There are five laws (halal, haram, mustahab, makrooh, and mubah) which relate to all the deeds of the servants of Allah swt, and it is compulsory for every mature adult to know these laws. At a minimum to at least do the halal and not do the haram ones.
It is only possible to know these five laws and how they apply to ones deeds and actions if one is free and dedicated to conduct the necessary research and investigation. This involves concentrating heavily on and knowing the words of the book of Allah swt and the Sunnah of the Prophet(s) and Ahlayl Bayt (as). The time needed to really probe into these sources and attain the knowledge required across all the five laws of ones actions in this world requires a very considerable amount of time. In fact it might take a whole life time to attain this knowledge and even still they will not really be able to fully grasp the intricacies of how each of the five laws apply to each action and deed.
Therefore it is obligatory on the businessman to leave his business and labour to leave his work and the farmer to leave his farming and the engineer to leave his engineering work and so on in order for everyone to study these rules. If this was to actually occur in society there will be nothing other than disorder and confusion which will ultimately lead to the defeat of humanity and civilisation.
Question: So what is the ideal way to solve this crisis? And what is Allah’s punishment for leaving his role
Answer:
The answer to this question is clear and transparent. Basically, some people will take up and perform the duties in difficult jobs and some will choose other jobs while others choose to undertake jobs that are fundamental and imperative to the society. In doing so they will in effect be lifting the burden from others in society that may not be ready, willing or able to take up these jobs but at the same time are dependant on the benefits and results that these jobs offer them and society as a whole.
In light of the above a few people in society will then be able to free themselves to know the laws of the Lord, where knowledge becomes their food, piety their way of life and purification of the soul and self their objective and focus. These people will then be able to comprehend the laws of the Lord and then explain these to the people.
The people who choose to not pursue the path of knowledge can go about their worldly duties and responsibilities with the peace of mind knowing that others have chosen to dedicate their lives to acquiring and mastering this knowledge and relaying and syndicating these to them in a manner that they can understand and apply in their lives.
Our Imams (as) have mentioned the above points in our narrations and sought to show and guide us to the need for certain people in society to take the onus of devoting their lives towards acquiring and distributing knowledge of the laws of the Lord. The Holy Quran has also drawn attention to this point where it clearly stipulates that:
If a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies and religion and admonish the people when they returned to them(9:122)
The masses are then instructed to follow the people that have safeguarded and protected their soul, maintained close proximity to religion to repel their desires and follows the order of his Master. With this in mind the journey of the one towards his eventual ending and hereafter in meeting his Lord will be one bearing fruits given that the journey involves referring all matters to the learned ones in society.
In regards to acquiring the Islamic laws one has a option of three things, they are:
To strive to become a Mujtahid and posses the knowledge of the detailed proofs and religious laws, this is a unique and rare level for one to acquire, or
To strive to become a Muhtart, which is a person that acts on the basis of precaution. To become a Muhtart one has to have the complete knowledge of the laws and then choose to apply the toughest laws from these. To reach this level one needs to engross themselves in many years of learning and you will find that only a very limited amount of people have achieved this level of knowledge in regards to religious laws, or
The final option for a Shia Muslim is that they must be a follower of a qualified mujtahid that has successfully met all conditions and criteria of Ijtihad. The follower is required to refer all matters of jurisprudence and religion to their mujtahid so as to derive the laws and their obligations from him. This last category is where you will find most of the people falling into.
It is clearly evident therefore that whoever from the people that has not reached the level of Ijtihad and is not a Mujtahid, nor a Muhtart and is not following any of the Eminent Olama and the Holy Maraje’ in meeting their obligations as a follower (Muqalled) of a Jurist then all of their worship and deeds are deemed void and will never be accepted even if they are found to be people that pray and fast in due course, except for one instance. This is on the condition that the one not falling into the above three categories is actually performing their deeds, actions and transactions in line with the real Islamic Laws, however how is it possible logically that a human being that is not in the above categories to know and be able to apply these laws in life.
The other notable point is offcourse that if one chooses to become a Muqalled later on in their life, their previous deeds and actions will only be accepted if it meets the opinion of the Marja’ that they have decided to follow in regards to jurisprudence.
In summary it is clear evident that based on the discussions above, if our society and the societies of other countries and civilisations of the world did not possess scholars all of us will enter Hell both as individuals and as groups in society because we would be unguided and ignorant of the laws of Allah swt. Or, all of us will need to leave our daily jobs to free ourselves to study and acquire these laws. If this was the case the circle of life and fabric of society will be broken and disjointed. The eventual result will be that of the destruction of urban and social development within the civilisations of the world.
Based on this premise we are left with the reality that the masses are to value and appreciate the struggle, sacrifice and position of our Eminent Olama (learned scholars) because we are truly blessed by their presence. For they enlighten us and guide us with their knowledge and example and allow us to have doctors in society to practise medicine, the engineer to practise engineering the entrepreneur to practise business and so on and so forth in society.
Therefore Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammed Redha Al-Muzaffar in his book Beliefs of Imamiyaat has said:
- Doctrine of the Necessity for Juristic Reasoning
We believe that ijtihad in matters of religion is a sufficient necessity (wajib al-kifa’i) for all Muslims in the absence of the Imam, that is to say that should one of them become proficient in ijtihad and become a mujtahid it is enough for them to follow the mujtahid in all the branches of the religion.
All Muslims must strive to gain knowledge and to ascend to the position of mujtahid or, if that is not possible, they must give all their encouragement to one of their number to attain this position. If no-one living holds the position of mujtahid, it is not permissible to follow a dead mujtahid.
Ijtihad is the examination of the sources of the shari’ah to reach knowledge of the commandments (al-ahkamm al-far’iyyyah) which the Prophet brought with him. and which .do not change or alter with changes in time or situation. according to the hadith:
What Muhammad (S.A.) made halal will be halal till the Day of Judgement, and what he made haram will be haram till the Day of Judgement.
These sources for the shari’ah are the Qur’an, the sunnah (of the Prophet and the Imams), consensus (ijma’) and reasoning (‘aql), as have been mentioned in the texts of usul al-fiqh. Attaining the position of mujtahid requires many years of study and acquiring knowledge, and this is not obtained except by one who tries his utmost.
Doctrine Concerning the Position of mujtahid
We believe that a fully qualified mujtahid is a representative of the Imam, in the case of the latter’s absence. Thus he is an authority over Muslims and he performs the functions of the Imam as regards judgement and administration among the people. Because of this, Imam Ja’far as Sadiq said:
To deny the authority of a mujtahid is to deny the authority of the Imam, and to deny tile authority of the Imam is to make an objection to the authority of Allah. and this is tantamount to polytheism (shirk).
Therefore the qualified mujtahid is not only one who issues fatwas, but he also has general authority over Muslims who must consult him if they require judgement, this being obtainable only from him. It is correspondingly wrong for anyone to give judgement except him or one who is appointed by him, as no-one can pass sentence without his permission. Also, all that which belongs to the Imam should be given to the mujtahid.
Such authority has been bestowed upon the qualified mujtahid by the Imam so that he may represent him in his absence; hence he is known as the representative of the Imam (na’ ib al-imam).