In the age of reason the question of taqlid
(literally,`blind adherence') becomes highly unpalatable. In
the age known for its critical thinking in acceptance of any
opinion, religious or otherwise, taqlid seems to negate the
fundamental requirement of logical inquiry into every item
of evidence to arrive at the truth. However, taqlid in the
matters of religious practice, as understood in the Twelver
Shi`ite school of thought, does not imply `blind adherence.'
It signifies `adopting' the rulings of a jurist with trust
in their correctness. More importantly, even in this limited
sense the necessity of taqlid is the result of a rational
conclusion based on the need for divine guidance, through
the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad, in order to secure
necessary confidence about the goodness of religious and
moral duties demanded by the Shari`a. It is important to
state that rejection of taqlid in the sense of `blind
following' and endorsement of rational approach to religion
is by no means limited to the so- called scientific age.
Development of Islamic religious sciences like theology
(kalam) and jurisprudence (fiqh) clearly values people who
question the authority of the `ancestral' tradition. To be
sure, the Qur'an praises those who `think' and `reflect'
about the divine guidance, and endeavor to follow it in
organizing their life on earth.
Taqlid in the Meaning of 'Uncritical
Thinking'
Muslim scholars, both Sunni and Shi`i, during the
classical period of Islam (9th-10th centuries C.E.)
criticized those Muslims who upheld taqlid in the sense of
`uncritical faith' in the matter of belief, thereby
prohibiting rational inquiry and discussion in order to
arrive at knowledge of truth. Shaykh Kulayni, in his al-
Kafi, in the section on the "Excellence of Knowledge" shows
that the Shi`ite Imams encouraged discursive inquiry into
the matter of faith, and of practice based on it, by
requiring the Shi`a to ask questions before accepting an
opinion. In fact, he reports a tradition in which Imam
Ja`far al-Sadiq criticized the Jews and the Christians for
having followed their rabbis and monks unquestioningly even
in the most erroneous of their distortion of the two
monotheistic religions.
Hence, taqlid in the matter of fundamental beliefs
(usulud- din), was not only ruled out; it was also regarded
as harmful to the healthy state of faith. Shaykh Mufid was
even more explicit in the condemnation of taqlid in beliefs.
He believed that although human reason needs guidance
through revelation for arriving at rational understanding
about religion, the believer's faith must rely on rational
proof. Being fully aware that not all members of the Shi`ite
community were capable of attaining their understanding of
faith through rational discourse, he was not willing to
condemn them all to infidelity, although he criticized them
for being muqallidun (`uncritical followers') in the matters
of belief.
Taqlid in the Meaning of 'Following the Rulings
of a Jurist'
The following passage of the Qur'an, according to the
Shi`ite scholars, directed Muslims to the second form of
taqlid, that is `following the rulings of those who have
gained sound knowledge in religion':
Of every group of them, a party only should go forth
[for jihad] so that [among those who are left
behind there should be some] who should [undertake
to] gain knowledge in religion, in order for them to
warn their people when they consult them, so that they take
heed to themselves. [9:122]
On the basis of the above passage a person `who
undertakes to gain knowledge in religion' is made
responsible for putting Muslims on their guard by warning
them about their obligations, whether religious or moral.
Accordingly, whether the Muslims commit themselves to follow
his legal decisions or not, the Qur'an requires this
knowledgeable person to issue legal decisions and to warn
believers about fulfilling their obligations. When there is
such a learned person in the community then it is obligatory
to refer to him in matters related to the religious practice
(furu`ud- din).
Consequently, in Islamic jurisprudence taqlid denotes a
`commitment' to accept and act in accordance with the
rulings of the Shari`a as deduced by a well-qualified,
righteous jurist (mujtahid). It also suggests adopting his
rulings with confidence in their correctness, without
investigating the reason that led the jurist to make his
decisions. In other words, it is important for believers to
feel confident in their religious observances, and that
confidence can be attained either through ijtihad (i.e.
investigating all the proofs that led to a particular legal
decision him-herself), ihtiyat (taking the safe, prudent
line by adopting precautionary stance in those matters in
which one is not sure), or taqlid (putting the
responsibility for one's religious acts on a qualified
jurist-scholar). However, the obligation to follow a
mujtahid in one's religious practice does not mean to accept
his opinions in other fields of religious knowledge, such as
theology or mysticism, history or philosophy, as being free
of any error; nor does it imply that such a scholar is to be
regarded as infallible (ma`sum) at any point.
Marja` al-Taqlid: The Highest Juridical
Authority
The question of the marja` al-taqlid is actually the
rational decision dictated by the necessity to consult those
who are specialists in matters of the Shari`a. This rational
necessity of taqlid has also led to the necessity of
following the most learned (al-a`lam) among the scholars,
who is the point of reference - al- marja`, for all the
Shi`a. However, the question of "the most learned" in taqlid
is inherently subjective for its universal acceptance by all
the Shi`ite scholars. How can one determine who is the most
learned when every scholar can claim to be the most learned?
There is no doubt that those mujtahids who ruled it
obligatory for believers to follow the decisions of the
"most learned" jurist wanted to centralize the leadership of
the jurist in the community and uniformalize religious
practice of the faithful. By declaring one's taqlid of the
most learned mujtahid, a believer establishes a direct link
between his religious acts with the rulings of the marja`.
