It must be known that ijtihad has different elements: some are firm (ex. Quran, prophetic traditions, intellect…) and others are changeable (ex. Subjects and their conditions, knowledge and the understanding of the marja himself). A mujtahid must always be aware of the changeable elements. Hence, it is possible for the verdict of one mujtahid to change over time. According to a general principle, if the verdict of a marja changes one is unable to act according to the previous verdict, rather he must act according to the new verdict. If a marja dies we do not know if his verdict would remain the same after his death when realities are shown to him, because after death all of the correct answers to religious problems would become clear for him. Before death he derived the verdict from the books, but after his death there are no more books, schools, or seminaries, rather the truth will be made clear for him.

With all of this, it is not the case that a marja’s verdict becomes invalid after his death, rather the opinion of most jurists is that those who performed taqlid to that marja are able to remain on his taqlid with the permission of a living marja. Some high scholars also claimed that it is permissible to perform taqlid to the most knowledgeable dead marja from the start.