Marja'

In Shia Islam, marjaʿ (Arabic: مرجع‎; plural: marājiʿ), also known as a marjaʿ taqlīd or marjaʿ dīnī (Arabic: مرجع تقليد / مرجع ديني‎), literally meaning "source to imitate/follow" or "religious reference", is a title given to the highest level Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and less-credentialed clerics. After the Qur'an and the prophets and imams, marājiʿ are the highest authority on religious laws in Usuli Shia Islam.

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Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 5 años ago

Thank you for your question. A marja is responsible for deriving rulings based on sound methods from the scriptural sources when possible, or ascertaining the appropriate action that a Muslim should adopt in any given situation based on the principles of jurisprudence.

The correctness of a person's action is their own responsibility and for that reason, people in the time of the greater occultation are faced with two choices when they are unable to ascertain the rulings for themselves. They may take precaution in all matters they are not certain about (assuming they know when it is appropriate to take precaution) or they can refer to the rulings of a person who is qualified to ascertain those rulings to the best of his ability and act in accordance with them.

The main evidence for resorting to someone who is qualified, when a person themselves has no means by which to derive the rulings for themselves, is that this is the action of rational people. In the same light, the justification for corresponding with the rulings of the most qualified or most knowledgeable jurist (when the knowledge of who the most knowledgeable marja is, is possible) is that by following the most knowledgeable jurist, you can be more certain that your actions will be acceptable on the Day of Judgment.

May you always be successful.

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The Maraji' have generally ruled that wearing things like leather belts in salat is not allowed if the leather is not slaughtered in an Islamic way. See Islamic Laws of Ayatullah Seestani's Tawdhihu'l Masa'il p. 160.

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Liyakatali Takim, Professor Liyakat Takim is the Sharjah Chair in Global Islam at McMaster University in Canada. Answer imported 5 años ago

You can only change taqlid from one living Mujtahid to another one if, after research, you are satisfied that the second Mujtahid is the most learned one (a'lam).