Taqlid A Dilemma for Muslim Intellect: An Analysis in the Light of Contemporary Issues of Muslim Ummah

Abstract

The present article aims to analyze critically the principle of taqlid and its effects in the light of the dynamic process of ijtihad. It points out that at present this flexible way of interpretation of Qur’anic legal texts and the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) is in turmoil due to blind imitation in the name of taqlid. By ignoring the progressive spirit of ijtihad, the Islamic law has become stagnated if compared with the modern development of law and legal theories. It highlights some important problems faced by the Muslim Ummah generally and some problems of the Muslims in Pakistan particularly, which in fact need to be solved by way of flexible interpretation through the process of ijtihad. Finally, it suggests that the modern Muslim scholars and muftis should have a scientific understanding of the sciences of the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) to analyze the interpretive policy of the Prophet (pbuh), his companions and the traditional Muslim jurists who ever condemned taqlid for a jurist and a mufti (who has capacity/authority to issue fatawa).