Without Emulation
Question :

I have heard that if a person fails to do taqleed, all of his good deeds will be invalidated, no matter how virtuous a devotee he may be. Is this true?

Answer :

The individual – who has not reached the level of ijtihad, nor does he act on precaution between the edicts of the mujtahids – cannot guarantee the correctness of his deeds before Almighty Allah, unless they correspond to the edicts of a religious scholar who is an expert in Islamic jurisprudence, i.e. a mujtahid. Referring to the expert will relieve him from liability if the edicts of the mujtahid do not conform to the actual legislated laws of Allah Almighty. Without following the expert mujtahid, the person will be held responsible before The Almighty if the actions and transactions were not really in accordance to the religion.