Ihtiyāt Wujūbī (obligatory precaution) is when a jurist does not issue a fatwa on a specific matter, but mandates a caution that should be followed, while still allowing his followers to refer to another jurist. It is assumed that the reason for this is always due to some degree of vagueness in the evidence for the ruling. The jurist did not find convincing evidence, therefore, he only issued a precaution. But this is not always true.
A classic case of this is the prohibition of shaving the beard where many contemporary scholars have not issued a fatwa but obligatory precaution.
The assumption here is: the jurist did not find strong enough evidence to issue a clear fatwa on the matter, but on the other hand, it has been the widespread practice of religious people to have beards. Fearing that he could fall on the side of error by going against such a widespread practice, the jurist issues an obligatory precaution to put himself on the safe side in case his understanding of the evidence is incorrect.
While this may be true in some cases, it is not always true. In fact, regarding this very issue of the prohibition of shaving the beard, Sayyid Mohammad R Sistani clarifies that Sayyid al-Khoei’s obligatory precaution to not shave the beard is not because of some deficiency in the evidence and an attempt to not oppose a historic religious practise. Sayyid al-Khoei considers the evidence for its prohibition to be sufficient, but there were other considerations.
The consideration was based on the fact that this is a commonly faced matter for men and enforcing it strictly can cause difficulty in their lives. Some may be asked to shave their beards because of their work or positions in government. As such, the reason for the obligatory precuation is to give his followers freedom in referring to another jurist to avoid such problems. Full knowing there are other reputable jurists who do not consider shaving the beard as forbidden, the obligatory precuation enables followers of the first marji to imitate the second marji, without falling into sin.
By this method, the marji places himself on the safe side having fulfilled his responsibility of announcing that the more prefered position is not to shave the beard, and at the same time, making life easy for his followers to refer to another jurist on this matter so they do not fall into sin should they need to shave their beards.
References:
السيد محمد رضا السيستاني – بحوث فقهية حول الذبح و الزي و التجمل ص206
