This research is a study of Abu al-Qasim Khan Ibrahimi Abu al-Qasim Khan’s Ijtihad wa taqlid, a contemporary Shaykhi Kirmani literary text. This work is a particularly clear expose of Shaykhi Kirmani opinions on ijtihad, on the structure and hierarchy of the Shi'i community as proposed by the u?uli clergy, and, more broadly, on the intellectual history of Usulism.