Imamah and the Quran - An Objective Perspective

Why use the Quran as a first reference

There will undoubtedly be those readers who are wondering as to why I would use the Quran as the main source of reference when discussing the Shia concept of Imāmah. “Should we not refer to the Prophet’s Ahadeeths and historical events also?” is a common question in the minds of many people.

In order to answer the concerns of those who may be thinking along those lines, the following points should be considered:

1. The Sunni and Shia faiths have drifted apart considerably when it comes to Ahadeeth and its sciences. The criteria for authenticating Ahadeeth in terms of its isnad (chain of narrators), the textual acceptability of a given narration (adequacy of its matn), and even what constitutes a “Hadeeth”, are only some of the few important issues that differentiate Sunnis and Shias whenever their respective scholars study and examine a given narration. Such a topic may be of interest for those who have a sound footing in the sciences of Ahadeeth, but the bulk of Sunnis and Shias will not be able to pass correct judgements on these issues.

2. In 14 centuries of Islamic history, there is no book of Ahadeeth that both Sunnis and Shias can agree to and say that it contains only Saheeh Ahadeeth according to their criteria. This is important to note, since scholars normally use a number of related Ahadeeth to interpret a given situation or to arrive at a Fiqhi ruling about a practice.

In view of this reality, the “Lowest Common Denominator” should be found, a work that will be accepted as fully authentic in terms of its mesagge and its integrity by both the Sunni and Shia sides. This book is, of course, the Noble Quran. Therefore, the first and most important place to look for resolving big differences of doctrine such as those between the Sunni and Shia faiths should be the Quran.