I am interested in the reasons why in Shi'i fiqh shrimp are halal but lobsters and crabs are haram. [All three belong to the order Decapoda.] I have read that shrimp are regarded as "locust" of the sea, which makes them halal for food. From a biological point of view, this idea does not make any sense to me.
I know that we must follow a mujtahid. I also know that a woman cannot be followed as a Marja'. However, for a woman who has reached the level of education of a mujtahid, is it necessary for her to follow someone else? In a recent discussion, someone said that we must follow a mujtahid, and the mujtahid must be male, therefore a woman mujtahid would still have to follow someone else. This woman, by virtue of the fact that she is a mujtahid, should not need to follow anyone else, just as a male mujtahid would not. The level of knowledge of a mujtahid implies that the person is capable of independent reasoning on Islamic subjects. Can you please clarify this?
In Shia Islam, marjaʿ (Arabic: مرجع; plural: marājiʿ), also known as a marjaʿ taqlīd or marjaʿ dīnī (Arabic: مرجع تقليد / مرجع ديني), literally meaning "source to imitate/follow" or "religious reference", is a title given to the highest level Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority to make legal decisions within the confines of Islamic law for followers and less-credentialed clerics. After the Qur'an and the prophets and imams, marājiʿ are the highest authority on religious laws in Usuli Shia Islam.
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