Akhbari

The Akhbārīs () are Twelver Shī‘a Muslims who reject the use of reasoning in deriving verdicts, and believe only the Qur'an, aḥadīth, (prophetic sayings and recorded opinions of the Imāms) and consensus should be used as sources to derive verdicts (fatwas). The term Akhbārī (from khabara, news or report) is used in contrast to Usūlī (from aṣl, first principle). Unlike Usūlīs, Akhbārīs do not follow marja‘s (models for imitation) who practice ijtihad (independent legal reasoning).

They form a minority within Shī‘a Islam, with Usūlīs making up the majority. Akhbārīsm "crystalized" as a distinct movement with the writings of Muhammad Amin al-Astarabadi (d. 1627 AD) and achieved its greatest influence in the late Safavid and early post-Safavid era. However, shortly thereafter Muhammad Baqir Behbahani (d. 1792), along with other Usuli mujtahids, crushed the Akhbari movement. Today it is found primarily in Basra area of southern Iraq where they form the majority in many districts, although no longer in the city. They are also found in the island nation of Bahrain,

Simillar phenomenon between Ahl-e-Hadith/Salafis/Wahhabis and the Akhbari Shi`ites

Many, and this is subject to debate and controversy, may opine that the way the Akhbari Shi`ites state that they follow only the Koran and the Hadith and the Ahl al-Bayt is similar in some respects to how Salafis (called Wahhabis by some) or influenced groups such as the Ahl-e-Hadith or certain factions of the Muslim Brotherhood do not follow a Madhab but rather lay claim to following the Koran and the Hadith.

Others may even go further and compare both groups to Protestant Christianity and especially to the Puritans, many of whom wished to break away and "purify" the Church of England

Background

In addition to rejecting fatāwa based on ijtihad, Akhbārīs also reject the permissibility of writing exegesis of the Qur'an without quoting the narrations of the infallible Ahlu l-Bayt. They quote the Hadith ath-Thaqalayn and several authentic traditions of the Twelve Imāms to prohibit the practice of exegesis. In short, the gist of Akhbārī ideology is that nothing but the aḥadīth of the Infallibles can serve as authoritative evidence in Islam. Akhbārīs also differ from Usūlīs in their rejection of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists, arguing that preachers of religion have no role in politics, as is evidenced by the lives of the Imāms and their followers.

Usūlism evolved on the basis of Usul al-fiqh (the hypothetical concepts and perceptions of some scholars) centuries after the major occultation. Among the earliest Shī‘a ulamā' such as Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni and Ibn Babawaiyya, the most important activity was transmission of aḥadīth.

At this time, the Shī‘a distinguished themselves from the Sunni in the category of law, which employed such methods as qiyas "analogical reasoning" and exegesis". However, the Shī‘a developed law directly from the traditions of the Imāms.

However, it soon became apparent that the situation caused by lapse of functions of the Hidden Imām was extremely impractical and left the Twelver Shī‘a community at a great disadvantage, with no leadership, no organization and no financial structure. In effect, transgressing the limits set by Shaykhu t-Taifa (two centuries earlier) in his first transgression.

The third transgression

Muhaqqiq al-Karkhi (About 300 years after the second transgression) was the first to suggest, arguing from the hadith of ‘Umar ibn Hanzala, that the ulama were the Nā'ib al-'Amm (general representative) of the Hidden Imām. But he restricted his application of this argument to the assumption of the duty of leading Friday prayers. By succeeding to the role of dean of Karbala as one of the pre-eminent scholars of the age, al-Bahrani's extended this Bahrain-based debate to the rest of the Shī‘a world.

Bihbahani

Under al-Bahrani, Usuli scholarship was considered impure but Bahrani was not politically influential, although his student, the famous Sheikh Al-Hurr al-Aamili in his book Amal al-amil writes "He was a mountain and ocean of knowledge, No one from among the previous scholars preceded his knowledge or reached his status". It was Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Akmal al-Wahid Bihbahani who challenged and defeated (by use of physical force, his militia called mirghadabs) the Akhbaris and eventually became the most politically influential cleric in Karbala in 1772. Bihbahani's theology was not welcomed by the Akhbaris. Although this controversy had begun as a minor disagreement on a few points, it eventually grew into a bitter, vituperative dispute culminating in Bihbahani's declaration that the Akhbārīs were infidels(Kuffar).

This followed the pattern of other transgressions by overthrowing the limits of its prior (fourth) transgression.

Iranian Revolution

Following the Iranian Revolution, the Usūlī school has gained popularity among previously Akhbārī communities.

Regarding Islamic laws, there are various issues faced by Muslims in their daily lives. e.g. doubts in namāz and their corrections, conditions which invalidate a fast and the relevant compensations, rulings vis à vis correctness or incorrectness of various social and business practices e.g. Investing in Mutual Funds, Use of alcohol based perfumes and medicines, etc.

Akhbārīs have no basis on which to interpret hadith on these issues since a lot of them would not have been mentioned in any hadith. And secondly, it would require deep knowledge of the life histories of narrators of these hadith to separate strong hadiths from weak hadiths.

Prominent Akhbārī scholars

Shaikh al-Hur al-Aamili

Shaikh Hashim Al Bahrani

Yusuf Al Bahrani

Abdullah al Samahiji

Salih Al-Karzakani

Syed Taqiuddin Hyder jafri (shaheed e Rah e Haq)

References

Rival Empires of Trade and Imami Shiism in Eastern Arabia, 1300-1800, Juan Cole, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2, (May, 1987), pp. 177–203

Andrew J. Newman, The Nature of the Akhbārī/Uṣūlī Dispute in Late Ṣafawid Iran. Part 1: 'Abdallāh al-Samāhijī's "Munyat al-Mumārisīn Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 55, No. 1 (1992), pp. 22–51

Category:Islamic sects Category:Twelvers Category:Ja'fari