah has placed a number of Imams([1]) for the messengers and the Prophets to preserve and carry on their messages. This is mentioned in the Noble Quran:﴾And We made them chiefs who guide by Our commands﴿.21; 73
The fifth principle is the Hereafter (Mi’ad). It is to believe that the Glorious Allah will gather people for the Judgment (Al-Hisab) in a certain day as He puts it in the
[1]Shiite believe there are twelve imams (PBUT) after the prophet (PBUT);
1- Commander of The Faithful Ali bin Abi talib (PBUT). 2- Al-Hasan Bin Ali (PBUT) .
3- Abu Abdullah Al-Husain Bin Ali. 4-Ali Bin Al-Husain.
5- Abu Ja'far Mohammad Bin Ali. 6- Abu Abdullah Ja'far Bin Mohammad Al-Sajad.
7-Mosa Bin Ja'far Al-Kadim.8-Ali Bin Mosa Al-riza. 9-Mohammad Bin Ali Al-Jawad.
10- Ali Bin Mohammad Al-Hadi.11- Al-Hasan Bin Ali Al-Askari.
12 – Abu Al-Qasim Bin Al-Hasan Al-Mahdi.
Noble Quran:﴾He Who hath given thee the Quran for a law will surely bring thee borne again﴿.28;85
Religious Scholars (‘Olama) have indicated that every individual has to know these Principles and that they are not allowed to religiously follow the clerks in these issues.
Anwar:But how do we expect those Muslims who cannot read or write to know these believes?
Hasan:The matter of belief has nothing to do with reading and writing; it is about understanding and accepting, and they can learn them through listening. Those who are able to read can definitely find it printed. Imam Ali (PBUH) says:“Knowledge is either heard or printed”. I would actually like to carry on our conversation to give some proofs to the existence of the Creator; this is if you have time.
Anwar:I would love to know.
Hasan:Once, an Arab of the desert was asked about the existence of the Glorious Creator. The answer was that the camel dung refers to its camel, the trail refers to the pathway and the heavens and earth refer to the Most Kind with a full authority.
An old woman, who was spinning her wool, was also asked the same thing. ‘My spindle proves it!’ she said, ‘it moves when I spin it and when I leave it, it stops, and so is the existence; it has to have a Creator who moves it!’ The Bedouin and the old woman apparently did not get this knowledge through reading but obviously through thinking and understanding. This is again what the Noble Quran refers to:
﴾In the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the difference of night and day are tokens of His sovereignty for men of understanding۞Such as remember Allah, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, and say: our Lord! Thou createdst not this in vain﴿.3;190-191
There are so many other Holy Verses that invite us to think.
Anwar:All right! What you just said was very sound and solid, and now I want to know something about religiously following a clerk (Taqlid) and also about ideological matters on Monotheism.
Hasan:Of course, but we’ll do that next time, Inshallah.
Symposium 2
Following a Religious Scholar (Taqlid)
Anwar:Salam ‘Alaykom, Akhi (brother) Hasan! Are we still going to carry out what we agreed on?
Hasan:‘Alaykom As-Salam Wa Rahmatollah Wa Barakatoh! Yes, Inshallah.
Anwar:So, talk to me about following a religious scholar (Taqlid).
Hasan:Taqlid linguistically means to put a collar on one’s neck. But from a religious point of view, it means to practically following a religious scholar or clerk in religious matters. So, if you give practical effect to a Fatwa – formal religious opinion – issued by a Mujtahid
– religious expert, you are a Moqallid – religious follower.
This, of course, is not allowed with the Principles (Osul Al-Din) which are: Monotheism (Tawhid), Justice (‘Adalah), Prophecy (Nobowa), Imamate (Imamah), and Hereafter (Mi’ad). As we know now, we need to be convinced about them through reasonings.
Taqlid is only allowed with the branches to those Principles (Foru’ Al-Din) which are: prayer (As-Salat), fasting (As-Siam), almsgiving (Az-Zakat), pilgrimage to Mecca (Al-Haj), giving away one fifth of income (Al-Khoms), holy wars by Muslims (Al-Jihad), bidding to do good (Al-Amr Bil-Ma’rouf), forbidding to do evil (Al-Nahy ‘An Al-Monkar), following the practices of the Ahl Al-Bait (Al-Mowalat), renouncing the enemies of Ahl Al-Bait (Al-Bara).
Thus, in the Noble Quran, the Glorious Allah disapproves those who only imitate what their fathers used to do:﴾They say; we follow that wherein we found our fathers. What! Even though their fathers were unintelligent.﴿.2;170
This means that man has to think and meditate in order to find the truth.
Anwar:What is the problem with doing Taqlid in Osul Al-Din?
Hasan:Then it will only be imitation which is opposite to conviction, and also there is always the possibility of getting things wrong way. That is why Allah only permits us to do Taqlid in Foru’ Al-Din, and so do the Imams (PBUT):(They should find a righteous pious person who preserves the practices of his religion and who obeys his Lord so that the common people can follow him).
Thus, Allah, Praised Be His Name, orders us to first understand and then accept the Principles so we can find the right path ourselves, and accordingly, Taqlid just doesn’t do that. If we believe in Monotheism (Tawhid), Justice (‘Adalah), Prophecy (Nobowa), Imamate (Imamah), and Hereafter (Mi’ad), this again will refute any possible damages; Taqlid, in Osul Al-Din, will leave the door open for these possible mistakes.
Anwar:Then why is Taqlid allowed in Foru’ Al-Din?
Hasan:Believers need to be characterized as one of the
following three:
- They can learn the religion until they become religious experts (Mujtahid).
- They have to be watchful i.e they need to know about the opinions of all the contemporary religious experts and adopt the opinion that keeps them in the safe zone.
- They simply follow a religious expert.
Anwar:Talking about Taqlid took a long time, so I will leave the rest of my questions for the next time.
Hasan:Ok, great! But what are your questions?
Anwar:Who is the person I can follow in my religious matters? And what are his characteristics?
Hasan:Excellent! We’ll have this talk in our next meeting, Inshallah.