The Verse of Surah Maryam 43
Continuing the examination of verses claimed to imply taqlid, we come to verse 43 of Surah Maryam, where Prophet Abraham says to his father:
O my father, indeed there has come to me of knowledge that which has not come to you, so follow me; I will guide you to a straight path. (19:43)
It is sporadically seen[1] that some people invoke this verse, arguing that just as Abraham told his father "I have knowledge, follow me," the obligated believers should follow the people of knowledge — and this is taqlid. However, the verse uses the word "follow" (ittibā'), not "imitate" (taqlid), and it was previously explained that following is different from imitation. If someone follows Abraham by asking for proof and argument, they are still following and have been guided to the straight path — that is, even without imitation, they would still be an instance of this verse. So to claim that Abraham only recommended the kind of following without proof, evidence is required.
Moreover, the context of the preceding and following verses is one of argumentation, demanding proof, and presenting counter-evidence. Abraham does not say "because I have knowledge and you do not, therefore follow me blindly without asking for proof — that suffices for you." No, he tries to guide his father through proof, questioning, and answering. Perhaps for this reason, to date, no reputable tafsir or authoritative book has inferred taqlid from this verse. Only on the websites Wikifiqh and al-Ketab has verse 43 of Surah Maryam been linked to taqlid, and even there without any reference to a specific book or tafsir, and on both sites the author's identity is unclear, making it impossible to investigate what defense they might have for this interpretation.
The very fact that Abraham says "knowledge has come to me" to prove his being guided shows that his own guidance was based on knowledge, and it is fitting that Abraham would want the same type of guidance for others — not to close the door to grace by saying "I follow God with knowledge, but you follow me without knowledge." When he says "I walk the straight path according to knowledge," if someone truly wants to follow Abraham, he too must walk according to knowledge. In other words, since Abraham's religion was based on knowledge, if his followers have an imitative religiosity, they cannot consider themselves fully and completely followers of Abraham, because they practice a different type of religiosity[2].
As evidence that the context of these verses does not recommend taqlid but rather opposes it, we can refer to the commentary Tafsir-e Ithna 'Ashari under verse 46 of the same chapter:
"Observation: Prophet Abraham here expressed all four types of his speech with utmost excellence and order, because: first, he informed his uncle of the prohibition of worshipping idols and statues; then he commanded him to follow himself in reflection and reasoning and to abandon imitation (taqlid); then he informed him that rationally it is not permissible to obey Satan; and in the fourth stage, he concluded his speech with a deterrent warning against proceeding with what is not worthy[3]."
Notice that the author of this tafsir did not infer from this verse that Abraham placed the path of imitation before his father; on the contrary, he inferred the opposite.
Parent page: The Qur'an Has Not Recommended Taqlid
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