Islamic Laws [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

IJTIHAD (JURISTIC REASONING)

Ijtihad and a
Divine Law:

A law (hukum) based on Islam can he defined as
divine legislation or Shari'ah which organizes
human life and his divers relations. (Ijtihad is
the process practised by a jurisprudent to discover
secondary divine legislation (laws) regarding the
organizing of human life and his diverse relations or
endeavouring to discover and deduce the Islamic laws and
regulations from their sources like the laws concerning
worship, possession, business, property, judiciary,
politics and family affairs...etc.)

Ijtihad is a learning (knowing) process and has
a important, progressive and civil role in the life of an
individual and the society altogether with the state. It
also participate in developing the civil life and opening
the legislative prospects before it. Without the process
of Ijtihad, many human activities are difficult to
develop in the sphere of an Islamic life.

Human society is a developing entity. Human actions,
relationships and activities are ever-increasing and
ever-expanding. Many things are invented that were
non-existent before. Banks, insurance companies, radio
and television and the other discoveries are new
phenomena which are to be used correctly and in harmony
with Islamic teachings. If there are no fuqaha'
(jurisprudents), how could codes and regulations
concerning such institutions be derived at?

This process of Ijtihad is responsible for
catering to all the needs of the human society and
providing answers to all questions which may arise in
this field. Without the process of Ijtihad, a
faithful Muslim will find himself in a dilemma.

The First Attitude: To petrify, solidify
and isolate every new development in life because he has
no knowledge concerning his legal responsibility or duty
and the ambiguity of such special legislative laws
concerning new affairs in human life...

The Second Attitude: To dissolute from
any legal responsibility or obligation and dissolve
absolutely in a non-Islamic civilization and principles;
to take laws and concepts and specify situations and
behaviour by depending on non-Islamic civilizations,
principles and ideologies.

In both cases, the attitude will be a tragedy against
the dynamic goals of Islam and to stop the spread of the
ever-lasting Divine Legislation.

Besides these two attitudes, another attitude which is
more dangerous than the two, the idea that Islam is
incapable of establishing a developed society and
international entity for the Muslim nation and which puts
obstacles in its path of progress, which in other words
would mean the absence of Divine Mercy and Kindness from
the world of mankind and to leave it in disorder and
chaos. All these are against the aims of Islam and which
contradict the spirit of Shari'ah and the
principles of the ever-lasting Islamic Message as the
Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic sunnah.

The Most High says:

"...and We ban reveal the Book to you
explaining all things, and a guidance and mercy and good
news for those who submit."

Holy Qur'an (16:89)

A holy tradition (hadith) says:

"Almighty Allah has revealed in the Qur'an the
declaration of all things. He has not left anything
needed by His servants unexplained so that no one would
say: if (only) this has been revealed in the Qur'an. Yes
indeed He has revealed it."[7]

Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) describes the nature of the
Islamic message in the following words:

"The Qur'an is certainly alive and does not
die. It moves as the night and the day, and as the sun
and the moon. Its teachings should be obeyed by the last
man on earth as it had been obeyed by the first
one."[8]

By contemplating on these Islamic texts, one realizes
that the Qur'an is the origin of Islam; the source of its
message; a vehicle for its laws, principles and concepts
and a torch which sends the rays of guidance on the
planet more brighter or serene than the sun and the moon.

But it is not in our capability nor any one else to
understand (realize) life perfectly through the Qur'an
nor to discover the laws of life and the Islamic laws
from the treasures of this Book (the Qur'anic verses are
treasuries, whenever a treasury is opened, you should
look at it).[9]

This richness of laws and the large ideological wealth
which the Qur'anic verses contain need scientific efforts
and an ideological declaration capable of drawing from
this inexhaustible spring and meet the future needs from
these unfathomable treasuries.

It is natural, that to comprehend the deepness of the
Qur'an with its legal proof is not clear nor specified in
every situation and affair and it is not in the capacity
of a jurisprudent (Faqih or Mujtahid) to
take this responsibility in the first grade. But it was
the task of the Minister of Revelation (Prophet Muhammad
(s.a.w.) to comprehend and expound the spirit of the
Book; to interpret its meanings and to formulate its laws
and practical legislation in life under Divine Guidance.

Thus the relation between the two - the Book and the sunnah
- looks like to a great extent the relation between a
constitution and a law.

