Discussion on Taqlid and the Censure of Taqlid

The Shaykh : As for the muqallids, we should not pay much attention to them, for they have judged themselves to be ignorant. Taqlid, according to all scholars, is for a person not to use his intellect and knowledge, but rather to imitate others and submit to them completely. This is a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah) in which the majority of Muslims have fallen without realizing it. Why? - And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah - because Allah Mighty and Majestic mentioned something of the shirk of the Christians when He said: The first type is shirk in the monks, and the second type is shirk in Jesus, peace be upon him. It is reported in the books of hadith and the Prophetic biography that 'Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai was one of the few Arabs who became cultured, read, and wrote. This led him to believe in Christianity and practice it. He visited the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a cross around his neck. The Messenger (peace be upon him) admonished him and reminded him of Allah Mighty and Majestic and His oneness until Allah guided him to Islam. He embraced Islam and his Islam was good, and he is now among the famous noble Companions. In some gatherings, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) recited this verse, it was unclear to 'Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai. He said: "O Messenger of Allah - based on his understanding of the verse - we did not take them as lords besides Allah. How is that?" He (peace be upon him) clarified it to him: And conversely, He said: Thus, Islam warned us against this blind imitation in this verse which it related from the Christians, so that we do not follow their path or imitate them. The Messenger (peace be upon him) also warned us about this in some hadiths with a general principle, namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): The Christians imitated, and the Muslims imitated. It was obligatory upon the Muslims to do two things included in the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. If a disbeliever wanted to enter the religion of Islam and testified to Allah Mighty and Majestic that there is no god but Him, but did not believe in Muhammad as a Messenger, the testimony of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) would benefit him nothing. It is necessary to combine the two testimonies: there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. So I say that the first testimony includes the tawhid of Allah Mighty and Majestic in worship, and the other testimony includes singling out the Prophet in following him. Just as the first testimony includes the tawhid of Allah in worship, whoever worships other than Allah has committed shirk, even if he believes that He is the Creator, the Provider, the Giver of Life, and the Giver of Death, because the polytheists used to believe in this belief, but at the same time they worshipped other than Allah. So this good testimony, "There is no god but Allah," gives us that whoever worships other than Allah has not believed in Allah. Likewise, whoever follows other than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and does not single him out in following, the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah benefits him nothing at all. This is confirmed by some Qur'anic verses, among which is, for example, His saying Mighty and Majestic: The other verse says, "and they submit in complete submission."
onAl-Halabi : And whoever opposes the Messenger?

The Shaykh : No.
onAl-Halabi : So, by your Lord, they do not believe

The Shaykh : This submission to the noble Prophet, if it is transferred from him to another, is disbelief in the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. So here we can say there are two types of tawhid: tawhid of Allah in worship, and tawhid of the Messenger in following. Whoever neglects one of the two tawhids has not believed in Allah and His Messenger with sincere faith. So, these muqallids, in truth, we should not pay attention to them on one hand, and we should have mercy on them on the other hand, because they are sick, as they have inverted the Qur'anic truth, whether in the tawhid of Allah alone, who has no partner, or in their following and submission to other than their Prophet, to whom it was obligatory for them to submit in complete submission, as mentioned previously in the last verse. I do not know if you have anything else in your question.