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.
Symposium 3
Religious Experts (Moqallad)
Anwar:Last time I had questions about religious experts and their characteristics, and I think it is time I get an answer.
Hasan:of course, Anwar! You are welcome. Our dignified religious scholars and clerks have all agreed on certain qualities in a person in order to be considered a religious expert (Muqallad) and this way common people can follow him in their religious matters. These qualities can be listed as the following:
Puberty (Al-Bolugh), reason (Al-‘Aghl), manliness (Ar-
Rojoulah), faith (he has to be a Shiite - Iman), justice (Al’Adalah), purity (Al-Taharah), strength of mind (Al-Zabt), religious scholarship (Al-Ijtihad), and life (Al-Hayat).
Anwar:Would you please explain these characteristics?
Hasan:Of course, Akhi. I am at your service. Puberty means he has to be an adult – either aged of fifteen or experiencing the wet dream. By reason they mean he must be wise and sane which is against being mad or insane.
The faith of the Moqallad has to be a Shiism or Imamiya sect of Islam – believing in all the Imams starting with Imam Ali (PBUH) and ending with Imam Al-Hujjah (PBUH). Justice means the Mujtahid you want to follow has to be rightful and just as he also must not have ignored any of his religious duties or committed a religiously forbidden act (Haram). With purity, they mean he has to be legitimately born and not a bastard.
Strength of mind actually means memorizing things well and being able to be exact. By life, they mean the Mujtahid has to be alive in order for people to follow
him. For most of the clerks, you cannot do the Taqlid from a deceased Mujtahid.
Anwar:It seems you forgot to explain the religious scholarship (Ijtihad).
Hasan:No, I saved it for the end to focus on it. The religious scholarship is the study of Shari’a to acquire the knowledge of the practices of the messenger of Allah (PBUH) concerning the branches of the Principles or Foru’ Al-Din, and they are not subjected to change regardless of time and place as the Imams (PBHT) emphasized:(Mohammad’s permitted acts – Halal – are permitted until the Judgment Day and his unpermitted acts – Haram – are unpermitted until the Judgment Day).
Anwar:I need more clarification, please!
Hasan:The clerk has to put enough and final efforts to find evidence from the Shari’a i.e. from the Noble Quran, the Honorable Sunna, consensus religious scholars, and reason, and be able to deduce decisions from that evidence. This person is called religious scholar (Mujtahid) and the work he does – search and deduction – is called religious scholarship (Ijtihad).
این صفحه در کتاب اصلی بدون متن است / هذه الصفحة فارغة في النسخة المطبوعة
CHAPTER ONE
Monotheism
(At-Tawhid)
·Existence of the Glorious Allah
·Qualities of the Glorious Allah
·Demonstration of Types of Monotheism
·Glorifying Ahl Al-Bait (PBUT) is not Polytheism
·Demonstration of Other Types of Monotheism
·Seeking for Assistance from Other than Allah is not Polytheistic
·There is Neither Strength Nor Power But Through Allah
این صفحه در کتاب اصلی بدون متن است / هذه الصفحة فارغة في النسخة المطبوعة
Symposium 4
Existence of the Glorious Allah
Anwar:Now that I know what Ijtihad means and who Mujtahid is and what his characteristics are, I would like to move to other questions.
Hasan:With all pleasure!
Anwar:I do not need evidence to existence of Allah, but it will be good if I have some ideological culture.
Hasan:Religious scholars referred to substantially different evidence. I’ll mention a few of them:
· The innately evidence: this realization comes by nature, and we know that there is an Almighty God when we are in trouble. This feeling is evidence in itself.
· The possibility evidence: it is based on the fact that
·