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The Shia Ithna Ashari school of jurisprudence
is divided into
three schools Akhbari,
Usuli, and Shayki.
The 17th Century
Akhbari/Usuli controversy
was directed towards
establishing the
‘Ulama' as regents
of the Imam in social
and political matters.
Usuli [variants:
Usooli] was a religious
movement by Iranian
Shia Muslims in
17th century Iran
that was opposed
to the Akhbari.
The Usuli-Akhbari
controversy resulted
in the victory of
rationalism and
upheld the role
of the Ulama, but
it would be wrong
to assumed that
all Akhbari `Ulama'
were reactionary
and all Usuli `Ulama'
were progressive.
The dominant Usuli (from “usul-i-fiqh,”
principles of jurisprudence)
school is more liberal
in its legal outlook
than the Akhbari.
It allows greater
use of interpretation
(Ijtihad) in reaching
legal decisions,
and considers that
one must obey a
Mujtahid (learned
interpreter of the
law) as well as
an Imam. The Iranian
religious center
at Qom was the focal
point of Usuli Shiaism,
and from the 1760s,
the Usuli school
began to win out
in the strategic
Shia shrine centers
of Najaf and Karbala
in Iraq. By the
establishment of
the Qajar dynasty
in 1785 (CE) the
Usuli Ulama had
emerged as a force
to be reckoned with
across Iran, with
it's leadership
emanating from the
Atabat (Karbila
and Najaf in Iraq).
Usuli Shiaism produced the politically
active caste of
priests that is
a distinctive feature
of Iranian Shiaism.
Usuli rationalists
insisted that the
consensus of scholars
and independent
reasoning (Ijtihad)
can be a basis for
activism. Usuli
Shiaism provided
the religious legitimacy
for Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini's Islamic
revolution of 1979
and the subsequent
theocratic state.
But the na'ib-i-amm
concept -- that
the Ulama acted
in “general deputyship”
in the absence of
the Hidden Imam
- expanded only
slowly over time.
Most Ulama were
politically inactive.
The concept was
developed to its
logical conclusion
in Ayat'ullah Khumayni's
construct that that
government is rightfully
administered by
Islamic jurists
in the absence of
the Imam.
In mainstream Usuli Shia jurisprudence
it is illegitimate
to continue following
the controversial
rulings of a dead
jurisprudent. Laypersons
must adopt a new,
living jurisprudent
in such circumstances.
The practice of
taqlid al-mayyit
[following dead
jurisprudents] is
permited in the
Akhbari school.
Akhbari (or communicators of tradition,
akhbar being the
Shi'i term for the
Traditions) was
a religious movement
by Arab Shia Muslims
in 17th century
Iraq that was opposed
to the Usuli. Akhbari
Shiaism did not
promote political
control, and held
that clerics should
advise political
leaders but not
govern themselves.
The shrine cities
of Ottoman Iraq
-- Najaf (tomb of
`Ali) and Karbala
(tomb of Husayn)
-- were the center
of Akhbari scholars.
The Akhbari school
restricted to the
Qur'an and oral
reports of the Prophet
and the Imams. They
held that, during
the ghaiba (occultation)
of the Twelfth Imam,
religious scholars
were not permitted
to use reason (Ijtihad)
to apply law to
a specific situation.
They also insisted
that laymen can
equally emulate
the 12 Imams --
that is, Akhbaris
supported in the
ability of all believers
to interpret the
Traditions of the
Imams.
This school crystallised into a separate
movement following
the writings of
Mulla Muhammad Amin
Astaraabadi (d.
1033/1623). Shaykh
Yusuf al-Bahrani,
a refugee from Afghan
slaughter in Iran
in 1724, rejected
the legitimacy of
holy war during
the occultation
of the Imam. The
school achieved
its greatest influence
during the late
and post-Safavid
periods but was
crushed by the `Usuli
Mujtahidin at the
end of the Qajar
era. Shaykh Murtada
bin Muhammad Amin
Ansari [b 1214/1799
, d 1281/1864] established
conclusively the
dominance of the
Usuli position against
the neo-Akhbari
Traditionism.
There is some confusion as to the present
adherence to the
Akhbari school.
Many sources claims
that Iraqi Shi‘ism
is Akhbari while
Iranian Shi‘ism
is Usuli. Other
reports characterized
Abdul Majid al-Khoei,
who was killed by
a rampaging mob
soon after he returned
to Iraq from emigration
in London, and as
Akhbari. This may
overstate matters,
though "some
residual influence
of the Akhbari position
still persists not
only in Iran but
to a much greater
degree among the
Shi'i Ulama of Iraq,
India, Pakistan
and Bahrain and
among their followers."
[source]
Other sources report that both Iraqi
and Iranian are
Shi'ia are Usulis,
and that Iraq is
fully part of the
marja‘ (source or
religious leader)
system. Thus, Grand
Ayatullah as-Sayyid
Ali al-Hussaini
as-Seestani is Marja
Taghlid (source
of emulation). Sharia
is updated, interpreted
and relayed by a
Mojtahed (supreme
religious leader)
or a Marja Taghlid
(source of emulation).
According to this
view, Akhbaris are
today a small group
which only survives
in any numbers in
Bahrain, where the
majority of Shias
are Akhbaris. They
are also found around
Basra in southern
Iraq as well as
around Khorramshahr
in Iran. Akhbari
Shi‘ism also has
a few adherents
in other Gulf regions.
After the defeat of the Akhbaris, the
primary doctrinal
challenge to Usuli
jurisprudecne came
from the Shaykhi
school. This movement
was founded on the
teachings of Shaykh
Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i (d.
1825 C.E.) and his
successor Siyyid
Kazim-i-Rashti (d.
1844 C.E.). Whereas
the Akhbari school
differed from the
`Usulis principally
in matters of furu`,
the Shaykhi School,
founded by Shaykh
Ahmad ibn Zaynu'd-Din
al-Ahsa'i (d. 1241/1826),
differed principally
in usul. There is
evidence that Shaykh
Najafi made attempts
to marginalize their
role. There remains
a strong Shaykhi
movement in Pakistan.
Page last updated:
Thursday, May 08, 2008 10:09:17 -0400 |