The constitution makes clear the essential origin of
legislation and prescription of law. For instance, the
clause speaks of the right to own property, but it is the
law-maker which clarifies its details, and drafts the
laws necessary for practical execution of this
constitutional article and declaration of its details.

In like manner, the task of the Prophetic traditions sunnah
is to translate the contents of the Qur'an and formulate
them as practical laws for life.

For more details, it is worth mentioning that the sunnah
is not a Prophetic judgement for formulating the Qur'anic
spirit and explaining its contents through laws as the
case in the relation between the constitution and law.

The sunnah is a Divine revelation and
instruction both in its meaning and contents save that
its literary pronunciation and form is said by the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) himself.

For example, the Holy Qur'an ascribes (determines)
that the paying of the poor-dues zakat is
obligatory but without clarifying its amounts or
quantities nor the things on which it should be paid. But
it is the Prophetic Tradition sunnah which looks
after it by explaining it in detail. This explanation and
detail has come through the utterance and practise of the
Noble Messenger and his human normal speech. In order to
continue the advantageous role of the sunnah,
Allah willed that it should have leaders (Imams)
after the Prophet who represent the conscious side and
comprehend the spirit of the Qur'an and its contents in
accordance with the Prophet's practice.

Therefore, the Imams of the Prophet's infallible
Household, the Ahlul-Bait (peace be upon them all)
represent the blessed path of guidance for the ummah.
After them comes the role of the Jurisprudents (mujtahids
or fuqaha') who undertake the task of judgement by
reasoning in the light of the Qur'an and the sunnah
to meet the changing needs of the human society. Thus,
the dynamism of Ijtihad which is wide open till
our present day, was necessary to expand the horizons of
the Shari'ah and to enrich the human society with
concepts and laws which are necessary for organizing the
progress of mankind.

Therefore, Ijtihad is necessary wajib kifa'i
and there should at least be a Mujtahid, in every
age and era, to whom Muslims refer and upon whom they
depend for understanding the Shari'ah and
discovering its laws.

Islam has two main sources:

A- The Book (The Qur'an).

B- The Sunnah (The Prophetic Tradition).

It is only in the light of these two sources that laws
should be made. The tragedy of Muslims, is, certain
persons took fallible sources besides these two, and on
the basis of their whims and personal opinions qiyas
imposed themselves on unsuspecting and simple-minded
Muslims as Imams or leaders of schools of Jurisprudence.

Later on, the ruling Abbasid Caliphs, who were total
strangers to Islam and its teachings arbitrarily
sanctioned the legitimacy of four self-contradictory
schools of jurisprudence on the Muslims, ruling that the
door of Ijtihad was closed.

But in Islamic Shari'ah, it is not necessary to
accept these sources (the sources of qiyas and the
like to which certain Mujtahids depend other than
the Book and the Sunnah) except what tallies with
the spirit of the Book and the sunnah. However,
the followers of the schools of the Prophet's Ahlul-Bait,
have always stayed clear of these innovations and kept
the dynamism of Ijtihad open on the basis of the
Book and the sunnah. Therefore, it is the duty of
a rightly guided mujtahid or faqih cancel
in all periods any of these sources which contradict the
Book and the sunnah or bold no water before a
scientific justification.

How
does a Jurisprudent (faqih) practise the Process of
Extrapolation:

Most Muslims are ignorant with the meaning of Ijtihad
and some even believe that the process of Ijtihad
is related to a certain class of religious men (scholars)
because of their religious position as is the case with
the post of a pope in a church. Some also think that all
laws of jurisprudence and legal opinions are only
personal views of a faqih (Jurisprudent) who
decides and appreciates laws according to his own
judgements or justifies the events and accidents and an
answer for certain considerations at random.

Certainly this kind of understanding represents the
ignorance with Islamic law (Shari'ah),
Jurisprudence and Ijtihad.

In Islam, both Jurisprudence Fiqh and Ijtihad
have no relation with any personal opinion or qiyas.

Ijtihad is a complete scientific practice as
defined before and has its own sources, proofs,
principles, methods and precisions like all other fields
of science and human knowledge such as logics, physics,
mathematics...etc.

As the logician, physicist and mathematician, in their
respective fields, cannot coin laws or devise formulas
from themselves at random, so does the true jurisprudent faqih
who is also not able to draft or frame any law from
himself because the nature of Shari'ah and its
lawful and ideological structure (constitution) not only
does not allow him to do that but also stands against
those who forge or play with its laws.

