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You seem to misunderstand again. The faqih isn't telling you to follow him to attain this aqeeda, he is telling his followers that if this person denies "x" belief then there are certain ahkam that come with his status. The same way a faqih doesn't tell you to follow him in Tawheed because he believes in Tawheed, he tells his followers the ahkam that come with a person's denial of Tawheed. I don't know which scholars have said this. Some scholars may have said that there isn't enough evidence to support a certain position, or there is conflicting evidence, therefore tawaquf is safe. Reading from the fuqaha, most of them seem to say that rejecting an essential is only kufr or deviance after you have to come to know of it i.e the evidence surrounding it. That is how they excuse certain companions or scholars for not holding or holding certain beliefs.  They would excuse him as they excused those before him. Like I told you, some early Shi'a may have not even believed in infallibility. It becomes an issue after someone rejects despite the plethora of evidence. And I will add, this doesn't just concern "essential beliefs", if someone rejected any ruling in the Shari'ah, while knowing it is part of the Revelation i.e the evidence has been presented, he has become a kafir. 

Alsalamu Alaikum wa Rahmutallahi wa Barakatu, I am a former Astara-Isma'ili Muslim who became a Muslim and I want to teach about the secretive and little-known Astara-Isma'ili Muslims and expose their beliefs and practices for the purpose of education or helping fellow Sunnis in debates.  Astara-Isma'ili Muslims are Sevener Isma'ili Sufi Shiite Muslims. They believe in the first 6 Imams that most Shi'a believe in, but unlike Twelvers, the majority sect within Shiism, Astara-Isma'ili Muslims believe in only 7 Imams and the Imam Mahdi, instead of 12 Imams with the 12th being the Imam Mahdi. Astara-Isma'ili Muslims believe after Imam Ja'far As-Saddiq, Imam Isma'il was the next rightful successor of the Imams. Astara-Isma'ili Muslims believe that Imam Isma'il never died, but instead ascended to heaven. Now they wait seemingly endlessly for the Imam Mahdi to appear. Many sources say 1 Million Astara-Isma'ili Muslims exist, although the vast majority has to use Taqiya to hide their beliefs, so numbers are unknown. The ancient practice of Taqiya, or lying to conceal one’s beliefs, is used by Astara-Isma'ili Muslims to be safe from those who dislike them. Most Astara-Isma'ili Muslims live in Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Southern Arabia, North Africa, Western Europe, and North America. In Spain, the UK, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia the Astara-Isma'ili Shi'as have family traditions and secretive books to keep them educated in their beliefs. In Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan they have Pirs, much like Sufis. Astara-Isma'ilis are actually Sufis within Shi’a Islam. In Oman, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia Astara-Isma'ili Muslims have Sheikhs. In Canada and the USA, they rely on various sources. On the Virginia Peninsula on the East Coast of North America is a place called the Islamic Sultanate of Qarsherskiy, which claims to be a sovereign and independent country within the USA. The sultan of Qarsherskiy, Sultan Ali Aq-Qarsherskiyy At-Tarīq, is also known as Brennan as well as the name Abu Hamza Pir, because he is the Pīr, or spiritual leader of the Islamic Sultanate of Qarsherskiy, which is an Astara-Isma'ili government. Qarsherskiy is the only place in the world where Astara-Isma'ilis aren’t subject to persecution or Westernization. In Qarsherskiy are only 2485 people and only 81% of those people are Muslims (this includes deviant and misguided sects) and only 44% of Muslims in Qarsherskiy are Astara-Isma'ili Muslims. Despite being such a small population of people in a small wooded and rural area between Newport News and York County, those Astara-Isma'ili Muslims account for nearly 85% or more of all Astara-Isma'ili Muslims openly expressing their faith online, and 98.6% of all Astara-Isma'ili Muslims not hiding their faith with Taqiya are in Qarsherskiy. By looking into the beliefs and practices publicly displayed for all to see in Qarsherskiy, we see that Astara-Isma'ili Muslims are Shi'a and Sufis as well as Hurufi, meaning they believe in magical properties of the Arabic letters which only comes from the divine will of Allah ﷻ. We also see that Astara-Isma'ilis believe the prophets and Imams can intercede, or get Allah ﷻ to help you when you need help. This is why many say “Ya Ali Madad” (O Ali, help us/me!). They believe by calling upon the imams, they can be helped, which is blatant shirk. They also wear jewelry with Hamsa Hands, or Hand of Fatima, as well as Dhulfiqar swords. It is unclear if Astara-Isma'ili Muslims ever see the jewelry as amulets to ward off evil, which would be shirk, but they admit to wearing it to be identified as separate from other sects, as Muslims wear beard to be seen as Muslims.  The next part of this passage is debatable, as instead of relying on what we see to expose the beliefs of Astara-Isma'ili Muslims, I only rely on my own experiences as a former Astara-Isma'ili myself, which means it is unproven and many can refute this claiming there is no evidence. I can testify with 100% certainty that the Astara-Isma'ilis have Hellenic influence in their Deen, which is a major Bid’a. I can also testify that Astara-Isma'ilis have many odd rituals and traditions which are also not from the Quran or Sunnah, such as Shoor, Latmiya, throat singing, and astrological beliefs. I swear that Astara-Isma'ilis have lots of Hurufi, Sufi, Hellenic, Astrological, and Numerological influences in their beliefs which are Bid’a, shirk, and very Haram. Please avoid praying behind these “Muslims” at all costs. We used to curse Shimr all night with dances and chants and over-exaggerated curses claiming that Shimr is a human incarnation of Shaytan on the Earth. I do admit that Astara-Isma'ilis don’t curse the Sahaba, nor do they (directly atleast) worship the Imams. 

thank you guys for the replies,  I am a muslim hamdillah along with my family. my mom was talking about the concept of evil eye and i wanted to look into it. I also see muslims in my area wearing jewelry with similar symbols.    can someone refer me to some resources about this so i can look into it?   Thank you!

Lol@magic hate vision But for real though, that was well said. Definetly a difference between the 2 things.

Shirk is a heavy word to use here. Let’s get away from that claim. That said, there are two things that I think need to be kept separate here.  There are legitimate Islamic teachings about the poisonous effects of uncontrolled jealousy.  And then there is the idea that people can actually harm you with their magic “hate vision” and that you need to wear amulets to counter this possibility.  You can believe in the first while not believing in the second thing.