Audio Version of "Pluralism and Its Various Spheres" by Ayatullah Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi

What is “common sense”? What happens when a religious ruling appears to contradict what we “feel” is right? What do we do? Hasn’t the common collective intellect of humanity sometimes been “wrong”? Does Allah expect us to “blindly” follow the verdict of a religious scholar, or would He rather than we follow our “gut instinct” and do what WE feel is right?

What is “common sense”? What happens when a religious ruling appears to contradict what we “feel” is right? What do we do? Hasn’t the common collective intellect of humanity sometimes been “wrong”? Does Allah expect us to “blindly” follow the verdict of a religious scholar, or would He rather than we follow our “gut instinct” and do what WE feel is right?

Living in an increasingly complex world, we look to the senior scholars to provide guidance on contemporary issues in the fields of bioethics, business and finance, social interaction and other areas, however they insist on conducting ijtihad on “past issues” like prayers, fasting, etc. What is the need to delve on the past – should we not look towards the future?

Ahadith that Shape the Taqlid Mode

As the hadith are the secondary source of Islamic teachings, what does this body of text say about “following” others? Traditions seem to contradict each other in this area, so how do the senior scholars resolve this apparent inconsistency? Do we have examples in history of the Prophet or Imams encouraging their companions to guide others by issuing edicts?

Taqlid – An Innate Human Practice

If religion and the journey to God is a purely personal experience, then why the need to refer to so-called ‘experts’ on matters of faith? Why do scholars insist on taqlid? Can’t we make the trek to God by way of our own intuition? Does the Quran tell us that we need to seek guidance from others in matters of religion?

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