Thus, any law which lacks proofs and principles from
the Book and the sunnah and contradicts these
scientific regulations is not an Islamic law, but is
simply the low desire of that law maker against the
spirit of the Shari'ah in order to deceive simple
people.

Why
do the Jurisprudents (Fuqaha') differ:

Many people wonder why it is that the mujtahids
differ at times in their fatwas, when the basis of
their Ijtihad are the same. It should be observed
that difference in scientific opinions is not to be taken
as a sign of a substantial defect in the quest for
knowledge. It is rather, a sign that knowledge moves in
progressive steps towards perfection. Differences of
opinions are to be found in all sciences, not just in fiqh.

There may, for example, be more that one opinion about
the therapy for a particular patient's ailment, and all
of these opinions may be superseded later on by the
development of new methods of dealing with that malady.
Thus, this difference can be seen in the light of
difference between scientists and should be regarded as
stages to be passed in its route to perfection.

It should be remembered that the mujtahid
formulates his opinions after pushing his research and
study as far as he can; that is all that is expected of
him, for he is neither infallible nor the knower of the
unseen.

The most important and dangerous question which
remains unanswered is that why do the mujtahids
differ among themselves in their religious opinions
concerning an issue while there is one Shari'ah
and its laws are one? Or why do the mujtahids'
religious opinions differ concerning one subject?

To answer the question, we should differentiate
between the two cases: the case in which the differences
are founded on sound bases and lawful practice.

The second case is that the differences are made out
of extemporaneous Ijtihad which is not founded on
a sound base nor is scientific according to the spirit of
Shari'ah and its sources.

The first difference is a natural result of a sound
scientific reasoning and the mujtahids are excused
for any short comings nor could they be punished on the
day of Resurrection because their intention was sincere.
It is the second case or difference which is neither Ijtihad
nor Fiqh but it is a haphazard act against the
spirit of Shari'ah and its principles, and the
person responsible and his blind followers will be held
responsible on the day of Resurrection.

The science of jurisprudence - as we explained - is
similar to other sciences and human knowledges. As each
of these sciences has its own rules, principles, the
Islamic Shari'ah has its own principles and laws
too.

As the physicist, in the previous example, tries to
spend all his scientific efforts to discover laws related
to physics within the framework of its nature, existence;
or the logician who devotes all his efforts to discover
the laws of thinking according to its intellectual basis,
and it is not for them to coin laws of their own on mere
fancy; so does a mujtahid (faqih), who has
no ability or right to make laws and principles in a
haphazard manner, and then try to legitimatize them. If
anyone has dared to do this, then his laws should
scientifically analyzed on the basis of the Qur'an and
the sunnah.

The same idea is applied to a physicist and logician
who sometimes makes a mistake in discovering scientific
laws and rules and that this wrong discovery does not
represent the true law of physics and logics but it
represents the understanding of a scientist who made a
mistake in identifying the law. The case is the same
concerning the faqih who may sometimes make a
mistake while practising the act of deriving Islamic laws
from their original sources - the Book and the sunnah
- but his mistake is not done blindly and at random but
due to his insufficiency or inadequacy in his scientific
tools or his self capacity which causes him to be unable
in deriving legal law as it is formulated in the world of
law and a divine Shari'ah.

This is the reason why the faqih is excused
when he makes a mistake in arriving at the right law.

The main differences, whether being among the mujtahids
of various Islamic schools of jurisprudence such as Hanafi,
Shafi'i, Shi'ah, Maliki...etc. or among the mujtahids
of one school, belong to the following reasons:

1- Linguistic difference concerning some texts of the
Holy Qur'an and Prophetic traditions due to the
difference in grammar, meaning or in reading which leads
to the difference in understanding and formulating laws.
For example, their difference in the following verse of
ablution when the Almighty Allah says:

"O you who believe, when you rise up for
prayer, wash your f aces, and your hands up to the
elbows, and wipe your heads, and your feet up to the
ankles. And if you are under an obligation, then wash
(yourselves)..."

Holy Qur'an (5:6)

Whoever among the scholars considers the word 'feet'
grammatically is joined to 'faces', makes its washing
obligatory and whoever considers the word 'feet' as
joined to 'heads' makes its wiping obligatory.

