Is Having a Religious Authority in Conflict with Individual Independence and Responsibility?

In linguistic and jurisprudential terms, imitation means putting a collar around one's neck. The Shia religion has made it obligatory for Muslims to have a religious authority, generally a qualified jurist. Why should a Muslim imitate? Is being bound to imitation in contradiction and conflict with independent thinking and individual responsibility? Does believing in a specific group of authorities not lead to the creation of special economic, social, and political privileges and classifications? Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Hossein Tabarsi, the Friday prayer leader in Connecticut, USA, discusses this taboo with Abdol Fattah Khedmati, a Sunni religious scholar, on this topic. Tabarsi states that the obligation of imitation and having a religious authority in Shia jurisprudence is established by reason. The Quran also has verses that remind us of this issue, including the verse that says, 'Ask those who know if you do not know.' He further explains that imitation is not required in matters of belief, such as the oneness of God, the existence of God, resurrection, and leadership, and that a person is not necessarily forced to imitate; they can become a jurist themselves and conduct independent research. Khedmati counters that in Sunni Islam, imitation is not obligatory for everyone but is permissible for the laypeople who do not know how to derive rulings from Quranic texts or hadiths. He emphasizes that there is no concept of a living religious authority in Sunni Islam as there is in Shia Islam, where a living authority is required. The discussion continues with both sides addressing the implications of having a religious authority and the potential for creating a religious aristocracy. Tabarsi argues that Shia Islam has conditions for a religious authority, including justice and piety, while Khedmati raises concerns about the difficulty of assessing someone's piety. The dialogue highlights the differences between Shia and Sunni perspectives on religious authority and the implications for individual autonomy and societal structures.