It is a completely normal and reasonable thing for those who don’t have an expertise in a certain field to refer to the experts in that field for advice and assistance. This is something that all societies have accepted, because one single individual isn’t capable of becoming an expert in all fields, resulting in him/her referring to the experts of other fields whenever needed. In fiqhi (jurisprudential) terms, practicing taqlid to the most knowledgeable marja’ means for those who aren’t experts in the field of fiqh, to refer to those who have a complete expertise and are more knowledgeable than others in it, learning their religious responsibilities according to their fatwas from them.

There are three ways one can identify the most learned of all marja’s; 1- When a person is certain that a particular person is the most learned one, eg. by asking other learned individuals, or in the case that the person himself is a learned one, able to identify the most learned without anyone’s help. 2- When two persons, who are learned and just and possess the capacity to identify the most learned, confirm that a person is the most learned, provided that two other learned and just persons do not contradict them.

3- When a number of learned persons who possess the capacity to identify the most learned, certify that a particular person is the most learned, and one becomes sure from their saying that that person is the most learned (note that there is a difference between this method and the previous one; here what is important is for the person to become sure, while in the previous, the criterion is for two just witnesses to “testify” to that person that a certain mujtahid is the most learned, regardless of whether one becomes sure from their saying or not, all that is needed is for them to be just meaning that they have to pious individuals who perform their wajib acts and stay away from sins and haram acts). [1]

Considering the great development in the field of technology the world has gone through, it is easy to get in touch and communicate with those who are aware of the different issues regarding taqlid and choose one’s marja’. Luckily, a group of the instructors of the Islamic seminary of Qom have introduced a number of those mujtahids who are qualified to be marja’s of taqlid and followed by other Muslims. These marja’s are as follows:

1-The Grand Ayatullah Bahjat

2- The Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Kadhim Ha’iri

3- The Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Khamenei

4- The Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Sistani

5- The Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Musa Shubairi Zanjani

6- The Grand Ayatullah Lutfullah Safi Gulpaygani

7- The Grand Ayatullah Nasir Makarem Shirazi

8- The Grand Ayatullah Husein Vahid Khorasani

Any Muslim who chooses any of these mujtahids as his/her marja and acts according to his fatwas has surely fulfilled his/her religious responsibilities and duties.

Concerning the translation of the different risalahs of the marja’s to English, despite the many efforts that have been made on this subject, there are still many deficiencies that we hope will be fixed in the near future.