Analogy of Taqleed and 'Ittibah

Umm Maryam Nimatallaahi Abdul [6/9/12]:

A man is in the desert, it is pitch black he is unfamiliar with the terrain and he has no guidance........ out of the darkness comes a man upon a camel with a torch, who gives the man safe passage.

The man with the torch is a man of knowledge (a sheikh), the man in the desert is most of us and the torch is ilm. Perhaps the man will just follow behind the sheikh going whereever the sheikh goes stumbling if the sheikh stumbles, standing when the sheikh stands, sitting when the sheikh sits, he follows the sheikhs every move like a shadow this is taqleed.

Perhaps he will follow the sheikh whilst allowing the light to guide him on the way but he will look for pebbles on the way, avoid any pebbles even if the sheikh mistakenly stepped in one, he uses the light to see far and thus is able to follow, but follow with relative safety this is 'ittibah. And perhaps Allah will bless him so that one day he will be the one with the torch guiding others along the path.