Abu l-Qasim Al-Khu’i writes:

العامي لا بد في استناده إلى فتوى المجتهد أن يكون قاطعا بحجيتها في حقه أو يعتمد في ذلك على ما يقطع بحجيته ولا يسوغ له أن يستند في تقليده على ما لا يعلم بحجيته إذ معه يحتمل العقاب على أفعاله وتروكه وعليه لا يمكن أن تكون مسألة التقليد تقليدية

“The layman, when relying on the legal opinion of the jurist, must be certain that it is evidence for him or rely on that which he is certain of, and he is not allowed to rely in his imitation (taqlid) on that which he does not know of, as he may be punished for his acts and omissions, and therefore the matter of imitation (taqlid) cannot be based on imitation (taqlid).” [At-Tanqih, Volume 1 Page 62]

فمعنى أن العامي قلد المجتهد أنه جعل أفعاله على رقبة المجتهد وعاتقه وأتى بها استنادا إلى فتواه لا أن معناه الأخذ أو الالتزام أو غير ذلك من الوجوه لعدم توافق شيء من ذلك معنى التقليد لغة

“That the layman imitates the jurist (taqlid) means that he loads his deeds on the neck and shoulder of the jurist and performs them in accordance with his legal opinions, but it does not mean that he takes them from him or commits himself to them or anything else in that sense, because none of this linguistically coincides with the meaning of imitation (taqlid).” [At-Tanqih, Volume 1 Page 58]

وأما ما يمكن أن يستدل به المجتهد على جواز التقليد في الشريعة المقدسة فهو أمور منها السيرة العقلائية الممضاة بعدم الردع عنها وقد تقدمت وهي تقتضي جواز التقليد الافتاء كليهما ومنها قوله عز من قائل فلو لا نفر من كل فرقة منهم طائفة ليتفقهوا في الدين ولينذروا قومهم إذا رجعوا إليهم لعلهم يحذرون

“As for what the jurist can prove, that the imitation (taqlid) is approved by the holy law, so these are about different things. One of them is the not forbidden exemplified logical practice, as it has been done before, which implies both the approval of the imitation (taqlid) and the issuing of legal opinions, and it includes the statement of God: “I would like to have a department from each group to make them understand (faqih) regarding religion and to warn their people when they return to them, perhaps they will exercise caution.” (9:122) [At-Tanqih, Volume 1 Page 64]

ومنها قوله عز من قائل فاسئلوا أهل الذكر إن كنتم لا تعلمون حيث دلت على وجوب السؤال عند الجهل ومن الظاهر أن السؤال مقدمة للعمل فمعنى الآية المباركة: فاسئلوا أهل الذكر لأجل أن تعملوا على طبق الجواب

“And to this belongs the testimony of God: “So ask the people of the reminder, if you do not know.” (21:7) Since it proves that asking is obligatory in ignorance, and since it is obvious that the purpose of asking is to ensure obedience, the meaning of the sacred verse is: “Ask the people of the exhortation, that you may heed the answer.” [At-Tanqih, Volume 1 Page 67]

Comment:

None of the verses prove the above definition of imitation (Taqlid). It is based on personal opinion which is haram according to ahlulbayt (a).