The Islamic Personality by Sheikh Taqīuddīn An-Nabahānī

Allah  addressed the whole of mankind through the Prophethood of our master Muhammad  He  said:

And He  said:

And He  said:

And He addressed the people and the Muslims with the ahkām of Islam. He  said:

He  said:

He  said:

And He  said:

And He  said:

And He  said:

So for the one who has heard the address he becomes obliged to understand it and believe in it. And the one who believed in it, he is obliged to understand it and act upon it, because it is a Hukm Shar’i (Sharī’ah rule). So the basis for a Muslim is that he himself should understand the rule (Hukm) of Allah  from his  address. Since, the address has been aimed directly at the people by the Legislator and not aimed only at the Mujtahiddin or the ‘Ulama but to all the legally responsible (mukallifin). Thus it became an obligation on the legally responsible (mukallafin) to understand this address until they are able to practise it since it is impossible to act according to the address without comprehending it. Thus, the deduction (istinbat) of Allah’s hukm became fard on all the legally responsible (mukallifin) i.e, Ijtihād became fard on all the legally responsible (mukallifin). Consequently, the basis (asl) is that the legally responsible (mukallaf) person adopts the Hukm of Allah  himself from the address of the Legislator because it is he who has been addressed by this speech, which is the hukm of Allah .

However, the reality of the legally responsible (mukallafin) is that there is a disparity in their understanding and comprehension and in their (aptitude to) learn. They also differ in terms of knowledge and ignorance. Therefore, it is realistically impossible for all of them to deduce all the Sharī’ah rules from the evidences i.e, it is impossible for all the legally responsible (mukallafin) to be mujtahiddin. Since the objective is to understand the address and act upon this understanding, therefore, Ijtihād is fard on all the legally responsible (mukallifin). But it is impossible for all the legally responsible (mukallafin) to understand the address for themselves due to the disparity in their understanding and comprehension and the disparity in learning therefore the obligation of Ijtihād becomes one of sufficiency (‘ala al-Kifaya). If some undertake it the rest are absolved of the sin. Therefore, it became obligatory on the legally responsible Muslims that there should be Mujtahiddin amongst them who will derive the Sharī’ah rulings.

Therefore, the reality of the legally responsible (mukallafin) and that of the Hukm Shar’i means that there would be two catagories amongst the Muslims, the mujtahiddin and muqallidin. This is because the one who adopts the hukm himself directly from the evidence is a mujtahid, and the one who questions the mujtahid about a hukm Shar’i is a muqallid irrespective of whether the questioner asked in order ; to learn and act upon it, to learn and teach it to others or to learn it only. The muqallid is considered a muqallid when he asks someone who is not a mujtahid but knows the hukm Shar’i and is able to tell others, whether the one who was asked was a learned person or a layman. Thus, they are all followers (muqallid) of others in this hukm even if he did not know the one who deduced it, because the legally responsible (mukallaf) is required to adopt the hukm Shar’i and not follow any particular person. Being a muqallid means that he has adopted a hukm Shari’, via a person, which he has not deduced himself and it does not mean he followed a particular person because the subject matter is the hukm Shari’ and not the person. The difference between the muqallid and the mujtahid is that the mujtahid deduces the Hukm Shari’ from the Sharī’ah evidence himself and the muqallid is the one who adopts the hukm Shari’ which has been deduced by someone other than him whether he knew the one who derived it or not, as long as he trusts that this is a Sharī’ah rule. It is not lawful Taqlīd to adopt the opinion of any ordinary person or that of a scholar, thinker or philosopher, Non of this is legitimate Taqlīd.

Rather it is tantamount to adopting something which is other than Islam and it has been prohibited by the Sharī’ah. It is not allowed for the Muslim to do that since Allah  has ordered us to adopt from the Messenger Muhammad  and not from anybody else whoever he may be. He  said:

A prohibition has been mentioned with regards to adopting an opinion which originates from the people. The prophet  said,

i.e, they give fatwa according to their own whims and opinions. The opinion which has been deduced is not considered as an opinion originating from the one who deduced it; rather it is (considered) a hukm Shari’. As for what emanates from a person, it is considered (merely) an opinion and this is the reason why the Messenger  called it an innovation (bid’a). In an authentic hadīth the Prophet  said:

The ‘newly invented issues’ are the innovations. They are whatever contradicts the Quran, Sunnah, Ijma’ in terms of the rules (ahkām) whether by action or speech. As for what is other than the rules (ahkām) such as actions and things it does not fall under the word ‘innovation’ (bid’a) nor does it fall in the category of the rebuked and prohibited, what does fall in it is the taking of the Hukm of an action or thing from the opinion of a person because the Hukm can only be taken from the Shar’i evidences and not from anywhere else. Thus the Taqlīd allowed by the Sharī’ah is for the person unable to deduce the Hukm Shar’i to be allowed to ask the scholar about a particular Hukm Shar’i so as to learn and adopt it. To summarise, it is allowed for anybody unaware of a Hukm Shar’i to ask the one who does know the Hukm so he may learn and adopt it, and this is the meaning of (legitimate) Muqallid legally.