Dear brother!

You must read the book Return to Islam with sufficient attention and without personal preconceptions and assumptions; because His Eminence Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has defined imitation in the book as “following the saying or action of someone without reason”[1], not with reason! Therefore, if someone follows the saying or action of another because it conforms to the criterion of cognition, he is not imitating him, but rather following the criterion of cognition. It is clear that this great scholar also has not asked people to imitate him, but rather has asked them to follow his sayings and actions considering their conformity to the Book of Allah, the established Sunnah of His Prophet, and clear rational principles, and this is not considered imitation in any way. He is vehemently opposed to the worship of men and considers it an example of polytheism. The worship of men is when a person is influenced by a fallible individual to the point of following his sayings and actions without reason. This has become very common among Muslims in our time.

Yes, Muslims must refer to the sources of Islam themselves and not be content with the fatwas of mujtahids. Of course, mujtahids must also help them with this by facilitating their direct reference to the sources of Islam, rather than fanning the fire of their imitation of them and keeping them occupied with themselves instead of the Book of Allah, the established Sunnah of His Prophet, and clear rational principles; because this is preventing people from following the way of Allah and cooperating in sin and transgression, and it is similar to what the Jewish rabbis and Christian monks did to the nations of the past; as His Eminence Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has said in one of his letters:

The bandits in the way of Allah kept people from Allah’s Book and His Caliph and occupied them with themselves, as a baby is kept from his mother’s breast and distracted with a pacifier! Then the consequence of this banditry was that people became addicted to imitating them, and not long after they fell into the hole of imitation in the practices, they fell into the well of imitation in the principles, had them take control of their Hereafter and world, submitted to their guardianship as if it is the guardianship of Allah, and took them as lords apart from Allah; like Jews who took their scholars and monks as lords apart from Allah during the absence of their Prophets, and whenever a Prophet came to them, they denied him with their gesture or killed him with their fatwa; because no Prophet came to them unless he spoke against their priests and exposed their hypocrisy and treachery...[2]

From here, it is understood that the gathering of a sufficient number of Muslims to protect, help, and obey the Mahdi, although it is done at the invitation of Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, is not done by imitating him, but rather by following the Book of Allah, the established Sunnah of His Prophet, and clear rational principles that this great scholar has mentioned and explained in his book; because to invite Muslims to this necessary gathering, he has written a book of reasoning and proofs, in which he has used the Book of Allah, the established Sunnah of His Prophet, and clear rational principles as evidence. He has not sufficed with issuing fatwas like mujtahids nor with introducing himself like claimants, while a reference for imitation only announces his fatwa to people and expects them to act upon it based on their imitation of him and without having detailed knowledge of his evidence, and a claimant only announces his alleged position to people, such as being the Mahdi, his deputy, or his son, and expects them to follow his sayings or actions based on their imitation of him and without having detailed knowledge of his evidence. However, Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has undertaken the invitation not as a reference for imitation or as a claimant, but rather as one who enjoins right and forbids wrong. He has based his rational and legitimate invitation on the definitive pieces of evidence that he has presented in detail to people so that they answer his invitation through detailed knowledge of his pieces of evidence, not simply by relying on his authority or his alleged position. This is the important characteristic that distinguishes this excellent personality from references for imitation and claimants and places him in the position of one who objectively and practically prepares the ground for the Mahdi’s advent. This means that Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, unlike references for imitation and claimants, does not want to make you his imitators and followers. Rather, he wants to make you his free, wise, and educated brothers so that you will be his helpers toward Allah and His caliph on Earth. In other words, he wants to make you strong and honor you, while claimants and references for imitation want to humiliate you and make you weak. ﴿هَلْ يَسْتَوِيَانِ مَثَلًا ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ﴾[3]; “Are they equal when compared?! Will you not then take heed?!”