Ruling 12 — Following a Jurist (Taqlīd)

If for some time a mukallaf performs his actions without following a mujtahid, there are two situations to consider: the first is that his actions were in actual fact correctly performed, or they happened to be in accordance with the fatwa of a mujtahid who at present could be his marjaʿ;[8] in this case, his actions are valid (ṣaḥīḥ). The second is that he was inculpably ignorant (al‑jāhil al‑qāṣir),[9] and his defective actions were not elemental actions (arkān)[10] and suchlike; in this case as well, his actions are valid. Similarly, [one’s actions are deemed to be valid] if he was culpably ignorant (al‑jāhil al‑muqaṣṣir)[11] and his defective actions were of the type that if performed unknowingly they are valid, such as reciting [Sūrat al-Ḥamd and the second surah in prayers] aloud (jahr) instead of reciting them in a whisper (ikhfāt), or vice versa.[12] Similarly, if a person does not know how he performed his actions, they are deemed to have been performed correctly, apart from a few cases that are mentioned in Minhāj al-Ṣāliḥīn.[13] It is worth mentioning that with regard to many of the recommended acts (mustaḥabbāt) mentioned in this manual, their recommendation is based on the ‘principle of leniency in evidence for recommended acts’ (qāʾidat al-tasāmuḥ fī adillat al-sunan).[14] As we do not regard this to be an established principle, if a mukallaf wishes to perform these acts, it is necessary he does so ‘rajāʾan’, i.e. in the hope that they are desired by Allah. The rule regarding many disapproved acts (makrūhāt) is the same, meaning that the mukallaf should avoid doing them ‘rajāʾan’, i.e. in the hope that their avoidance is desired by Allah.[15]