Distance of Scholars from Research

One of the blows that taqlid and blind following of scholars deals to society is that it removes the motivation and need for thinking, examining, research, and evaluation — even from the scholars themselves. That is, when people accept a scholar's words without proof and evaluation, the religious scholar gradually forgets to examine proofs and think. First, scholars themselves are born and raised in this same culture of taqlid, and before entering Islamic studies, they are thoroughly accustomed to it. Just as they have accepted the words of scholars without proof all their lives, in the seminary too — due to various factors such as respect for senior scholars, following the most learned marja', trust in the efforts of predecessors and their credibility, etc. — they do not challenge their teachers' views. Consequently, they also imitate the scholars before them, unless a new issue arises that was not previously discussed.

From the people's side as well, there will be no demand for research. When a scholar sees that whatever he guesses, or says "I think," or even says wrongly, people accept it and go about implementing it, the need for familiarity with and study of the Qur'an and hadith is unconsciously forgotten. Although this is a natural result of not asking for proof, three pieces of evidence from the scholars themselves are presented to show how likely this phenomenon is. The most recent is from the Supreme Leader, who has stated:

"Before the revolution, I had some minimal involvement with Qur'anic work. I used to tell seminary students: our seminary is such that from the moment we start with 'I'lam' until we receive permission for ijtihad, throughout all these years, we may not even once need to stand up and take the Qur'an off the shelf to look at it! That is, our studies have nothing to do with the Qur'an, except the verses that appear in grammar books like Mughnī or Suyūṭī and the like. Otherwise, neither in our jurisprudence, nor in our literature, nor in our usul research do we ever need to take the Qur'an and look to see, for example, what verse can be found about this topic or what the Qur'an says. This is a flaw of the seminary."^[1]

The second witness is Mr. Javadi Amoli, who has said:

"One of the gentlemen — may God bless him, and he is among the maraji' — gave as a reason for the condition of being male [for a marja']: 'this is the prevalent thinking, the corrupt culture' — he said, 'If a woman becomes a marja', this would be an insult to the status of marja'iyya.' You see what kind of reasoning this is for why a woman cannot be a marja' taqlid? They say 'consensus' (ijmā'). May God's spirit be upon 'Allamah Tabataba'i — he was a good Islamologist. He said, go a little far from the seminaries, step back a bit, study religion to see what drives these seminaries. He said: our rich and strong sources are four: the Qur'an, hadith, reason, and consensus. Unfortunately, reason has not developed much in the seminaries. The Qur'an is also not given currency — some believe it has been distorted, or we have nothing to do with it, or its general applicability is not expressive, it is only about principles of legislation, and the like... The Qur'an is usually not in the picture. In your typical issues, you might find one or two or three verses. In usul — as he put it — 'from beginning to end there are two verses, and those only for rejection, because all researchers have said that the Verse of Naba' and the Verse of Nafr do not prove the authoritativeness of a single narrator's report.' So usul has nothing to do with the Qur'an. As for a single narrator's report, the most important proof of its authoritativeness is the practice of rational people. There is no usuli issue that relies on the Qur'an..."^[2]

And the third witness is 'Allamah Tabataba'i:

"If you examine these sciences carefully, you will see that they are organised in such a way that it appears they have no need for the Qur'an at all. Even a student may study all these sciences — become a specialist in grammar, syntax, expression, lexicography, hadith, narrator criticism, and jurisprudence and usul — read all these courses to the end and even become a champion in these sciences and reach the level of ijtihad, yet not be able to recite the Qur'an properly, or in other words, never have touched any Qur'an at all."^[3]

What they describe as a flaw of the seminary has arisen because of taqlid. If every person referred to the mujtahid and asked for the proof of his fatwas — asking how his fatwa is compatible with a certain verse that another marja' has used — then every mujtahid would inevitably need to turn to the Qur'an and engage with it.

The False Doctrine of Self-Sufficiency

This is also one of the side harms of taqlid: it promotes the idea that "if you are a mujtahid, you no longer need to refer to others, but if you are not, you must refer to a specialist" — as if someone who becomes a mujtahid no longer needs to hear the words of others, especially other scholars, and is self-sufficient! Both reason and transmitted evidence contradict this. Rationally, however knowledgeable a person may be, they must entertain the possibility that someone else has understood an issue better than them. They should continue to attend others' lessons and teaching, listen, critique, and receive answers — both to reinforce what they know and perhaps to learn something new.

From the transmitted perspective, this teaching of taqlid contradicts the verse "So give good tidings to My servants who listen to the word and follow the best of it" (39:17) (18). The verse did not say that mujtahids should not listen to others and should derive rulings only by themselves. Likewise, the hadith "seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim man and Muslim woman" makes seeking knowledge obligatory upon every Muslim, even the most learned mujtahid. Since the person who becomes a mujtahid is still a Muslim, he is still addressed by this hadith and must strive to seek knowledge, even if it requires listening to those of the same level or even lower than himself.

If it is said that "mujtahids have nothing to do with this teaching of taqlid, and whether this is said in taqlid or not, they always remain in the pursuit of knowledge," then the whole famous phrase of taqlid becomes meaningless. It would be better, instead of saying "either be a mujtahid, or act on precaution, or imitate," to say: at whatever level and degree of knowledge you are, still seek knowledge and increase or deepen your knowledge through dialogue and consultation with others.

Parent page: What Harms Does Taqlid Have

Return to: Table of Contents