This is a sub-article to Islamic jurisprudence

Fiqh

Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

 and Twelvers.

Jaʿfarī school of thought, Ja`farite School, Jaʿfarī jurisprudence or Jaʿfarī Fiqh

Fiqh

Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

is the school of jurisprudence

Fiqh

Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

 of most Shi'a Muslims, derived from the name of Jaʿfar as-Ṣādiq

Ja'far al-Sadiq

Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq was a descendant of Muhammad and a prominent Muslim jurist. He is revered as an Imam by the adherents of Shi'a Islam and as a renowned Islamic scholar and personality by Sunni Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims consider him to be the sixth Imam or leader and spiritual...

, the 6th Shi'a Imam

Imamah (Shi'a doctrine)

Imāmah is the Shia doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shīa believe that the A'immah are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muḥammad, and further that Imams are possessed of divine knowledge and authority as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt,...

. Jafaris are also known as Twelvers

It differs from the four schools or madhhab

Madhhab

is a Muslim school of law or fiqh . In the first 150 years of Islam, there were many such "schools". In fact, several of the Sahābah, or contemporary "companions" of Muhammad, are credited with founding their own...

s of Sunni jurisprudence

Fiqh

Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....

 in its reliance on ijtihad

Ijtihad

Ijtihad is the making of a decision in Islamic law by personal effort , independently of any school of jurisprudence . as opposed to taqlid, copying or obeying without question....

, as well as on matters of inheritance, religious taxes, commerce, personal status and the allowing of temporary marriage or mutʿa

Nikah mut‘ah

' , is a fixed-term marriage in Shi'a Islam. The duration of this type of marriage is fixed at its inception and is then automatically dissolved upon completion of its term. The marriage is contractual and is subject to renewal...

. However, despite these differences, there have been numerous fatwas regarding the acceptance of Jaʿfarī fiqh as an acceptable Muslim madhhab by Sunni religious bodies. These include the Amman Message

Amman Message

The Amman Message is a statement which was issued on 9 November 2004 by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, calling for tolerance and unity in the Muslim world...

 and a fatwa by Al-Azhar

Al-Azhar Shia Fatwa

The Al-Azhar Shia Fatwa is an Islamic fatwa issued in 1959 on the topic of Shi'a–Sunni relations by the renowned Sunni scholar Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot....

.

Usuli

This school of thought utilizes Ijtihad

Ijtihad

Ijtihad is the making of a decision in Islamic law by personal effort , independently of any school of jurisprudence . as opposed to taqlid, copying or obeying without question....

 by adopting reasoned argumentation in finding the laws of Islam. Usulis emphasize the role of Mujtahid who was capable of independently interpreting the sacred sources as an intermediary of the Hidden Imam

Muhammad al-Mahdi

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams...

^as and , thus, serve as a guide to the community.This meant that legal interpretations were kept flexible to take account of changing conditions and the dynamics of the times. This school of thought is predominant among most of Shi'a.

According to idea developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

Ruhollah Khomeini

Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...

, two kinds of Ja'fari jurisprudence can be recognized. One as Conventional Fiqh and another as Dynamic Fiqh. In Dynamic Fiqh, which is backed by the famous text book Javaher-al-Kalem , one should consider the concept of time, era, and age as well as the concept of place, location and venue . He stated that these two concepts have key role in the understanding and extraction of commandments.

Akhbari

This school of thought takes a restrictive approach to ijtihad. This school has almost dead now and has very few followers left to this day. Although, some neo-Akhbaris have emerged in indian subcontinent but they do not belong to the old akhbari movement of bahrain.

Controversial fields

These are the fields of the Ja'fari jurisprudence that are controversial among Muslims.

• Nikah Mut'ah
• Taqiya
• Wilayah al Faqih
• Bada'
  Bada'
  Badā is a Shia concept regarding God. It refers to God revealing His true will about a decision, wherein the people thought His will had already been made on that issue...
  
  

External links

• "Jafari: Shii Legal Thought and Jurisprudence" from Oxford Islamic Studies Online
• Some of Shi'a Islamic Laws books
• Islamic Laws of G.A. Sayyid Abulqasim al-Khoei
• Islamic Laws of G.A. Fazel Lankarani
• Islamic Laws of G.A. Syed Ali al-Husaini Seestani
• Towards an Understanding of the Shiite Authoritative Sources