Marja' / Taqlid
The Shia institution whereby believers follow a 'marja' (a high-ranking jurist) in matters of religious law (taqlid); a pillar of clerical authority.
Read in context →At a glance
- Meaning
- Source of emulation
- Main centers
- Qom and Najaf
- Financial basis
- Religious dues (khums)
Detail
A marja al-taqlid ('source of emulation') is the highest rank in the clerical hierarchy of Twelver Shiism: an eminent jurist (mujtahid) whose legal rulings (fatwas) ordinary Shia (muqallids) follow in matters of religious practice. The institution, which took its modern formalized shape in the nineteenth century, rests on the principle of taqlid: those unable to derive rulings themselves (through ijtihad) must follow the most learned living jurist. Each marja issues a practical treatise (risala) and administers a network of agents, seminaries, and religious dues (such as khums) that grant him financial independence and social influence. Eminent marjas such as Ayatollahs Borujerdi, Khomeini, and Sistani have played significant religious and political roles. The principal centers of the marja'iyya are Qom (Iran) and Najaf (Iraq).
Related entities
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — 'Marjaʿ-e Taqlīd'
- Britannica — 'Marjaʿ al-taqlīd'
- L. Walbridge (ed.), 'The Most Learned of the Shiʿa'