The Scope of Taqlid

It is generally agreed that taqlid is not allowed in the case of fundamentalbeliefs, such as the existence of God and His attributes. The teason for this isthat such questions ate to be answered by the individual on the basis of his/herown knowledge and conviction, while taqlid repments reliance on the knowledgeof others. Another teason for this is that there is only one truth in suchmatters, and all who call themselves Muslims must recognize, know, and believe in these articles of faith. Anything else would be heresy and disbelief.The scope of taqlid is thus limited to the interpretation of particular aspectsof Shari'ah rulings. Rulings on essential knowledge (ma'lum bi al darurah)about Islam' (i.e., testifying aloud; believing in the heart that God is One andhas no partner. that there is no being like or similar to Him; that He neithergives birth nor was given birth to; that He has no equal; that He is the Creatorof all and the One to which all creation will durn; that He, the Eternal, givesand takes away life; that He and His attributes and person have no beginningand no end; and that He is the possessor of (sits upon) all (the throne of)power, m thus beyond the Teach of taqlid. Each Muslim is required to acquirea knowledge of these and other similar matters. It was for this reason that theProphet said "Seeking knowledge is the duty of every Muslim"'Nonetheless, certain scholars ate of the opinion that taqlid is allowed evenin such fundamental mattes. This opinion, however, is without substance, fortaqlid, as discussed above, is essentially an allowance granted to those withoutaccess to the relevant texts of the Qur'an or Sunnah. These mattes cannot becategorized as such, for they are both available and totally clear to each Muslim,meaning that they are not in need of any interpretation through ijtihad ...