Are Sunnī and Shī‘ī always Clash?: An Examination of Ḥadīth Studies in the Zaydī

Benny Afwadzi

2018

Abstract

In the Islamic world, Sunnī and Shī‘ī were the two sects that clashed between one to another, from the discourse of theology until imāma and khilāfa. Sometimes, the clash of thought made a big conflict between them, for example, Sunnī-Shī‘ī conflict in Sampang Madura, Indonesia since 2006 to 2012, and finally to the expulsion of the Shī‘ī community of this region outside the Madura island. This problem must be solved by the best solution, especially from their own Islamic text books. Based on that reality, I attempted to examine the study of ḥadīth among the Zaydī Shī‘ī (Zaydiya) by focusing on Muḥammad b. Ismā‘īl al-Kaḥlānī al-Ṣan‘ānī’s thought. By analyzing the two main works of Ṣan‘ānī which discussed of the ḥadīths, Tawḍīḥ al-Afkār and Subul al-Salām, and was analyzed with descriptive-analytical method, I found that in the study of ḥadīth, based on al-Ṣan‘ānī’s thought, Zaydī sect opposed taqlīd, had a “free thought”, and was not bound by school and ḥadīth literature of certain madhhab, both Sunnī and Shī‘ī. Zaydī relied on only ḥadīths that were considered authentic (ṣaḥīḥ). The opinions of other scholars about isnād and matn of ḥadīth were examined by Zaydī with own analysis, even against his madhhab. This characteristic of thinking had a similarity to the way of thinking among Salafī or Wahhābī who was the strongest school against the Shī‘ī movement. In addition, the Zaydīs works were clearly accepted and studied in Indonesia, especially in pesantren, the biggest Islamic country with Sunnī ideology. I argued that the reality should be brought to the reconciliation between Sunnī and Shī‘ī in Islamic world, then they would be united and there would be no prolonged conflict between them.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Afwadzi B. (2018). Are Sunnī and Shī‘ī always Clash?: An Examination of Ḥadīth Studies in the Zaydī.In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations - Volume 1: ICRI, ISBN 978-989-758-458-9, pages 235-243. DOI: 10.5220/0009925802350243

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icri18,
author={Benny Afwadzi},
title={Are Sunnī and Shī‘ī always Clash?: An Examination of Ḥadīth Studies in the Zaydī},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations - Volume 1: ICRI,},
year={2018},
pages={235-243},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0009925802350243},
isbn={978-989-758-458-9},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations - Volume 1: ICRI,
TI - Are Sunnī and Shī‘ī always Clash?: An Examination of Ḥadīth Studies in the Zaydī
SN - 978-989-758-458-9
AU - Afwadzi B.
PY - 2018
SP - 235
EP - 243
DO - 10.5220/0009925802350243