Devouring the flesh of your Marja

by Mohsin Asharia



When our 12th Imam (may Allah (swt) hasten his reappearance) went into occultation, he left a clear message to the believers: 

"And as for the future occurrences, refer to the narrators of our traditions because they are my proof upon you and I am the proof of Allah."


The 11th Imam (as) had already made this quite clear when he said: 

"It is obligatory for the populace to follow the jurist who refrains from committing wrong, mentions his faith, opposes carnal desire and obeys Allah's command."


It’s pretty evident from these and other traditions that Taqleed is wajib (if one doesn’t practise Ihtiyat or Ijtehad) and following one’s Mujtahid is also obligatory. Indeed the status of these scholars is beyond doubt.

Imam Ali (as) said: “The reward of a religious scholar is greater than the reward of a person who is fasting on days and establishes prayers during the night and fights in the Holy War for the sake of Allah. And, when a religious scholar dies, there will appear a gap in Islam which cannot be compensated except by a replacement of that (kind).” Bihar-ul-Anwar, vol. 2, p. 43


We can see that these jurists and maraje occupy a most high position in the eyes of Allah (swt).

So it is sad, when the month of Ramadhan draws to a close and the perennial debates about Eid begin, that we see some members of the community talking about these scholars as if they are pieces of trash.

“Why is that mujtahid causing disunity in our community? We never used to have these problems!” and “He’s living in a third-world country! What does he know about astronomy?” do not seem out of place in these “discussions”. It’s sickening. And it has to stop.

The Maraje begin studying from the moment they can talk and continue for decades. They sacrifice the things we take for granted solely for the pleasure of Allah. They scrutinize every single verse in the Qur’an, and inspect every word and every narrator of every hadith before they come up with a ruling. So what do we do to thank them? “I don’t agree with that ruling! It doesn’t make sense!”

We, many of whom have never even picked up a book, have the guts to try and correct the representative of our Imam (ajfs) . Not only that, some of us even try to find a way out! “Can I follow a different marja on this matter?” How laughable! You’ve put your faith in this jurist because you believe him to be the most knowledgeable, and now you wish to change solely because the ruling doesn’t suit you?

But what is more ludicrous, bordering on humorous, is that after doing all of this, some of us have the stomach to go on and pray for the 12th Imam’s reappearance to fight for him. Yeah right! For some reason, I doubt the Imam will want the very people who slander his representatives in his army!

So let’s do ourselves a favour this month of Ramadhan. Rather than backbiting about the maraje that we are supposed to be following, let’s make a vow to replace those words with kindness, compassion, and mercy for the people who have sacrificed their lives to help us attain salvation.