Refutation of The Notion That There Are Those Who Only Strive To Come To Rulings and Those Who Blindfollow Them
“Say, ‘Are equal those who know and those who do not know?’ Only people of understanding will remember.” The Qur’an 39:9
In The Name of God, The Vastly Merciful, The Merciful
God, Exalted, said,
ٱتَّبِعُوا۟ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ أَوْلِيَآءَ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ
“Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord and do not follow besides Him allies. Little do you remember.”
And He said,
مَّا فَرَّطْنَا فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ مِن شَىْءٍ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يُحْشَرُونَ
“We have not neglected in The Book a thing. Then to their Lord they will be gathered.”
And He said,
وَأَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكَ ٱلذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
“And We have sent down to you (Muhammad) The Remembrance that you make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought.”
So it is clear that God, Exalted, has ordered the people to follow what He has sent down - and has made clear to us what He sent down to us.
And He has commanded us to obey Him and obey The Messenger in many Verses.
So it is clear that we are to follow The Revelation and to not follow besides it anything.
So it is clear that the people are of two groups - those who know what is legislated in a particular matter (by their knowledge of God’s Book and The Way of His Messenger) and those who do not.
So those who know, act upon what they know. And those who do not, if they are required to act before learning, then they make ijtihad, striving to come to what is correct.
And if they later learn of God’s Judgement in the matter they follow it.
It is not said however, that there are two groups, strivers and blindfollowers.
Rather, striving to come to the truth is what is done when one does not know the truth - and following other than what God sent down is a heretical innovation and prohibited.
Everyone is obligated to follow The Qur’an and The Sunnah (Way of The Prophet) and if they don’t know they learn and if they are required to act in the meantime, they strive to come to what is correct.
And when we learn, we learn The Revelation, The Qur’an and The Sunnah.
There are, in actuality, two groups, which God mentioned in His Noble Saying,
قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى ٱلَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ
“Say, Are equal those who know and those who do not know? Only people of understanding will remember.”