What is Islam’s stance on imitation (taqlid)?
Question & Answer
A fundamental rule that every Muslim must know and pay attention to is that conjecture has no authority in Islam; because Allah Almighty has explicitly said in His Book: ﴿إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا﴾[1]; “Indeed, conjecture is not sufficient for (proving) the truth,” and He has reproached some people for following conjecture and said: ﴿إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ﴾[2]; “They follow nothing but conjecture and do nothing but guess.” This means that Muslims’ beliefs and deeds must always be based on certainty; as Allah Almighty has explicitly said: ﴿وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ﴾[3]; “Do not follow what you have no knowledge of.” Therefore, beliefs and deeds that are based on conjecture are incorrect and unacceptable to Allah, and it is clear that imitating a fallible person in matters of belief and deed, in the sense of following his sayings or actions without knowing his evidence, only leads to conjecture; because it is not known whether he has arrived at the truth or made an error, and accordingly, it “is not sufficient for (proving) the truth.”
As for the proof of those who believe that imitation in deeds is permissible, it is that they consider beliefs to be different from deeds and say that conjecture is proof in deeds. However, the difference between them is not proven in Islam, and the statement of Allah Almighty in His Book is general and includes beliefs and deeds equally, and it is not permissible to specify it with qiyas (i.e., analogical reasoning) or narrations. Therefore, it is essential for every Muslim to learn his Islamic beliefs and deeds from a young age, just as he learns reading, writing, and other essential life skills, and he must not accept a belief or practice a deed except with a certain piece of evidence, and a certain piece of evidence in Islam is a verse from the Quran, a wildly transmitted Hadith from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, or hearing from Allah’s Caliph on the earth, as explained by Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, in his book Return to Islam with clear pieces of evidence and sufficient proofs.
For more information on this, refer to Critique and Response 1.
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Appendices
Sub-questions & answers
What is your opinion on imitation? I used to be an imitator (muqallid) a few years ago, but I have turned to Allah Almighty, disavowing all the sources of imitation (maraji‘ al-taqlid) and whoever claims to take the place of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, in his absence. I have also turned to Allah Almighty, disavowing guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (wilayat al-faqih) and whoever believes in it. Was what I did the right thing? May Allah reward you well, bless you, and help Islam through you.
We have previously explained that imitating a fallible person is clearly unlawful, and every Muslim must seek knowledge of the principles and branches of religion; as stated in the well-known Hadith: «طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ»[1]; “Seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim.” We have also explained that Allah has not set guardianship, in the sense of absolute obligatory obedience, for a fallible person. Therefore, whoever affirms it for a fallible person has fabricated lies against Allah, ﴿وَكَفَى بِهِ إِثْمًا مُبِينًا﴾[2]; “and it is sufficient as a manifest sin.” If Allah has guided you to this, then He has guided you to the straight path. However, it is just correct belief, which is half of faith, and the other half is righteous deed, one of the most important examples of which in this time, after preserving prayer, Zakat, and fasting in the month of Ramadan, is preparing the ground for the advent of Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, by drawing people’s attention to his existence and the necessity of his role and gathering a sufficient number of them to seek and help him, which is what Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani, may Allah Almighty protect him, has undertaken excellently. Therefore, it is obligatory for every Muslim to help him with it to the best of his ability, in accordance with the words of Allah Almighty: ﴿وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى﴾[3]; “And help one another in goodness and piety.”
↑[1] . Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 1, p. 81; al-Mahasin by al-Barqi, vol. 1, p. 225; Basa’ir al-Darajat by al-Saffar, p. 22; Musnad of al-Bazzar, vol. 14, p. 45; Musnad of Abi Ya‘la, vol. 5, p. 223; al-Kafi by al-Kulayni, vol. 1, p. 30; Mu‘jam of ibn al-A‘rabi, vol. 1, p. 180; al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat by al-Tabarani, vol. 2, p. 297, vol. 4, p. 245; al-Amali by al-Mufid, p. 29; Musnad of Abi Hanifa by Abu Nu‘aym al-Asbahani, p. 24; Musnad of al-Shihab by ibn Salama, vol. 1, p. 135; Shu‘ab al-Iman by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 2, p. 254; al-Amali by al-Tusi, p. 488
↑[2] . An-Nisa/ 50
↑[3] . Al-Ma’idah/ 2
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