3. Taqlīd
Althoughwehavementionedijtihādasthefirstofthepossiblewaysof
followingthesharī‘a,itisnotsomethingwhicheverypersoncando.To
becomeamujtahidmeansspendingthemajorpartofyourlifeinstudy-
ingtheIslamicsciencesingeneralandtheIslamiclegalsysteminpartic-
ular.A person must,first of all,study the Arabic language (especially
classicalArabic)sinceallthesourcesofthesharī‘aareinclassicalArabic.
ThenhemuststudyandgainexpertiseinUsūlu’l-Fiqh(thePrinciplesof
Jurisprudence) which involves the methodology of defining andusing
thesourcesof thesharī‘a.Onealsohastostudythe Qur’ānicverseson
laws,thehadīthliterature,andalsotheconclusionsreachedbythepast
mujtahids.Instudyingthehadīthliterature,onehastoalsostudy‘ilmu
’r-rijālwhichdealswiththenarratorsofhadīth—otherwisehewillnotbe
able to distinguish the authentic hadīth from the inauthentic ones. In
short, ijtihād is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Thesociallifeofhumanbeingsisbasedonmutualco-operation:each
oneofustakesthedutyoffulfillingoneoftheneedsofthesociety,and,
inreturn,eachoneofusexpectstobenefitfromtheexpertiseoftheoth-
ers.Justasnoteveryonecanbecomehisorherowndoctor,inanIslamic
society, not everyonecan become a mujtahid.Those who are not muj-
tahidwillfollowthesharī‘abydoingtaqlīd—followingtheopinionsofa
high-ranking and pious mujtahid.