This article provides the list of maraji (plural of marja, the supreme legal authority or the source of emulation), followed by Twelver (also known as Imamiyyah) Shia Muslims around the world. The concept of a marja-i taqlid (lit. source of emulation) is central to Usuli Shi'a Islam.[1] Marja-i Taqlids provide religious interpretations on matters of law and rituals.[2][3] Ideally, the most just and knowledgeable specialist in the field of the Islamic law should become recognized throughout the Muslim world as the marja-i taqlid. In practice however this rarely happens and there are several marja taqlids among whom an individual is free to choose and emulate.[2][3]
Those clerics who reach the apex in the hierarchy of theological rank in the centers of Shi'a learning become marja-i taqlids.[2][4] Since around 1940, marja-i taqlids are often referred to by their followers with the honorific title of Ayatollah al-`Uzma (Grand Ayatollah – "ayatollah" meaning "sign of God").[2] Among the functions of marja-i taqlids is the collection and distribution of religious taxes (zakat and khums).[2][3]
- ^ Pike, John. "Twelvers / Ithna Ashari Islamic Schools of Thought". www.globalsecurity.org.
- ^ a b c d e Lara Deeb, An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi'i Lebanon, Princeton University Press, pp.69-70
- ^ a b c Michael W. Suleiman,Arabs in America: Building a New Future, p.55, Temple University Press
- ^ Linda S. Walbridge, The Most Learned of the Shiʻa: The Institution of the Marjaʻ Taqlid, Oxford University Press, p.217
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