Or their difference in the meaning of 'quru"
in the Almighty's saying:

"And the divorced women should keep
themselves in waiting f or three monthly courses
(quru');..."

Holy Qur'an (2:228)

Scholars (faqihs) differ among themselves concerning
the linguistic meaning of the word 'quru";
some consider it as the period of cleanness (tuhur)
while others explain it as period of menstruation (haydh).
Each of these two opinions depend on their own linguistic
interpretation or understanding because the word 'quru"
in Arabic language is called for both the period of
cleanness (tuhur) and the period of menstruation (haydh).

In accordance with this linguistic difference,
scholars differ among themselves in waiting period of a
divorced woman; is it three periods of cleanness - after
divorce - or is it three complete months because what is
meant by 'quru" is the period of menstruation
(haydh) because the word haydh is a
symbolic name for woman's monthly period by considering
it as a monthly period which occurs once every month.

Another example, is (heir difference in reading the
Almighty's saying 'hata yatharna' (until they have
become clean) in the following verse:

"And they ask you about menstruation. Say
it is a discomfort; therefore, keep aloof from the women
during the menstruation and do not go near them until
they have become clean; then when they have cleansed
themselves, go in them as Allah has commanded you; Surely
Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves
those who purify themselves."

Holy Qur'an (2:222)

Whoever reads the word 'they have become clean' as
stressed, does not allow to make sexual intercourse with
women during the period of menstruation until they have
become clean (i.e. to take the ritual bath) but whoever
reads it without stress allows to make sexual intercourse
with her whenever cleanness is achieved (i.e. the
stopping of blood).

Or their difference concerning whether the command
denotes (signifies) obligation or permission; whether a
prohibition indicates prohibition or reprehensibility;
whether the word denotes reality or figurative or their
difference among the texts like generalization,
restriction, universality or specification...etc.

2. The difference concerning the meaning of a text (of
the Book (Qur'an) and the Prophet's sunnah).
Indeed scholars may differ in their understanding the
signification of a text and its meaning like their
difference in the following saying of Allah, the Most
High:

"Divorce may be (pronounced) twice; then
keep (them) in good fellowship or let (them) go with
kindness..."

Holy Qur'an (2:229)

"So if he divorces her (the third time),
she shall not be lawful to him afterwards until she
marries another husband. If he divorces her, there is no
blame on them both if they return to each other (by
marriage),..."

Holy Qur'an (2:230)

Surely the reason of difference in understanding
Allah's saying (divorce is twice) is the appearance of
jurisprudential laws based on personal opinions, with
some ruling prohibition of a wife to her husband if he
divorces her three times by simply saying that 'you are
divorced'; depending on his understanding of the above
mentioned verse (divorce is twice). At the third time,
after passing a greater separation, he has no right to
marry her until she marries another husband and if the
new husband divorces her, then only the first husband has
the right to marry her after completion of her monthly
waiting period.

But another group explains the Almighty's saying
(divorce is twice) that divorce should be achieved
practically but not simply orally in order that a wife
becomes forbidden to her husband. The Holy Qur'an does
not mean merely the repetition of word (verbal) but it
means the real occurrence of the permitted divorce in
which the wife returns to her husband's house twice. As a
result, if a third divorce occurs, she becomes haram
(forbidden) for him to remarry. For more explanation, if
the husband divorces his wife, he has the right to marry
her again; if she returns and he divorces her the second
time, he also has the right to take her back but if she
returns and he divorces her for the third time, she
becomes haram for him to remarry unless all the
following conditions are fulfilled:

a. She permanently remarries another man.

b. The wife and her second husband have sexual
intercourse.

c. The second husband either divorces her or dies.

d. She completes her waiting period (iddah) for
the second husband.

3. The difference whether some laws are repealed or
not, for example their difference regarding the law of
temporary marriage (mut'ah).

4. The difference caused by accepting or rejecting
certain narrations or traditions. Scholars after a
thorough scientific analysis of chain of transmitters,
accept or reject a tradition.

Traditions which contradict the Qur'anic concept or a
proved Prophetic tradition, are normally discarded as
spurious. If the sources or the chain of transmitters are
sound and the wordings in conformity with the Qur'an and
the sunnah, then the tradition is as accepted as
satisfactory.

