Imitation

Imitation
Guardian for the Jurist

The Necessity of the Religious Judgment

Having believed in God and in Islam and having known that he, being a servant to The Most High God, is responsible for abiding by the laws of God, the human being becomes committed to the Islamic doctrine. He is called by reason and by religion to build his special conducts and public relationships with the individuals and the society on the basis of religious judgment. Then, if he is faced by any problem in the arena of life, he will not have the right to deal with it according to what his soul wants. Otherwise, he will be out of the frame of slavery to God. He has to consider God’s law in life: In case it is an order, then he has to abide by it; and in case it is a forbiddance, then he has to forbid himself from performing the deed. Through this, he will be in the yard of slavery in which he believes and out of the yard of the devil in which he disbelieves.

The Conditions of Being Assigned with the Religious Responsibility

Everyone in whom the conditions of the assignment with the religious responsibility are met must abide by the judgments of The Most High God. Once these conditions are lost, he is no longer assigned with the religious issues.

From among these conditions are the following ones:

- The Reason: The mad person is not assigned with the religious responsibility. As regards the periodically mad person, he must abide by the religious rules during the times when he is sane.

- The Capability to Carry Out the Religious Responsibility: This means that the person must not be incapable, for then he will not be assigned with what he is incapable of performing.

- The Puberty: The young person is not assigned with any religious responsibility. Puberty is achieved with one of the following signs:

* In the male:

1- Having completed fourteen years of immigration i.e. fourteen years and seven months A.D.
2- Having reached sexual maturity i.e. the ejection of sperm
3- The coarse hair having appeared over the sexual organs

* In the Female:

Having completed nine years of immigration i.e. eight years and nine months A.D.

Imitation

The religiously responsible person gets to know his religious responsibility by means of imitation i.e. to work on the basis of the religious opinion of the jurisprudence who gathers in himself all the required conditions and who must really be imitated.

The Conditions of the Reference

One must imitate the reference who gathers in himself the conditions of giving religious opinion and those of reference. From among these conditions are the following:

1- The Jurisprudence: He must be able to deduce the religious opinion from their rules.
2- The Manhood: It is incorrect to imitate the woman.
3- The Justice: Justice is accomplished through carrying out the duties and abandoning the forbiddances, in addition to handling the tyrant soul and not being covetous about this life, as a dutiful cautiousness.

- The Life: It is not permissible, as a dutiful cautiousness, to imitate the dead jurisprudence at the start of imitation.2 It is permissible to go on imitating the dead jurisprudence if he was imitating him before his death.3

In case the religiously responsible person turns into the most knowing one among the alive, then he will not be permitted as a dutiful cautiousness to go back to whom he was previously imitating.4

- The Most Knowingness: One must as a dutiful cautiousness imitate the most knowing jurisprudence.5 He is the one mostly capable of deducing the religious rules form their evidences, and the one mostly knowing about the conditions of the people of his time on which he builds the religious judgment.6

Proving the Jurisprudence and the Most Knowingness

The jurisprudence and the most knowingness can be proved by several ways among which are the following:
1- The testimony of two just skilled persons
2- The widespread which results in knowledge
3- The reassurance

The Most Knowingness of The Imam the Leader

When applying these conditions to the character of The Imam Sayyed Ali Al-Khaminaei (May God lengthen his presence among us), we realize that His Eminence is characterized by a high degree of justice, God fearing, recognition, acquaintance with all the issues of the time, and ability of diagnosing the welfare of the nation and understanding the plots of the tyrants. He has all of these not only from the position of the jurisprudence guardian but also from the position of the jurisprudence who is a reference gathering in himself all the conditions of the post of reference and most knowingness in the context we have mentioned as regards the acquaintance with the circumstances of his time.

To add are the given testimonies. It is sufficient to mention that there are more than sixty written and unwritten testimonies for the jurisprudence of His Eminence The Imam The Leader. Moreover, there are many written testimonies for his most knowingness given by experts, from which we are going to mention the following two:

The Testimony of The Sign of God Sayyed Jaafar Al-Housseini Al-Karimi for the Most Knowingness of Imam Al-Khaminaei

In the Name of God, The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Throughout the years, I have been sitting to The Sayyed the Leader and participating in the session of The Consultation of Giving the Religious Opinion in the presence of His Eminence in addition to a number of the well known jurisprudents (May God keep their blessings forever). And I have found that The Sayyed The Leader (May God lengthen his presence among us) is more accurate and faster moving and better deducing of the branches from their origins than the other great references (May The Most High God protect them) are.

If this is, and it is, the standard of the most knowingness, then I have realized this standard in the discussions of the Sayyed The Leader (May God lengthen his presence among us). From here, I confess and acknowledge that he is the most knowing among his contemporary peers. May The Most High God benefit us and you by his leadership, knowledge, and instructions.

And God’s Peace, Mercy, and Blessings be bestowed upon you.

The Testimony of The Sign of God Sheikh Ahmad Jonnati for the Most Knowingness of Imam Al-Khaminaei

In the Name of God, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

The standard of most knowledge is, according to my point of view, that the jurisprudence is the most capable one of deducing the rules from their religious origins and proofs along with considering the time, place, and conditions. And I know no one among the candidates for the post of reference nowadays who is better and more powerful than The Sayyed The Leader (May God lengthen his presence among us) is.

1- Ajweebat Al-Istifta’at [The Answers to the Consultations]/ Question 2
2- Ajweebat Al-Istifta’at [The Answers to the Consultations]/ Question 22
3- Ajweebat Al-Istifta’at/ Question 41
4- Ajweebat Al-Istifta’at/ Question 39
5- Ajweebat Al-Istifta’at/ Question 22
6- Ajweebat Al-Istifta’at/ Question 16