salams
viz taqlid in aqida, it's obvious counterpart is taqlid in fiqh. In fiqh, if the ulama of the Hanafi madhab, for example, decided that they would adopt a different position at one point in time, you would follow them in the change. For example, in South Africa, when the first Islamic Radio Stations emerged, there was a big hoo-haa about female presenters. The ulama there deemed it impermissible. Thereafter, however, they received evidences from other Hanafi ulama from the Arab world and the Indo-Pak subcontinent stating the opposite, reviewed their evidence and took the latter ruling. The Muslims in SA followed their scholars in this ruling - this is an example of taqlid in fiqh. Because we are unaware of everything that goes into making tarjih (weighing up evidences to determine a stronger ruling), we make taqlid.
However, in aqida this is not permissible. If the Ash`ari ulama changed their position on, say, the bodily resurrection, it would not be permitted to make follow them in this just because they changed their mind, because this is something that is a necessarily known part of Islam. Note that the lack of taqlid in aqida refers only to the most basic propositions of aqida, not the technical stuff. It does not apply to that which would be beyond the grasp of the ordinary person, such as the logically determined central attributes of Allah, like the precise nature of His uncreated knowledge, or the difference between his substantive attributes and His attributes of state (ma`nawi versus man`uwi).
Basically, the difference is this:
1. Fiqh: if one was asked, 'why do you read salah this way?' It is permissible to say, 'because my father did.'
2. Basic aqida: if one was asked, 'why do you believe in Allah?' one would have to say, 'because everything needs a creator,' or 'because Allah says so in the Quran.' It is not appropriate to say, 'becuase my father said so.'
3. Advanced stuff: if one was asked, 'why do you believe in 20 central attributes of Allah?' It is OK to say, 'because that is how the Ahl as-Sunna have systematized them.'
I stand to be corrected, of course...
was salam, talib
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