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The history of the formation of the Imāmite madhhab (doctrinal school of law) has been less invested by historians than that of the Sunni legal schools. Notable developments have, however, taken place in recent decades. This essay examines the various theories advanced by scholars to describe the development of legal hermeneutics and substantive law (fiqh) specific to the Twelver community. Three key periods are analyzed: that of the historical imāms, the masters of Islamic esotericism for some, the first founders of a Shīʿite legal doctrine for others. We then focus on the Bouyid period when a proper Imāmite madhhab was born under the leadership of rationalist Shīʿite scholars, in particular al-Shaykh al-Mufīd (d. 413/1022). The question of the "orthodoxization" of Shīʿism is also posed, by integrating the Sunni principle of ijmāʿ (consensus) but also by adopting, over the centuries, personal opinion (raʾy) and analogy (qiyās). Particular attention is finally paid to the aḥkām al-arbaʿa (Four Precepts) in Imāmite law, which distinguish Twelver legal doctrine from Sunni fiqh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kitāb al-Kašf and the Kitāb al-Šaǧara , two 4th/10th century Ismaili works, share a dualistic vision of the world, marked by a continuous struggle between good and evil, light and darkness. Evil is identified with the exoteric religion deprived of its esoteric dimension. It is caused by a satanic pair, typified by Abū Bakr and ʿUmar b. al-Ḫaṭṭāb, the archetypes of the antagonists (aḍdād) opposing the Prophets and their Imams, from Adam to the advent of the Resurrector (al-Qāʾim). Through a personalized reading of selected verses from the Qurʾān, the authors of both works interpret the rejection of ʿAlī's legacy by the first two caliphs as the paradigm of all opposition against the Imām's esoteric knowledge leading to salvation. When ʿUmar represents the principle of evil in se , Abū Bakr stands for the weakness of the largest part of mankind, eager to be induced into error. By introducing into this doctrine the Aristotelian distinction between potentiality and actuality, the Kitāb al-Šaǧara develops an encompassing theory about the dynamics of evil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Les premiers traités du Canon druze dont la rédaction remonte au Ve/XIe siècle jettent les bases d’une doctrine religieuse nouvelle et ébauchent succinctement et de manière souvent ambigüe les préceptes moraux, mais aussi juridiques et juridictionnels auxquels les adeptes devaient désormais se soumettre, les lois (šarāʾiʿ) antérieures ayant été abrogées par la Volonté divine. Les savants druzes du IXe/XVe siècle, notamment l’émir al-Sayyid (m. 884/1479) et ses disciples, tentèrent d’expliquer ces traités afin d’établir des principes juridico-religieux adaptés à leur milieu rural et des règles destinées à organiser le fonctionnement interne de la communauté des adeptes. L’historiographie traditionnelle considère toutefois que seul al-Sayyid est l’architecte de ce « renouveau druze » ; par conséquent, elle lui confère le statut de plus grand réformateur druze de tous les temps et lui attribue un ensemble d’écrits théologiques et juridiques que les initiés observent scrupuleusement depuis lors. Or, une lecture critique de ce corpus inédit datant en partie de la fin du IXe/XVe siècle révèle que l’émergence des premières institutions druzes, religieuses et judiciaires, ainsi que la théorisation et la systématisation du droit druze sont postérieures à l’action sayyidienne. The Epistles of the Druze Canon, written in the 5th/11th century, lay down the foundations for a new religious doctrine, and give a brief and sometimes ambiguous outline of the moral, juridical and judicial precepts to which believers should submit henceforth, all previous legal doctrines (šarāʾiʿ) having been abrogated by the divine Will. Premodern Druze scholars, especially the Emir al-Sayyid (d. 884/1479) and his disciples, attempted to explain these canonical treatises with the aim of establishing legal and religious principles adapted to their rural milieu and posing rules designed to organise the community. Traditional Druze historiography considers the Emir al-Sayyid to be the only and greatest Druze reformer of all time, the “architect” of Druze renaissance in sum, and falsely attributes to him a collection of theological and legal writings (the “Great Exegeses”) which are scrupulously applied by religious people up to the present day. However, a critical examination of this unpublished corpus (dating from the latter part of the 9th/15th century) shows however that the Druze legal theory, as well as the first religious and judiciary Druze institutions emerged after the death of al-Sayyid. This article is in French. