Verse 23 of Surah al-Zukhruf
Another verse that addresses the condemnation of taqlid is verse 23 of Surah al-Zukhruf:
Even so We sent never before you any warner into a city, except that its men of wealth said, 'We found our fathers upon a community, and we are following in their footsteps.' (43:23) Say: 'What, even though I bring you a more guiding way than that you found your fathers upon?' They said, 'We disbelieve in that you were sent with.' (24)
To briefly outline the context: it begins from verse 20: "(The idolaters say) 'If the All-Merciful had willed, we would not have worshipped them.' They have no knowledge of that; they are only conjecturing. Or did We give them a book before this, to which they hold? Nay, but they say, 'We found our fathers upon a community, and we are following in their footsteps.'"
Commentaries such as al-Mizan, Nimuneh, and Rawan Javid have referred to the concept of taqlid under this verse. However, no source was found that explicitly says this verse is about taqlid in the faith fundamentals. If someone were to make such a claim, as with previous verses, the refutation is found in the word "muqtadun" (following in footsteps): when the people of the city say they found their fathers upon a religion and follow them, "iqtida'" more strongly implies practical following rather than theoretical. It is rare for someone to say "I follow so-and-so in a matter of belief," but in rulings and actions, "iqtida'" has a straightforward and natural meaning. Also, in verse 20, when the idolaters said that God willed it they would not have committed shirk, this shirk was not merely belief-based. Evidence for this claim can be found in 6:148 and 16:35, where the idolaters say the same thing — "if God had willed, we would not have taken other partners" — and then add "and we would not have forbidden anything." This shows their shirk was also questioned because they forbade and permitted things without evidence in the realm of rulings.
If someone wants to say, following the pattern of previous verses, that this verse refers to blind taqlid and not any taqlid, the answer is nearly the same as before. God again uses a rhetorical question: do you imitate even if the prophet brings you a more guiding message? Since this explanation is repetitive, we refer the interested reader to previous sections on Verse 170 of Surah al-Baqarah, Verse 104 of Surah al-Ma'idah, and Verse 21 of Surah Luqman. The key difference between this verse and the previous ones is that the previous ones asked: even if your fathers knew nothing? Even if they did not reason? Even if they were not guided? Even if they lead you to the fire of punishment? But here God says: even if the prophet's message is more guiding? — which shows that people could recognize that the prophet's message was more guiding (even if they did not trust him as much as their fathers).
Why So Much Reference to the Word "Fathers"?
A new point worth mentioning concerns the word "fathers." One might wonder why God criticizes this word in all these verses. Is it only fathers that are the problem, and should we not imitate them? The answer is that the word itself is not the main issue. As observed, many translators and commentators have added "ancestors and forefathers." But given the nature of God's response in all these verses, it no longer matters whom people say they are following. Even if they said we follow our mothers, or our children, or scholars, or rulers, or military leaders — living or dead, present or absent — God's answer is such that it makes no difference: whoever you follow, examine whether in the matter you are being invited to, they had knowledge or not? Did they reason or not? And similarly for the other questions raised.
In other words, this verse, like the previous ones, is content-oriented and message-oriented, not reference-oriented or person-oriented. The Qur'an gives importance to the content of the message, not to who brought it. According to this verse, when messengers heard from people "we follow the religion of our fathers," they did not reply: "I am more trustworthy than them, I am a more expert and committed person, I have more miracles and wonders, I have more followers, more people testify to my a'lamiyyah," and similar person-oriented criteria. In all the verses reviewed, the manner of God's and the messengers' argumentation was such that it ultimately directed people toward the content and reflection on the good and bad of actions, weighing the opinions of claimants, allowing them to freely choose so that they could later evaluate the correctness or incorrectness of their decision, repent if they had erred, correct themselves, grow and become better people in this process, and ultimately be rewarded or punished for their choices.
Hence, in the subsequent verses, it mentions that people said: if this Qur'an is true, "why was it not sent down upon a great man from one of the two cities?" And God answers: "Is it they who divide the mercy of your Lord?" If it were not that people would become one community, We would have given those who disbelieve in the All-Merciful roofs of silver, stairways of silver, doors of silver, and couches of silver — and all these are the goods of this worldly life. If someone does not give his heart to this Qur'an, to remembrance, thought, and reflection on God's commands, and instead bases his religion on men, personalities, and the greatness of their establishments, We will assign him a companion who will bar him from the path of God, and because of these outward criteria, he will constantly think he is guided — until he comes to Us and says: "Oh, would that between me and you there were the distance of the East and West — what an evil companion!" Then God addresses them: this avoidance today will not benefit you at all; now that you have done wrong, you will surely share in the punishment.
The rest of the sura contains similar references. For example, the polytheists of the Prophet's time considered Jesus inferior to their deities, while the Qur'an says Jesus brought clear proofs. Pharaoh made his own person and status the basis and criterion for comparison.
They Consider Themselves Guided!
Another point found both in the above verses and in those reviewed in The Verse of Surah al-A'raf 28 is the repetition of the phrase "they think they are guided." God says that the people of taqlid imagine they are guided, and this is a far-reaching misguidance. Consider: if a muqallid performs an action based on his marja's fatwa that involves the rights of others and the fatwa turns out to be wrong, during the entire time he is committing injustice, as long as his belief in taqlid is firm, nothing will make him realize his mistake.
If his inner nature tells him the action is wrong, he says to himself: "Surely the marja' is an expert and must have known something to say this." If he realizes through reason and calculation that it is wrong, he still tells himself: "Perhaps the marja's calculation was more precise." If he sees in practice and reality that the result is destructive, as long as he believes in taqlid, he says: "I didn't do anything wrong, so the problem must be elsewhere." If another person proves to him that his action was wrong, he says: "Do you know better than my marja'?" And even if he goes before God, he says: "I did the right thing; the mistake was my marja's for saying so!" As you can see, nothing can wake such a person from his slumber of negligence and correct his action. Perhaps this is why God says about them: "Misguidance is justified against them" and they are in "far-reaching misguidance" — yet nothing reduces their punishment, and both the one who imitates and the one who is imitated share in the punishment!
The section Verses Denying the Transfer of Responsibility examines verses that deny any removal of responsibility for wrong actions from the muqallid.
Parent page: Verses Condemning Taqlid