(k) A Dispute between Ḥanafis and Twelvers about Mutʿa (First Half of 2nd c. AH)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.6120Abstract
Disputes between scholars of different backgrounds were usual in the first two centuries AH, which was the formative period of the Islamic system of law. At that time each geographical centre, mainly Mecca, Medina, Kūfa, Baṣra, and within each centre, each scholar, was proposing his own legal solution and was justifying it based on his own interpretation of the Quran and the Prophetic tradition. The iḫtilāf literature is rooted in that period. One of the controversial subjects concerns the lawfulness of the temporary marriage (nikāḥ al-mutʿa), which was a matter of sharp divergences between a group of the Shia, the Twelvers, and the remaining law schools. The subject matter of this paper does not concern the legal polemics about mutʿa, rather it exclusively aims to highlight the interpersonal relationships between the scholars involved. At my knowledge, I quote all sources regarding these personal relations. Only the Imami jurist al-Kulaynī reports three hadiths including disputes between the most preeminent representatives of the Twelvers, namely Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ǧaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and Abū Ǧaʿfar, and their Ḥanafi opponents, namely Abū Ḥanīfa and his disciple Zufar. The first controversy was between Abū ʿAbd Allāh and Abū Ḥanīfa; the second involved Abū Ǧaʿfar and Abū Ḥanīfa; the third one concerned Abū Ǧaʿfar and Zufar. The presentation of al-Kulaynī obviously sheds a good light on his school and its representatives and takes for granted the Imami legal justification of the doctrines he describes.
Key words: Ḥanafis, Twelvers, mutʿa, interpersonal relationships
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