Ja'fari jurisprudence

This is a sub-article to Islamic jurisprudence and Twelvers.

Jaʿfarī school of thought, Ja`farite School, Jaʿfarī jurisprudence or Jaʿfarī Fiqh[note A] is the school of jurisprudence of most Shi'a Muslims, derived from the name of Jaʿfar as-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shi'a Imam. Jafaris are also known as Twelvers

It differs from the four schools or madhhabs of Sunni jurisprudence in its reliance on ijtihad, as well as on matters of inheritance, religious taxes, commerce, personal status and the allowing of temporary marriage or mutʿa.[1] However, despite these differences, there have been numerous fatwas regarding the acceptance of Jaʿfarī fiqh as an acceptable Muslim madhhab by Sunni religious bodies. These include the Amman Message and a fatwa by Al-Azhar.

Contents

Branches

Usuli

Main article: Usuli

This school of thought utilizes Ijtihad by adopting reasoned argumentation in finding the laws of Islam. Usulis emphasize the role of Mujtahid who was capable of independently interpreting the sacred sources as an intermediary of the Hidden Imamas and , thus, serve as a guide to the community.This meant that legal interpretations were kept flexible to take account of changing conditions and the dynamics of the times.[2] This school of thought is predominant among most of Shi'a.

According to idea developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, two kinds of Ja'fari jurisprudence can be recognized. One as Conventional Fiqh and another as Dynamic Fiqh. In Dynamic Fiqh, which is backed by the famous text book Javaher-al-Kalem (Arabic: جواهر الكلم‎), one should consider the concept of time, era, and age (Arabic: زمان‎) as well as the concept of place, location and venue (Arabic: مکان‎). He stated that these two concepts have key role in the understanding and extraction of commandments.[3]

Akhbari

Main article: Akhbari

This school of thought takes a restrictive approach to ijtihad. This school has almost dead now and has very few followers left to this day. Although, some neo-Akhbaris have emerged in indian subcontinent but they do not belong to the old akhbari movement of bahrain. [2]

Sub-articles

Non-controversial fields

Controversial fields

These are the fields of the Ja'fari jurisprudence that are controversial among Muslims.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Nasr, Vali (2006), The Shia Revival, Norton, p. 69 
  2. ^ a b [Oxford concise dictionary of Politics,2003:487]
  3. ^ (Persian: صحيفه نور) http://www.tebyan.net/Html1/Sahife/html/21/289.htm

References

External links