This sense of linkage also generates a sense of loyalty to
the marja`, which is formalized through a juridical
prescription (fatwa) requiring the ordinary person to
declare his intention to follow the most qualified member of
the community through taqlid. Taqlid, then, is the rational
acceptance of a mujtahid's knowledgeable position in the
matters related to religious practice.
The centralization of the marja`iyya was a historical
process that began in 18th century. The concept of
marja`-taqlid and its relationship to the Shi`a community
initiated by some prominent jurists during the Qajar period
was completed when the believers, regardless of where and
under what kind of government they lived, were organized as
an independent religious community acknowledging the
centrality of Islamic religious practice in their life. The
religious independence of the community, through
mujtahid-muqallid relationship, consolidated the position of
the mujtahid within the community, whose members depend upon
the mujtahid not only for religious prescriptions but for
total guidance in realizing an ideal Islamic community in
the absence of the Twelfth Imam. In fact, the mujtahid who
occupies the position of marja`iyya (authoritative
reference) has become the conscience of the Shi`ite
community, and for the Shi`a masses the marja` al-taqlid,
although neither infallible and nor directly appointed in
that position by the Twelfth Imam, is popularly regarded as
the Imam's deputy (na'ib). This popular estimation of the
marja` as the deputy of the Imam has led to marja's
mystification and blind acceptance, even when any person
endowed with minimum reasoning in the age of democratization
of knowledge and authority is able to discern the practical
irrelevance of the institution.
Marja` al-Taqlid Today
As the community faces the impending 21st century the
traditional role of taqlid and the marja`al-taqlid in the
ever changing modern age is going through a crisis of
adjustment to the realities of the time. The institution has
run its course in history and has reached a point when it
can be clearly observed that it has lost relevancy for the
community's day to day life. There is very little interest
in the marja` to solve the pressing problems of the
community. The only organic connection with the believers
appears to be the khums. There is hardly any interest to
gear the direction of the community to a better
understanding of Islam. Modern life is complex. Most of the
marja` live in a limited and narrow social-cultural
environment to grasp the critical need to understand the
problems of modernity, and provide adequate guidance for
maintaining faith. Moreover, they function through the ad
hoc appointment of their wakils, sometimes their close
family members, who surrogate the marja's authority as well
as influence to enrich themselves and to arrogate the
position of power-brokers between the marja` and the
community leaders. In the absence of any accountability
about the way the trust of the Twelfth Imam (i.e. the
religious donations like khums and zakat) is managed, the
integrity of the marja`iyya has come under severe scrutiny.
Unlike the Vatican in Catholicism, marja'iyya has operated
up until now in the shadow of the personal integrity of the
marja` al-taqlid. With the delegated leadership of the close
family members of the marja` and some of his powerful wakils
the institution is faced with crisis, which, if unresolved,
could mean the demise of the centralized, taqlid-oriented
marja`iyya.
Such a time in the history of the Shi`a community was
already predicted by some insightful scholars. Thus, the
late Ayatollah Taleqani and Professor Murtaza Mutahhari in
their well-known recommendations for the reform of the
marja`iyya some three decades ago (published in Marja`iyyat
va Ruhaniyyat) had shown the inadequacies of the institution
in contemporary times. One of the issues taken up by
Professor Mutahhari was about the necessity of a collective
leadership to meet the diverse problems created by the
technicalization and modernization of the life in general.
The complexity of religious and moral concerns arising out
of the secular modern living, whether in the Muslim or
non-Muslim social environment, required individual mujtahids
to function as a collective body in order to lead the
community through the crisis of adjustment. Moreover, it
necessitated this collective leadership to undertake
specialization in various branches of Islamic jurisprudence
connected with human relationships to offer realistic and
authentic guidance in matters related to the modern social,
economic and political institutions. In the words of the
Ayatollah Khomeini, the marja` al-taqlid today needs to go
beyond the traditional jurisprudence (fiqh-i sunnati) to
provide relevant and applicable religious guidance to modern
men and women. Moreover, the marja`iyya needs to go beyond
the khums collection to concentrate its energy on developing
practical relationship with the community as it struggles to
live in modern times.
As a consequence, taqlid and marja` today face a
fundamental question: How relevant is the institution to the
everyday existence of the community? The 1980s saw an
unprecedented event in the political history of Twelver
Shi`ism. This was the establishment of the jurist's
governance (wilayat al-faqih) in a modern nation- state of
Iran. The role of Ayatollah Khomeini as both the founder of
the Islamic republic and the marja` al-taqlid has put
enormous pressure on other prominent mujtahids to search for
ways in which they can reach out the Shi`a community beyond
their traditionally recognized function of managing the
religious donations of khums, and providing the limited
guidance in matters strictly religious. The multifarious
problems faced by the Shi`ite communities around the globe,
especially in the West, have forced the marja` al-taqlid to
carry out further research in the Islamic sources to respond
promptly to the widening gap between the religious and
secular existence under the impact of modernity. The future
of the twin institutions of taqlid and marja` al-taqlid
which have held the community together in the past will
depend on the ability of this leadership in Shi`ism to make
Islam relevant and applicable for modernly educated men and
women. |
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