What is Marjaeya?

What do marjaeya and marja’ mean?

The marjaeya is a religious authority. A marja’ is a jurist who gives religious rulings based on Islamic teachings.

The word marja’ (Arabic: مَرْجَع) literally means “source”. This source may be a person, an entity, a system, or anything else. Islam regards a Marja’ is as a “source to follow”. It is a religious title given to a religious scholar of a high position who is capable of issuing verdicts (fatwa) based on an expert study of Islamic holy texts. The Marja’ acquires this level as a result of many years of scholarly research and advancement in matters of Islamic study, particularly Islamic practical laws.

The position of the marja’ is called marjaeya (Arabic: مَرْجَعِيَّة). The marjaeya is the highest religious authority amongst Muslims after the level of Imamate. The infallible Imams established this position after Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and it became an essential concept during the age of occultation of the twelfth Imam al-Mahdi (p) since 325 AH (940 AD). Expert scholars in the Islamic seminary (hawzah, Arabic: حَوْزَة) can recognize a marja’. They may recognize him through several different ways, such as by his teachings, his students’ levels, his books and works of research, or by the recognition of other jurists – including his teacher(s) – verbally or in a written document. At this stage, he is called a jurist (mujtahid, Arabic مُجْتَهِد), and believers may follow his rulings. Thus, he technically becomes a marja’, since Muslims started following his verdicts. To be certain of following the religion and God’s teachings properly during the occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (p), it is an obligation to follow the most knowledgeable jurist with a high level of piety. When the majority follows a marja’, he will be recognized as the highest marja’ (marja’ al-A’laa, Arabic: المرجع الأعلى) in the Islamic world.

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