The impact of ḥadīth perception on disputes between ahl al-Sunnah and al-Shī‘ah al-Imāmiyyah al-Ithnā ‘Ashariyyah

Abstract

One of the main reasons for the controversies among legal schools in Islam revolves around the methodology of distinguishing authentic aḥādīth from those of rejected ones and applying the acceptable aḥādīth to different cases. This article studies ḥadīth perception in the light of this methodology to reveal the nature of disputes between ahl al-Sunnah and al-Shī'ah al-Imāmiyyah al-Ithnā 'Ashariyyah which is the biggest madhhab (school) among other madhāhib apart from the ahl al-Sunnah. The disagreements among the madhhab of the ahl al-Sunnah are confined to al-furū' (applications related to secondary issues), whereas the disputes between the Sunni and the Shī'ah schools are based on both al-uṣūl (principles) and al-furū'. The main ground for this difference is their perception of ḥadīth. If this fact is overlooked, the differences between the two schools cannot be grasped appropriately.