5. The difference in considering the validity and
invalidity of some of these sources and how to make use
of them, such as: analogy, approbation, intellectual
proofs, and consensus of opinions.

Some scholars depend on some of these sources in
formulating laws while others refuse to do so pointing
out the drawbacks of these sources.

Thus, this is the main reason behind the difference
among the scholars of Islamic schools and the followers
of opinion. Therefore, it is necessary to submit all
disputed independent reasoning opinions among the Muslims
to a thorough scientific criticism in order to remove the
clouds of personal fanaticism and bigotry, and arrive at
the ultimate truth keeping in the mind the aims of
Islamic Shari'ah in reforming and uniting the
Muslim communities.

Objective
Statutes (Regulations):

At the end of this research, it is useful to point out
the main principles which serve as necessary conditions
in the process of juristic reasoning (Ijtihad).
Among them are the following:

1- Certainly, the Book (Qur'an) and the Prophet"
tradition (sunnah) are two main sources in
formulating Islamic laws.

2- No one has the right to give his own Ijtihad
in any case whenever there is a legal law in the Book of
Allah and the Prophet's sunnah.

"...And whatever 'he Messenger gives you
accept it, and whateve he forbids you, abstain (there
from);...)"

Holy Qur'an (59:7)

3- Only one judgement for one subject falling under
the same circumstances and conditions, and which
represents the pure legal opinion.

Therefore, in the process of juristic reasoning (Ijtihad),
one should distinguish between aim and its result. The
aim is to arrive at the truth and discover a true law.
i.e. one law for the same subject but sometimes one finds
the jurists having various laws for the same subject.

This does not mean the correctness of all ideas. Thus
the truth of formulating of law depends on the soundness
of the juristic reasoning or the system of Ijtihad
and its sources. Therefore, not every source or method of
reasoning is sound or has the capacity to formulate the
right law.

4- The laws discovered by the faqih are only
estimated but not final and should therefore be subjected
to scientific discussion and strict legal scrutiny.

5- As a result of the previous point, we should
understand that the process of juristic reasoning is a
critical one in which discovered opinion undergoes a
thorough accurate criticism, and evaluation in order to
arrive at the correct law. No juristic reasoning could be
considered sound if it is not subjected to criticism and
scientific discussion.

6- Juristic reasoning should be pure and free from any
fanaticism or internal and external factors such as
political and sectarian tendencies and should be capable
of withstanding scientific analysis and criticism.
Therefore, Ijtihad is a scientific process based
on research and inquiry.

Who is a
Jurisprudent (Faqih):

As it is not in one's capacity to discover laws
concerning physics and logics unless one is well
acquainted with; the same idea can also be said
concerning Ijtihad and formulating Islamic laws.

In order to be Faqih, one should be able to
discover secondary legal laws from their original sources
including the Holy Qur'an and the pure Prophetic
tradition and other sources. In other words the Faqih
is a person who has the greatest expert in deriving the
rules of the Shari'ah from their sources. He
should be familiar with Arabic language to an extent that
he understands the Qur'an and the sunnah both
linguistically and legally and which fits the spirit of
revelation and the Message.

He should be absolutely well-acquainted with the Holy
Qur'an and its sciences to an extent which enables him to
understand and discover legal laws and judgements.

He should be well-versed with the Prophetic tradition
to the extent he should distinguish true and satisfactory
hadiths through studying them and their chain of
transmitters in addition to his understanding of the sunnah
and its circumstances and having the ability to discover
laws which go with the Qur'anic concepts.

Among the qualities necessary for a Faqih is
his being acquainted with what other scholars discover in
their studies and sciences which help him in organizing
and comprehending the jurisprudential thought and
deepening the procedure of Ijtihad (exercising of
independent judgements) like the science of principles of
jurisprudence» dogmatic theology, logics, philosophy,
jurisprudence...etc.

Thus, the experts (fuqaha') of Shari'ah
today upon whom Muslims depend for laws as did those
before them, are the most excellent example in science,
comprehension, and legislation.

Another important qualification which should be found
in the Faqih (mujtahid) is faithfulness,
loyalty, honesty, integrity, objectivity because he is
the seeker of the truth and the one responsible before
the Almighty Allah concerning his judgements, and legal
rulings.

He should also be well known for intelligence,
literary taste, an accurate comprehension manners and
ability of discovering and extraction in order to
practise his responsibility successfully and precisely.

