Concise Introduction to Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence Based on al-Waraqat [Part 32]
At-Taqlid (Imitation) According to the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence
• At-Taqlid (imitation) means acceptance of the statement of a person, who does not provide proof for the validity of his statement.
• According to the aforementioned definition, acceptance of the statement of Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] is called taqlid. However, the correct opinion is accepting the statements of Prophet Muhammad is not taqlid because we accept his statements as there is conclusive evidence for his truthfulness and that his statements must be obeyed.
• If we say that Prophet Muhammad used to make ijtihad, namely, juristic reasoning, though he used to receive divine revelation, then it is permissible to call acceptance of his statement taqlid because we do not know whether his opinion on a particular matter was based on divine revelation or juristic reasoning. The correct opinion is that Messenger Muhammad is eligible to make juristic reasoning and acceptance of his statements is not called taqlid as this truthfulness is established by conclusive proof. Moreover, Messenger Muhammad made juristic reasoning about matters related to this worldly life, and the scholars unanimously agreed that it happened.
• Another definition of taqlid (imitation) is that it is acceptance of the statement of a person without knowing how he deduced it, or what the source of his statement is.
