Usuli

Usulis (Arabic: اصولیون, Persian: اصولیان) are the majority Twelver Shi'a Muslim group. They differ from their now much smaller rival Akhbari group in favoring the use of ijtihad (i.e., reasoning) in the creation of new rules of fiqh; in assessing hadith to exclude traditions they believe unreliable; and in considering it obligatory to obey a mujtahid when seeking to determine Islamically correct behavior.

Since the crushing of the Akhbaris in the late 18th century, it has been the dominant school of Twelver Shi'a and now forms an overwhelming majority within the Twelver Shia denomination.

The name Usuli derives from the term Uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence). In Usuli thought, there are four valid sources of law: the Quran, hadith, ijma' and 'aql. Ijma' refers to a unanimous consensus. Aql, in Shia jurisprudence, is applied to four practical principles which are applied when other religious proofs are not applicable:^[1]^: 284–5 bara'at (immunity), ihtiyat (recommended precautions), takhyir (selection), and istishab (the presumption of continuity in the previous state).

The term Usuli is also sometimes used to refer more generally to students of usul especially among early Muslims, without regard to Shia Islam. Students/scholars of the principles of fiqh are distinguished from scholars of fiqh itself, whose scholars are known as faqīh (plural fuqahā').^[2]

^ Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza; Dabashi, Hamid; Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1989). Expectation of the Millennium: Shi'ism in History. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0887068448.
^ Burton, John (1990). The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation (PDF). Edinburgh University Press. p. 226. ISBN 0-7486-0108-2. Retrieved 21 July 2018.

[ndn-1] Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza; Dabashi, Hamid; Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1989). Expectation of the Millennium: Shi'ism in History. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0887068448.

[2] Burton, John (1990). The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation (PDF). Edinburgh University Press. p. 226. ISBN 0-7486-0108-2. Retrieved 21 July 2018.

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