Following the Ijtihad of a Non-Zaydi, Non-Alid Mujtahid
On taqlīd in the madhhab of the Ahl al-Bayt
Following the Ijtihad of a Non-Zaydi, Non-ʿAlid Mujtahid
Being Zaydi does not oblige one to follow only the rulings of an imam from the Ahl al-Bayt. What the school requires is a mujtahid who is upright and properly qualified.
Some assume that being Zaydi means one is obliged to follow only Zaydi fiqh, taken from an imam of the Ahl al-Bayt. This is not the case.
Below, we turn to the scholars of the school themselves to set out what the madhhab of the Ahl al-Bayt actually permits—beginning with a more basic question: what qualities must a mujtahid possess before one may follow him at all?
Who may be followed?
The erudite judge (al-Qāḍī al-ʿAllāmah) Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā Bahrān (d. 957 AH) sets out the conditions in his Tafṭīḥ al-Qulūb wa al-Abṣār ilā Iqtiṭāf Athmār al-Azhār:1
Al-Qāḍī Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā Bahrān
“Section: [On Following (Taqlid of) a Mujtahid]
One may only follow an independent jurist [mujtahid] who is just/upright [‘adl], and who is predominantly preferred for his religious devotion; meaning, it is not permissible for a follower (muqallid) to follow anyone except someone who encompasses the aforementioned qualities.
The mujtahid is: one who is capable of deriving Sharia rulings from their definitive proofs (adillah) and probabilistic indicators (amarat).
One can only attain this capability by mastering five sciences:
First: The science of the Arabic language, comprising: vocabulary (lughah), grammar/syntax (nahw), and morphology (tasrif). The required level of this science is whatever enables one to understand the Book [the Quran] and the Sunnah.
Second: Knowledge of the verses that specifically contain Sharia rulings, which amount to five hundred verses. What is meant by a “verse” (ayah) here is a passage of speech that is interconnected, even if it spans more than one conventional verse. It is not a condition to know the Sharia rulings derived from texts other than the mentioned five hundred verses, as was done by Al-Hakim Abu Sa’id and others. Furthermore, it is not a condition for the mujtahid to memorize them by heart; rather, it suffices for him to know their locations so that he can review them when needed.
Third: That he be knowledgeable of the Prophetic Sunnah, encompassing the sayings, actions, and tacit approvals of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It suffices him in this regard—just as was mentioned previously regarding the verses—[to possess or rely on] a comprehensive book containing most of what has been transmitted of that, such as the Sunan of Abu Dawud, and like Al-Shifa in our school.
Fourth: The issues upon which consensus (ijma’) was established by the Companions and those after them, and whose consensus has been transmitted via continuous mass transmission (tawatur). It suffices in this regard for him to know that the conclusion his ijtihad leads him to does not contradict the consensus.
Fifth: The science of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh); because it encompasses knowledge of the rulings of the general (‘aamm) and the specific (khass), the undetailed (mujmal) and the clarified (mubayyan), the apparent (zahir) and the interpreted (mu’awwal), the abrogating (nasikh) and the abrogated (mansukh), and what commands and prohibitions entail regarding obligation, prohibition, immediacy, repetition, and the like. For it is impossible to derive Sharia rulings from their proofs except with the knowledge of all of this.
As for the science of the principles of religion (Usul al-Din / Theology), it is not a condition for the perfection of ijtihad according to the verifying scholars (muhaqqiqin), even though it is a condition for the validity of [one’s] religion.”
— Tafṭīḥ al-Qulūb wa al-Abṣār ilā Iqtiṭāf Athmār al-Azhār1
The requirements, then, are two. The mujtahid must be ʿadl—just and upright in his religion—and he must have mastered the five sciences listed. Nothing in these conditions concerns lineage.
“Uprightness and learning—not lineage—are what qualify a mujtahid to be followed.” — the principle in brief
A preference, not an obligation
The judge and erudite scholar Yaḥyā b. Aḥmad b. Muẓaffar (d. 875 AH / c. 1470 CE) addresses whom one should follow in his al-Bayān al-Shāfī al-Muntazaʿ min al-Burhān al-Kāfī:2
Al-Qāḍī Yaḥyā b. Aḥmad b. Muẓaffar
“Issue: Following (taqlīd) a deceased scholar is permissible, but following a living one is preferable⁽¹⁾ when one is available⁽²⁾. Many of the earlier scholars said following a deceased scholar is not permissible, unless one had followed him during his lifetime and then continued doing so after his death. A similar view is reported from Abu Talib.
Sub-issue: Following the Prophet’s Household (Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them) is preferable to following others⁽³⁾. The basis is the Prophet’s saying (peace and blessings be upon him): “The likeness of my Household among you is that of Noah’s Ark: whoever boards it is saved, and whoever stays behind drowns and perishes.”
— Al-Bayān al-Shāfī al-Muntazaʿ min al-Burhān al-Kāfī2
Two preferences emerge from this passage: a living mujtahid is preferred over a deceased one, and a mujtahid from the Ahl al-Bayt (the ʿItrah) is preferred over one from outside it. Both are stated as preferences, not obligations.
Following a mujtahid from outside the ʿItrah therefore remains entirely permissible—bearing in mind the condition laid down in the first source, that the mujtahid must be ʿadl.
No duty to commit to a single imam
Finally, the judge and erudite scholar ʿAbdullāh b. Abī al-Qāsim b. Miftāḥ (d. 877 AH) says in his Sharḥ al-Azhār (Ahl al-Bayt edition):3
ʿAbdullāh b. Abī al-Qāsim b. Miftāḥ
“Section: On Following One Imam or More
(And committing to the school of a specific imam⁽¹⁾), such as al-Hādī, al-Qāsim and other mujtahids of the Ahl al-Bayt, or al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Ḥanīfa and other mujtahids outside the Ahl al-Bayt, whether living or dead, is (preferable⁽²⁾) to not committing. (But it is not obligatory⁽³⁾) to commit. Rather, one may follow this imam in one ruling and that imam in another. A group of legal theorists⁽⁴⁾ disagree on this, such as Shaykh al-Ḥasan al-Raṣṣāṣ and Shaykh Aḥmad⁽⁵⁾. He (peace be upon him) said: “I believe this view is also reported from Abū al-Ḥusayn and al-Manṣūr billāh.”
— Sharḥ al-Azhār, Ahl al-Bayt edition3
Note the examples Ibn Miftāḥ chooses. Al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfa are named alongside al-Hādī and al-Qāsim as imams whose schools one may commit to. Committing to a single school is preferable, but it is not obligatory: one may follow one mujtahid in one ruling and another in a different ruling—though, as he records, a group of legal theorists held otherwise.
The position in summary
Taken together, these three texts give a clear picture of the position of the madhhab of the Ahl al-Bayt on taqlīd of the mujtahids:
- The mujtahid one follows must be ʿadl and must have mastered the five sciences of ijtihad.
- Following a living mujtahid is preferable, but following a deceased one is permissible.
- Following a mujtahid from the Ahl al-Bayt is preferable, but following a qualified mujtahid from outside it is permissible.
- Committing to the school of a single imam is preferable, but not obligatory.
Being Zaydi, in other words, does not confine one to the ijtihad of an ʿAlid. It calls for a mujtahid who is upright and learned, while honouring the preference the school gives to the Ahl al-Bayt.
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