Consequently, Ijtihad and its distinguished
experts and scholars are those who spend all their
efforts and abilities sincerely in order to supply
instinctive knowledge of Ijtihad and the skill of
discovering the laws.

In addition to this, Islamic law lays down that a mujtahid
should be a free man and of legitimate birth who is past
the age of puberty, and is sane, and just besides
possessing other moral and legal qualities, such as piety
and abstention from all that the Shari'ah forbids
and fulfillment of all its obligation.

However, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the
most learned among the mujtahids and as a result
more than one mujtahid may be followed in taqlid
at one time (though not, of course, by the same person),
as is the case at present, but any such multiplicity does
not result in any practical disagreement on legal matters
among the followers of the school of Ahlul-Bait.

What is Taqlid:

Taqlid literally means 'to follow or imitate'.
In Islamic legal terminology it means to follow a mujtahid
or faqih in religious laws and commandments.

In our everyday life we follow and imitate others in
many things. We like to feel that we are taking the
advice of experts in matters outside our own knowledge.
Whoever wants to build a house explains the basic idea of
of his wishes to his builder and then submits to his
advice as to how he should go about the actual
construction; the invalid follows the treatment advised
by his doctor; a litigant consults a lawyer, when drawing
up his case for presentation in court. The examples are
abundant; in most cases the advice is taken voluntarily,
but sometimes the citizen in a country may be required by
law to seek his expert's advice and act upon it.

For example, he is allowed to take some particularly
dangerous drug. The clearest example is obviously in case
of a legal dispute between two parties, where they are
required to take their grievance to a judge and abide by
his decision if they cannot settle their dispute
amicably. The practice of taqlid is an example of
the same kind: the person who is not an expert in
jurisprudence is legally required to follow the
instructions of the expert, i.e. the mujtahid.

The Holy Qur'an instructs Muslims to seek guidance
from the people of learning in matters about which they
lack knowledge: "Question the people of
remembrance if you do not know."(21:7)

It is an obligation in Islamic law to study everything
which is necessary for the spiritual and material
development and well-being of an Islamic community, but
it is an obligation which is known as a Wajib Kifa'i.
In the present instances, for example, the Islamic
society has need of experts in the medical science, in
physics, chemistry, engineering, education, and so forth,
and as long as there is a lack of knowledge in these
areas. It is an obligation for the community as a whole
to acquire it, i.e. a group of Muslims should devote
themselves to research so as to benefit the Islamic
people as a whole. Similarly, an Islamic society without
experts in the field of Shari'ah cannot properly
consider itself Islamic, and so it is an obligation for a
group of persons from the same society to devote
themselves to the study of the religious sciences, so as
to provide divine guidance for all Muslims.

This is the meaning contained in the Qur'anic verse which
says:

"...why should not then a company from
every party of them go forth that they may acquire
(proper) understanding in the religion, and that they may
warn their people when they return to them, that they may
beware?"

Holy Qur'an (9:122)

Through the research, it became obvious for us that
every act (deed) a man does or a situation in which he
stands or anything with which he deals with should be
according to a legal law of Islam.

It is also obligatory for every Muslim to be familiar
with Islamic laws and decrees which organize man's
activity and movements including performance of rituals
and business dealings...etc.

It is obligatory for every Muslim either to be a mujtahid
or to follow a particular mujtahid who is
well-qualified in giving verdicts and acts according to
his rulings and thus performs his duty, organizes his
activity and affairs related to him. The process of
depending upon the mujtahid's religious rulings in
performing one's religious duties is called Taqlid.

So taqlid is the relation of Islamic sciences
between a mujtahid and the followers of his legal
rulings. And it is a necessity which must be practised by
the one who is not qualified as faqih or who has
not reached the degree of Ijtihad. As long as this
practice needs an expert (a mujtahid) in
jurisprudence and Shari'ah, it becomes necessary
to rely on him (the mujtahid) and ask of him
whatever difficulty we face in Islamic jurisprudence in
the same manner as we depend on a doctor, pharmacist, an
expert in other sciences in which there is such need to
consult them because of their knowledge in this domain
concerning what should be done and what should be
abstained from.

Therefore, it is obligatory for every mukalaf,
to follow a mujtahid who is well-qualified in
delivering verdicts in order to be able to act and
practise according to the Creator's Will and Guidance.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the
worlds.