An Examination and Critique of Theory of Compliance from Wahhabism Perspective

In criticizing imitation of the four religions, Wahhabism considers any imitation of the Muftis as illegal, and believes that the imitation is obeying the words of non-God and the Prophet, while it supports the theory of compliance. Wahhabis consider compliance as the pleasant Taqlid (imitation), imitation as adopting the words without arguments, and compliance as adopting the words with arguments. They have considered the issue of compliance within the different types of obligation of Mokalafs (one charged with a duty) and have proposed three types of obligations: "ijtihad, compliance and imitation". In their view, the compliance has a very wide circle and includes the majority of the people. The Wahhabis by talking about the issue of compliance, have narrowed the circle of ijtihad and imitation and have almost put away the imitation and they deal with that as an obligation. The current study, in addition to explaining the Wahhabism perspective on ijtihad and imitation, defines the theory of their compliance, and examines and criticizes the arguments of Wahhabism on this issue.