Dear friends,
I am a little confused about one topic and I would appreciate some guidance here. All of you are welcome to help me out, but I am particularly addressing this one to my Shia friends and readers.
Here is what I think I know (correct me if I am wrong):
Any Shia Muslim has to choose a spiritual guide and, if I remember correctly, he is referred to as a Mujtahid and his interpretations of Islamic Law is referred to as Ijtihad. While this guide is freely chosen, once that choice is made the pious Shia then follows his spiritual guidance for the rest of his or her life. I am not sure if this concept of spiritual guide is linked to the concept of Welayat-e Faqih or not – so any clarification here would be most welcome.
It is also my understanding that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah chose to place themselves under the guidance of Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rather than than Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah and that the Western press was quite wrong when it spoke of the latter as the “spiritual leader of Hezbollah”. As far as I understand, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was the spiritual leader of the rest of the Shia in Lebanon, including the political party Amal. Is all this correct? If not, please correct my misunderstandings or simplifications.
My question is this: now that Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah has died, what happens to the Shias who followed his spiritual guidance? Did he leave somebody for them to follow, or do they start at ‘step1’ and chose anybody they wish?
Also – is the authority needed to become a Mujtahid linked to a specific clerical rank (Grand Ayatollah, Ayatollah, Hojatoleslam)?
Lastly, what is the difference between a Mujtahid and a Marja-i-taqlid?
I would appreciate any pointers about these topics. If you could also point me to some good articles disussion and explaining these issues to a non-Muslim like myself I would be most grateful.
Many thanks in advance,
The Saker
Well, this is my area of research and expertise so…
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Any Shia Muslim has to choose a spiritual guide
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Every Shīʿī Muslim is either muqallid or mujtahid:
A mujtahid is someone qualified to derive Islamic law from the appropriate sources.
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and his interpretations of Islamic Law is referred to as Ijtihad.
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more precisely, his _derivation_ of Islamic law is referred to as ijtihad.
A muqallid is someone who is not capable of ijtihad.
Given a mujtahid, he may be qualified not only to do ijtihad, but qualified for others to follow his derivations of Islamic law. Such a mujtahid is called, not a spiritual guide, but a marjaʿ-i taqlīd, “source of emulation”.
So each muqallid — over 99% of the Shīʿaḧ — has a marjaʿ whom he follows in the latter’s derivations of Islamic law.
Spirituality is part of it, but fundamentally the marjaʿ is a legal guide as opposed to a spiritual guide per se. Of course, the marjaʿ may be subject to intense spiritual devotion on the part of his muqallids as well.
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While this guide is freely chosen, once that choice is made the pious Shia then follows his spiritual [rather, legal] guidance for the rest of his or her life.
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One has the freedom to switch if one chooses, though this should not be done lightly.
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I am not sure if this concept of spiritual guide is linked to the concept of Welayat-e Faqih
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Wilāytu al-Faqīh is different. It is a political appointment. One can acknowledge the holder of Wilāytu al-Faqīh and still follow another marjaʿ in ritual and contractual law. Indeed, most believers in Wilāytu al-Faqīh are not his muqallids.
[contd.]
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It is also my understanding that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah chose to place themselves under the guidance of Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rather than than Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah
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“guidance” => “emulation in matters of ritual and law”
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that the Western press was quite wrong when it spoke of the latter as the “spiritual leader of Hezbollah”.
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It’ more complicated than that. But yes, S Fadlullah was not officially associated with Hizbullah, although they belonged to the same ideological “family” so to speak.
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As far as I understand, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was the spiritual leader of the rest of the Shia in Lebanon, including the political party Amal. Is all this correct?
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S Fadlallah was much closer in spirit to Hizbullah than to Amal. Again, this gets complicated.
Note that geography has nothing to do with it. Many Lebanese follow other marjaʿ’s, and many non-Lebanese Shīʿīs followed S Fadhlullah.
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now that Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah has died, what happens to the Shias who followed his spiritual [legal] guidance?
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Two options:
a) Choose a new marjaʿ or source of emulation, and follow him in all rulings;
b) Continue following S Fadlallah in his past legal decisions, with the permission of a new marjaʿ, whom one follows in new issues.
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Lastly, what is the difference between a Mujtahid and a Marja-i-taqlid?
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I answered this in the first post: Every marjaʿ is a mujtahid but not every mujtahid is a marjaʿ.
Hope this helps and
Peace
[contd]
Missed this one:
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Also – is the authority needed to become a Mujtahid linked to a specific clerical rank (Grand Ayatollah, Ayatollah, Hojatoleslam)?
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These ranks are rather informal and have not always even existed. Being a mujtahid does not mean having a title. And having the title does not — unfortunately — necessarily mean the one holding it is really a mujtahid. These titles are largely culturally and even politically conditioned within the scholastic establishment and the community that supports it.
But these titles also reflect the genuine and honest acknowledgement of peers and laypeople around the person given the title.
Peace
@ishamid: thanks for all your most interesting explanations. Could you recommend a good article on this topic which I could find online. Alternatively, a book I could purchase?
Lastly, could you email me your email address? I would like to be able to contact you directly.
Thanks a lot!
The Saker
VINEYARDSAKER:
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thanks for all your most interesting explanations.
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You’re welcome!
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Could you recommend a good article on this topic which I could find online.
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http://www.al-islam.org/beliefs/practices/taqlid.html
http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/default.asp?url=ijtihad-legislation.htm
are good starts. In general,
al-islam.org
has about all the resources you need to research this.
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Alternatively, a book I could purchase?
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I’ll see if I can recommend something worth buying… but see what you squeeze out of al-islam.org…. should be pretty comprehensive.
I’ll send you a private email soon, and
Peace
Though this comment is not timely, I am quite interested in why specifically are (were) you so deeply inquisitive about the working of taqlid, an often overlooked aspect (even amongst some shia’s) of the bliefe system of a rather minority sect. You obviously had researched quite a bit about the whole aspect of taqlid before posting. Would like to know more about your knowledge of shiite islam and your motivation for such deep learning about it?
@taufiq.alibhai: I am quite interested in why specifically are (were) you so deeply inquisitive about the working of taqlid
Several reasons, really:
1) I have always been extremely interested in theology.
2) For a long time now I have been fascinated by Hezbollah in general, and its spiritual and religious aspects in particular
3) Shia Islam is of particular interest to me as I frankly deeply admire many aspects of it
So this all combined into many questions in my head, a few options to educate myself about it. Thus, I posted the question here, and got a most interesting reply from ishamid.
Kind regards,
The Saker