The Need For Following A Particular Imam The Taqleed Of An Individual May Allah have mercy on the scholars who saw that there was a need to demarcate the practice of Taqleed. For reasons of administration and to avoid the possibility of contradictions amongst the scholars of differing Ijtihad over a primary source, the laity were encouraged to follow only one Imam and Mujtahid instead of referring to several. This idea gained hegemony during … [Read more...]

The Statements of The Mujtahid Imams Regarding Taqleed   Contentions that the Imams themselves have prohibited the following of their opinions until they have discovered the proofs and that if their opinions conflict with any Hadith, they should smite their opinions against the wall and practice the Hadith, are of course true. However, to do justice to such statements, one would have to conclude that they are not addressed to people … [Read more...]

Taqleed In The Sunnah The Sunnah, correspondingly to the verses in the Quran, are replete with references to Taqleed, a few are mentioned below. Hudaifah (ra) said that the Prophet sallalahu alaihi wa sallam said "I do not know how long I will remain with you. So follow these two people (Who will remain) after me : Abu Bakr and Umar." (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Ahmed) [20] In this Hadith, special attention should be given to the word … [Read more...]

The Nature Of Taqleed No Muslim can deny that Islam's real message is to obey Allah alone. Emphasis has been placed upon following the Prophet Muhammed sallalahu alaihi wa sallam because he represented Allah's commandments through his words and actions. Allah and His Messenger have to be unequivocally followed in what is halal (permissible) and what is haram (forbidden): what is allowed and what is not. Whoever believes in following … [Read more...]