WHO IS A FAQIH:

As it is not in our capacity to discover laws concerning physics and logics unless we are well acquainted with - the same idea can be said concerning Ijtihad and formulating Islamic laws.In order to be Faqih, one should be able to discover secondary legal laws from their original sources including the Holy Qur'an and the pure Prophetic tradition and other sources. In other words the Faqih is a person who has the greatest expertise in deriving the rulings of the Shari'ah from the sources. He should be familiar with Arabic language to an extant that he understands the Qur'an and the sunnah both linguistically and legally and which fits the spirit of revelation and the Message. He should be absolutely well-acquainted with the Holy Qur'an and its sciences to an extent which enables him to understand and discover legal laws and judgements. He should be well-versed with  the Prophetic tradition to the extent he should distinguish true and satisfactory hadiths trough studying them and their chain of transmitters in addition to his understanding of the sunnah and its circumstances and having the ability to discover laws which go with the Qur'anic concepts. Among the qualities necessary for a Faqih is  his being acquainted with what other scholars discover in the studies and sciences which help in organizing and comprehending the jurisprudential thought and deepening the procedure  of Ijtihad (exercising of independent judgements) like the science of principles of jurisprudence, dogmatic theology, logics, philosophy, jurisprudence...etc.

Thus,  the experts (fuqaha') of Shari'ah today upon whom Muslims depend for laws as did those before them are the most excellent example in science, comprehension, and legislation. Another important qualification which should be found in the Faqih (mujtahid) is faithfulness, loyalty, honesty, integrity, objectivity because he is the seeker of the truth and the one who is responsible before the Almighty Allah concerning his judgements, and legal rulings. He should also be well known (distinguished)  for intelligence, literary taste, an accurate comprehension manners and ability of discovering and extraction in order to practise his responsibility (post) successfully and precisely. Consequently, Ijtihad and its distinguished experts and scholars are those who spend all their efforts and abilities sincerely in order to supply instinctive knowledge of Ijtihad and the skill of discovering the laws. In addition to this, Islamic law lays down that a mujtahid should be a free man and of legitimate birth who is past the age of puberty, and is sane, and just besides possessing other moral and legal qualities, such as piety and abstention from all that the Shari'ah forbids and fulfillment of all its obligation.  However, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish whom among all the mujtahids is the most learned and as a result more than one mujtahid may be followed in taqlid at one time (though not, of course, by the same person), as is the case at present, but any such multiplicity does not result in any practical disagreement on legal matters among the followers of the school of Ahlul-Bait.

 

WHAT IS TAQLID:

Taqlid literally means `to follow and to imitate'. In Islamic legal terminology it means to follow a mujtahid or faqih in religious laws and commandments. In our everyday life we follow and imitate others in many things. We like to feel that we are taking the advice of experts in matters outside our own knowledge. Someone who wishes to build a house explains the basic idea of what he wants to his builder and then submits to his advice as to how he should go about the actual