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The_Savior_from_Spiritual_Error_and_50_Principles, page : 78
realize that this state of affairs was due to the weakness of the defender of the
truth and his ignorance of the proper method in dealing with the issue.
The correct procedure is in fact to acknowledge the need for an instructor
and the necessity of his being infallible. But our infallible instructor is
Muhammad, peace be upon him. They may say, “He is dead”; but we reply,
“Your instructor is hidden (gha’ib)”. They may say, “Our instructor instructed
the preachers and spread them widely through the land, and if they differ or
are puzzled by a difficulty, he expects them to return to him”; but we reply,
“Our instructor instructed the preachers and spread them widely through the
land and perfected the instruction, according to the word of Allah most high,
`Today I have perfected your religion for you‟ (Koran 5, 5); when the
instruction has been made perfect, the death of the instructor does no harm,
any more than does his being hidden”.
There remains their argument: “How do you judge a point of law on which
there has been no explicit ruling? Is it by the letter of the law (nass)? But you
have not heard it. Is it by your independent interpretation (Ijtihad) and opinion
truth and his ignorance of the proper method in dealing with the issue.
The correct procedure is in fact to acknowledge the need for an instructor
and the necessity of his being infallible. But our infallible instructor is
Muhammad, peace be upon him. They may say, “He is dead”; but we reply,
“Your instructor is hidden (gha’ib)”. They may say, “Our instructor instructed
the preachers and spread them widely through the land, and if they differ or
are puzzled by a difficulty, he expects them to return to him”; but we reply,
“Our instructor instructed the preachers and spread them widely through the
land and perfected the instruction, according to the word of Allah most high,
`Today I have perfected your religion for you‟ (Koran 5, 5); when the
instruction has been made perfect, the death of the instructor does no harm,
any more than does his being hidden”.
There remains their argument: “How do you judge a point of law on which
there has been no explicit ruling? Is it by the letter of the law (nass)? But you
have not heard it. Is it by your independent interpretation (Ijtihad) and opinion