"And when it is said to them: "Follow what Allah has sent down," they say: "Instead, we would follow what we found our fathers on." Is it so - even though their fathers used to understand nothing, nor had they been on the right path?" (2:170)
No doubt, this verse does censure the blind following of forefathers, but at the same time, it provides a rule and its attending conditions proving that following has its permissible aspect which has been indicated in la ya'qiloon (even though their forefathers used to understand nothing) and la yahtadoon (nor had they been on the right path). It is from here that we find out that following the forefathers mentioned in the text of the Qur'an was censured because they lacked reason and guidance. 'Guidance' or the right path signifies injunctions revealed by Allah Almighty, openly and clearly, while 'aql or reason stands for imperative guidance deduced by the great armed vision of Ijtihad from the recognized sources of Islamic Shari'ah.
Now we can see that following the model of those identified in the text cannot be permitted because they do not have a revealed set of laws from Allah, nor do they have the ability to deduce injunctions from the Word of Allah. There is a subtle hint here which we would do well to note. In case, we are satisfied that a certain 'alim has the perfect knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah and in the absence of a clear and direct instruction of the two sacred sources, he has the great expertise of a mujtahid so that he can, by analogical deduction, arrive at rulings from the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah - then, it is permissible to follow such mujtahid 'alim. It does not mean that one has to obey 'his' injunctions and follow 'his person.' Instead, it means that one has to obey the injunctions of Allah alone to the total exclusion of others. But, since a direct and trustworthy knowledge of the injunctions of Allah (in all their ramifications) is not readily available to us due to our ignorance, we have to follow a mujtahid 'alim in order to act in accordance with the injunctions of Allah Almighty.
From what has been said above, it becomes clear that those who haste to quote verses of this nature against following the great mujtahid imams, are themselves unaware of the proven meaning of these verses.
In his comments on this verse, the great commentator, al-Qurtubi (A.R.) has said that the prohibition of following forefathers mentioned in this verse refers to following them in false beliefs and deeds. The aspect of following correct beliefs and good deeds is not included here as it has been very clearly projected in Surah Yusuf in the words of Sayyidna Yusuf (A.S): "I have disassociated myself from the community of people who do not believe in Allah and who deny the Hereafter and I have chosen to follow the community of my fathers, Ibraheem and Is'haaq and Ya'qoob." (12:37-38)
This is good enough to prove that following forefathers in what is false is forbidden while it is permissible, rather desirable, in what is true.
Imaam Al-Qurtubi (A.R.) has taken up the issue of following the mujtahid imams within his comments on this verse. He says:
"Some people have quoted this verse to support their criticism against Taqlid (following). As far as following the false is concerned, this is correct. But, this has nothing to do with follow�ing what is true which is, in fact, a basic religious principle, and a great means of protecting the religion of Muslims in as much as one who does not have the ability to do Ijtihad must rely on 'following' in matters of religion." (Volume 2, Page 194)
(Mufti Muhammad Shafi rahmatullahi 'alaih)
