Marja

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Part of a series on the Usul al-fiqh
Fiqh
Qur'an and Sunnah Taqlid (imitation) Ijtihad (interpretation) Qualifications for a mujtahid madh'hab (school of law) Minhaj (method) Qiyas (analogical reasoning) Urf (society custom) Islamic jurisprudence Ijma (consensus) Bid‘ah (innovation) Madrasah (school/seminary) Ijazah (authorisation) Istihlal Istihsan Risalah
Ahkam
Halaal — legal Wajib/Fard — obligatory, duty Mustahab — favored Mubah — neutral Makruh — disliked, abominable Haraam — illegal, prohibited Baatil — void, incorrect Fasiq — corrupt
Scholarly titles
Marja — ... Ulema Khalifa Mufti Qadi Faqih Muhaddith Mullah Imam Mawlawi Sheikh Shaykh of Sufism Punjabi Shaikh Ayatollah Mujaddid Maulana This box: view • talk • edit

Marja (Arabic/Persian: مرجع), also appearing as Marja Taqlid or Marja Dini (Arabic/Persian: مرجع تقليد / مرجع ديني), literally means "Source to Imitate/Follow" or "Religious Reference". It is the label provided to Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and less-credentialed clerics. After the Qur'an and the Prophets and Imams, marjas are the third highest authority on religious laws in Usuli Shi'a Islam.

1 Title
2 Authority of marjas
3 Conflict between marjas
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Title

Currently, marjas are accorded the title Grand Ayatollah (Arabic/Persian: آية‌الله العظمی Ayatollah al-Uzma), however when referring to one, the use of Ayatollah is acceptable. Previously, the titles of Allamah^[1] and Imam^[2] have also been used.

[edit] Authority of marjas

This marja'yiat of an Ayatollah happens when the followers of one of the Ayatollahs refer to him in many situations and ask him to publish his Juristic book in which he answers the vast majority of daily Muslim affairs. The book is called Resalah and contains their fatwa on different topics, according to their knowledge of the most authentic Islamic sources and their application to current life. Where a difference in opinion exists between the marjas, each of them provide their own opinion and the Muqallid will follow his/her own marja's opinion on that subject. ^[3]

Several senior Grand Ayatollahs constitute the Hawza, a religious institution. There are hawzas in Najaf in Iraq and others in Qom, Mashhad, and Isfahan in Iran. The first two are preeminent seminary centers for the training of Shi'a clergymen. However, there are other smaller hawzas in other cities around the world.

[edit] Conflict between marjas

Some say that having different marjas may cause certain problems in Shi'a Islam. They say some marjas might have a liberal view on a subject such as music, while others may be restrictive and have conservative fatwas on music. This situation has raised certain difficulties in running a velayat-faqih system in Iran, where the fatwas of the Supreme Leader is usually given precedence to others. (See: The situation in Iran)

However, others say that although it might seem that difference of opinion among marjas would be a source of contention, it is important to note that almost all marjas agree on about 99 percent of the rulings. There are very few rulings on which marjas differ, and even then they are quite similar to each other. For example, one marja might declare something to be wajib (obligatory), whereas another might consider it mustahab (recommended). However, it is never the case when one marja considers something wajib, whereas another considers it haram.