The Role of Sectarian Tensions in Shaping the Institution of Marja’-i Taqlid

The evolution of Shi‘ite learned institution entered a new phase in the first half of the nineteenth century when there appeared a central position called marja‘-i taqlid or supreme exemplar who sets patterns for the whole community. This position, which played a significant role in the contemporary history of Iran and Iraq, emerged out of tenacious contentions between the Shi‘ite orthodoxy (the Usuli ‘ulama) and their Akhbari, Sufi, Shaykhi and Babi claimants. Several competing positions such as ‘perfect Shi‘a,’ ‘pillar of universe,’ ‘conduit of grace,’ ‘fourth pillar’ and ‘starting point’ have been offered by the rival groups to lead Shiite spirituality of time. All the above trends based their authority on intuitive character of their leaders who refuted the Usuli emphasis on ‘the legal methodology’ called usul al-fiqh. In response, the Usulis not only upheld the authority of legal or juridical speculation (zann al-ijtihadi), but also claimed the deputyship of the Hidden Imam, which eventually turned out as the greatest factor legitimizing the status of the ‘ulama. The combination of legal knowledge and vice-gerency of the Imam made the Usulis to win the Shi‘ite orthodoxy, and to centralize their juristic structure in the office of marja‘-e taqlid. However, the internal division amongst the Usulis delayed the public recognition of the position till the epidemic cholera of 1264/1848 actually singled out Shaikh Mohammad Hasan Najafi-Isfahani as the of sole marja‘. He is the author of a most comprehensive legal work called Jawahir al-kalam which still marks a new era in Shi‘ite jurisprudence as fiqh-i Jawahiri. Najafi-Isfahani benefited from the expansion of Shi‘ite rituals (tomb visitation and Moharram processions) of time and set a precedent for centralizing the collection of religious taxes and charities to the sole marja‘ who was practically in charge of stipends of all students of the Shi‘ite seminaries.