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Spiritual_Roadmap_by_Ghazali, page : 76
deal with all the infinite variety of events; nor is it possible for them to return to the city of
the Imam over
every difficult case-while the preacher is traveling there and back the person concerned may have
died, and
the journey will have been fruitless. For instance, if a man is in doubt about the qiblah,² the
only course open
to him is to pray according to his independent judgment. If he were to go to the city of the Imam
to obtain a
knowledge of the qiblah, the time of prayer would be past. As a matter of fact, prayer fulfils the
law even
when directed to what is wrongly supposed to be the qiblah. There is also the saying that the man
who is
mistaken in independent judgment receives a reward, but the man who is correct a twofold reward;
and that
is the case in all questions left to independent judgment.
Another example of the same is in giving alms to the poor. A man by his independent judgment will
often
suppose the recipient poor although he is really rich and hides his wealth. The alms giver is not
the Imam over
every difficult case-while the preacher is traveling there and back the person concerned may have
died, and
the journey will have been fruitless. For instance, if a man is in doubt about the qiblah,² the
only course open
to him is to pray according to his independent judgment. If he were to go to the city of the Imam
to obtain a
knowledge of the qiblah, the time of prayer would be past. As a matter of fact, prayer fulfils the
law even
when directed to what is wrongly supposed to be the qiblah. There is also the saying that the man
who is
mistaken in independent judgment receives a reward, but the man who is correct a twofold reward;
and that
is the case in all questions left to independent judgment.
Another example of the same is in giving alms to the poor. A man by his independent judgment will
often
suppose the recipient poor although he is really rich and hides his wealth. The alms giver is not