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TheJaʿfarī school,[a] also known as theJafarite school,Jaʿfarī fiqh (Arabic:الفقه الجعفري) orJa'fari jurisprudence, is a prominent school ofjurisprudence (fiqh) withinTwelver andIsmaili (includingNizari)[1]Shia Islam, named after the sixthImam,Ja'far al-Sadiq.[2] In Iran, Jaʽfari jurisprudence is enshrined in theconstitution, shaping various aspects of governance, legislation, and judiciary in the country.[3] InLebanon, this school of jurispudence is also accounted for in the legal system of the country and Shia Muslims can call upon it for their legal disputes.[4]
It differs from the predominantmadhhabs ofSunni jurisprudence in its reliance onijtihad, as well as on matters of inheritance, religious taxes, commerce, personal status, and the allowing of temporary marriage ormutʿa.[5] Since 1959, Jaʿfari jurisprudence has been afforded the status of "fifth school" along with the four Sunni schools byAzhar University.[6] In addition, it is one of the eight recognizedmadhhabs listed in theAmman Message of 2004 by KingAbdullah II of Jordan, and since endorsed bySadiq al-Mahdi, formerPrime Minister of Sudan.[7]
The Ja'fari school was imposed as the state jurisprudence inIran during theSafavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam from the 16th to the 18th century. Followers of the Ja'fari school are predominantly found inIran,Iraq andAzerbaijan where they form a majority, with large minorities in easternSaudi Arabia, southernLebanon,Bahrain andAfghanistan.[8]
This school of thought utilizesijtihad by adopting reasoned argumentation in finding the laws of Islam.Usulis emphasize the role ofMujtahid who was capable of independently interpreting the sacred sources as an intermediary of theHidden Imam and thus serves the community as a guide. This meant that legal interpretations were kept flexible to take account of changing conditions and the dynamics of the times.[9] This school of thought is predominant among most Shia.
AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini emphasized that Ja'fari jurisprudence is configured based on the recognition thatepistemology is influenced bysubjectivity. Accordingly, Ja'fari jurisprudence assertsConventional Fiqh (objective) andDynamic Fiqh (subjective). Through Dynamic Fiqh, discussed in the famous text byJavaher-al-Kalem (Arabic:جواهر الكلم), one must consider the concept of time, era, and age (Arabic:زمان) as well as the concept of place, location and venue (Arabic:مکان) since these dimensions of thought and reality affect the process of interpreting, understanding and extracting meaning from the commandments.[10]
This school of thought takes a restrictive approach toijtihad. This school has almost died out now; very few followers are left. Some neo-Akhbaris have emerged in the Indian subcontinent, but they do not belong to the old Akhbari movement of Bahrain.[9]
Many contemporary Twelvers are described as rejecting predestination.[11][12][13][14] This belief is further emphasized by the Shia concept ofBada', which states that God has not set a definite course for human history. Instead, God may alter the course of human history as is seen to be fit (Although some academics insist that Bada' is not rejection of predestination.[15]).
Nikaḥ mut'ah (Arabic:نكاح المتعة)," is a type ofmarriage used inTwelver Shia Islam, where the duration of the marriage and thedower must be specified and agreed upon in advance.[16][17]: 242 [18]: 47–53 It is a private contract made in a verbal or written format. A declaration of the intent to marry and an acceptance of the terms are required (as they are innikah).Zaidi Shias,Ismaili Shias, andSunni Muslims do not practicenikah mut'ah.
In Shia Islam,taqiyah (تقیةtaqiyyah/taqīyah) is a form of religious veil,[19] or a legal dispensation whereby a believing individual can deny his faith or commit otherwise illegal or blasphemous acts, specially while they are in fear or at risk of significant persecution.[20] One source for this understanding comes from al-Kafi.[21]
This practice was emphasized in Shi'a Islam whereby adherents may conceal their religion when they are under threat,persecution, or compulsion.[22] Taqiyya was developed to protect Shi'as who were usually in minority and under pressure, and Shia Muslims as the persecuted minority have taken recourse to dissimulation from the time of themihna(persecution) underAl-Ma'mun in the 9th century, while the politically dominant Sunnites rarely found it necessary to resort to dissimulation.[23]
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