When one embraces a religion, he has accepted the laws and rules of that religion as well and needs to act upon them. Islam is no exception. We the Shia believe that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has brought these laws to us and they have been expanded by the imams (as) and during the occultation of Imam Mahdi (as), their further expansion is the responsibility of the imam’s (as) “general” representatives [the imam (as) has both “specific” and “general” representatives; the specific ones being the four whom he had specifically appointed, the last one passing away in the third century (ah), and the general ones being qualified mujtahids who are experts in this field].

There are three ways for identifying a mujtahid or distinguishing the most learned of them:

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” [shahadah/confirm] 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 be to pious individuals who perform their wajib acts and refrain from sins and haram

acts]. [1] [2]

The first way is contingent upon one knowing the different conditions that need to be met by a mujtahid in order to be qualified for being followed by others:

1) Being a mujtahid

2) Being baligh (meaning that he has to have reached the age of obligation or “religious puberty”)

3) Being male

4) Being of legitimate birth

5) Sane

6) “Idalah” or “justice”

7) Being alive [therefore one can't follow a dead mujtahid from the start]

8) Being a twelve-imam Shia [Ithna Ashari]

9) According to obligatory precaution, he has to be the most learned and also one who isn't ravenous for wordly desires. [3]

Of course, if one wishes to use the second method (two just persons) for identifying a mujtahid, he has to be sure that the two are both just and are learned enough to do so.

Also, if one uses the third method, he has to go to religious scholars and experts. It is on this basis that The Seminary of Qom has introduced an elite group of mujtahids who are all qualified for being followed in which have been listed below in Arabic/Persian alphabetical order:

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. [4]

Now sometimes it happens that after one chooses a marja using one of the abovementioned ways, he doubts about his taqlid and that if his marja was actually qualified or not? What needs to be done now and what happens to his past actions/worships he has done according to the views of the marja all need to be clarified, but first we must say that if one identifies the most learned marja using one of the ways introduced by religion itself [which were mentioned above], this “religious proof” [the way religion has introduced] is valid and reliable until another religious proof that contradicts it comes up [and this doesn’t mean that we have to go looking for religious proof that contradicts it and make sure there is none, what is meant is that it is valid as long as nothing else has come up), even if the religious proof used doesn’t give us surety [for instance, when one asks two just and learned persons to confirm and “testify” to the qualification of a particular marja, and they do so, there are still chances that they are mistaken and that the marja isn't actually qualified, so their confirmation doesn’t grant one surety, yet since religion has acknowledged this method, it can be utilized]. [5]

In cases that one doubts about the qualification of his marja after following him for a while, Islamic jurisprudents have said: “If one doubts about the qualification of his marja from the beginning [and that he should have been followed at all], he/she has to do more research [and find one who he/she is sure about] [6] , meaning that he/she has to practice valid taqlid from then on for present and future actions, but his/her past actions are all valid. [7] In other words, after investigating, if one realizes that his/her taqlid had been wrong the whole time, he/she has to switch to another qualified marja [8] , meaning switching from an unqualified marja that has mistakenly been followed for some time and now is known to be unqualified, to a qualified one is wajib [9] , yet his/her past actions are all correct if the marja had been chosen through “religious proof” [10] .

Conversely, if one chooses a marja not using one of the ways religion has introduced and acts according to his judgments, and later on decides to change, his past actions are only correct and don’t have to be made up if they comply with the verdicts of a qualified marja.

In response to this question, the Grand Ayatullah Khamenei says: “Taqlid that has been practiced not based on religious standards is void, unless it complies with the verdicts of a marja that is qualified and needs to be followed now.