What is clergy class? Is there clergy class in islam?
One of the scholars of Islam said, “The ways to Allah are as many as the breaths of His creatures.” In other words, everyone has the freedom to communicate with God directly. Everyone can invoke Allah with their prayers and ask for forgiveness. When one turns to Allah sincerely, he will surely find Him before him.
God often encourages his subjects to perform prayer and ask for forgiveness. He announces that He is so merciful, so He will forgive sins by answering prayers. Answering the prayers and forgiving the sins is only up to Allah. This is because He is the only omnipotent power. No creation can use His authority. Seeing any of the authorities that belong to Allah in some other being is considered “polytheism.”
In Islam, there is no need for a clergy in matters like praying, worshipping, or marrying. Every Muslim has to learn about religion as much as he needs. When Muslims come together to perform a prayer, they pick the most knowledgeable and virtuous among them to lead the prayer (imam). The role of Islamic scholars is limited only to explain and teach the principles of the religion, and enlighten and guide others to the right path by giving sermons and advice. They do not have power to forgive sins or answer prayers by intervening between God and his subjects.
Idol worshipping started when people started to put middlemen between God and his subjects. The polytheists of Mecca argued that they worshipped idols only so the idols would get them closer to God.[1] In time, they started to attribute divine powers to those intermediaries.
[1] Az-Zumar (The Companies), 39: 3.
Source: Dr. Murat Kaya,The Final Divine Religion: ISLAM
