Emptying Religion of Content

The purpose of religion and all divine rulings is "human becoming" — that is, conscious betterment arising from one's own will and inner self. If it were meant to be without awareness — for example, merely by God's command and through blind submission — God Himself would have caused humans to "become better" or would have created a different kind of being, like angels, who would be submissive whether they liked it or not, as the holy verse says:

And your Lord is the Free of need, the possessor of mercy. If He wills, He can do away with you and give succession after you to whomever He wills, just as He produced you from the descendants of another people. (6:133)

Therefore, what determines the value of actions is the understanding and content that we derive from them, not mere form and appearance. This is why it is said, "Actions are judged by intentions." But taqlid causes both the mujtahid and the muqallid to neglect content. The mujtahid's entire concern is to determine people's duty, and the muqallid's entire concern, at best, is to fulfil that duty. This is why the concept of "discharge of responsibility" (barā'at al-dhimmah) in worship and rulings has become a widespread concern and frequently used concept in jurisprudence^[1]. Both the marja' and the people merely want to fulfil their duty, without caring why God placed that duty in the first place.

If we accept that God has no need for the acts of worship and rulings we perform, and if we accept that God does not need our duties for managing society and establishing truth and justice or any other purpose on earth, we arrive at the conclusion that these duties can have only one purpose: the growth and betterment of the human being himself, spiritually and personality-wise. Every duty is an exercise for humans to grow in moral virtues and become closer and more similar to God. And this is not possible unless the person is aware of what he is doing and why. Without awareness of the action and its conditions, no growth occurs. A robot can become more precise and capable through unconscious repetition of an action, but a human cannot attain greater moral virtues through unconscious repetition of an act. This is why awareness is a condition in prayer, and why it has been commanded: "Be steadfast in your prayer." One of the meanings of this recommendation is to always do everything consciously.

Parent page: What Harms Does Taqlid Have

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