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes some of the main teachings that are attributed to Du 1-Nün al-Misri (died ca 245/859-860), a prominent figure in the formative period of the Sufi tradition. These teachings are reflected in the many sayings that are ascribed to Dü 1-Nün in Sufi literature, in non-Sufi biographical dictionaries, and in several other medieval Islamic sources, all dating from the 4th/ioth century onwards. The article demonstrates the historical problems related to the figure of Du 1-Nün al-Misri, and, in this context, particular attention is given to the occult tendencies that are attributed to him in various writings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Over the centuries Zaydīs have been called upon to respond to a series of challenges from within and without to the internal cohesion of their tradition. Noting that Zaydīs did not commonly follow the legal opinions of their eponym Zayd b. Alī (d. 112/740), Sunnī critics challenged them to justify their adoption of the label Zaydī. The classical response was provided by the Yemeni imam al-Manūr Abd Allāh b. amza (d. 614/1217), who explained affiliation to Zayd in theological and political terms. Within Zaydism itself, however, disagreement among leading imams on questions of law occasioned dissent among their followers. To counter this threat to unity within their ranks, Zaydī jurists widely adopted the theory that all qualified legal experts (muğtahids), including the Zaydī imams, were equally correct. More technical were the questions that came to surround the character of the legal school (Mahab) that became dominant among Yemeni Zaydīs. These concerned both the source of the legal opinions that made up the doctrine of the school and the related question of the school's structure of authority. These historical and theoretical questions acquired a particular urgency from the 11th/17th century and were popularized with the circulation of Isāq b. Yūsuf's (d. 1173/1760) short poem, Uqūd al-taškīk, which directly challenged Yemeni Zaydīs to clarify their legal identity. Equally challenged was the structure of authority of all the Sunnī Mahabs, and therefore issues raised here pertain to Islamic law more generally. This poem evoked a variety of responses in prose and verse, including a short treatise by the poem's author, al-Tafkīk li-Uqūd al-taškīk. While several respondents sought to affirm the viability of the legal school, others, notably Ibn al-Amīr al-anānī (d. 1182/1769) and Muammad b. Alī al-Šawkānī (d. 1250/1834), argued that it could not be saved. Their objections to traditional legal authority (taqlīd) within Zaydism were widely disseminated by 19th- and 20th-century Muslim reformers interested in undermining the Sunnī schools of law and continue to enjoy great currency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study explores the intellectual legacy of the Kūfan jurist Muammad b. Sulaymān al-Kūfī (d. early 4th/10th century) who eventually settled in Yemen and was part of the intellectual circle surrounding al-Hādī ilā l-aqq Yayā b. al-usayn (d. 298/911). It offers an analysis of his most important work, Kitāb al--Muntaab, through a singular ritual law case study that focuses on the use of the basmala in the daily prayer. The conclusion points towards the Muntaab's value as a possible conduit for accessing a stream of Kūfan jurisprudence which has not survived into the modern period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Le Kitāb Hayr al-anīa fī mutaar tārī ġulāt al-šīa du šay usayn Mayhūb Harfūš (1890-1959) consacre aux disciples d'al-usayn b. amdān al-Haībī (m. 358/969) et de Muammad b. Alī l-Ğillī (m. 399/1009) de courtes notices biographiques qui nous fournissent de précieuses informations sur la diffusion de la doctrine nusayrie au IVe/Xe siècle: une diffusion à grande échelle, sur toute l'étendue de l'Orient musulman et dans toutes les couches de la société, y compris parmi les élites de l'époque, au prix d'un prosélytisme dont les nombreuses conversions de chrétiens et de juifs illustrent l'efficacité. Ces notices témoignent aussi de l'implantation précoce des «Nusayris» dans la montagne côtière de Syrie, prélude à une phase de repli et de regroupement de clans et de tribus d'origines diverses qui dura jusqu'au milieu du VIIe/XIIIe siècle et fut aussi une période d'intense activité de préservation du patrimoine: contrairement aux disciples d'al-Haībī, qui s'attachèrent d'abord à diffuser la doctrine, ceux d'al-Ğillī firent surtout œuvre de transmetteurs et de copistes, mémorisant et recopiant les œuvres de leurs maîtres, comme celles des ġulāt des générations précédentes, au premier rang desquels figurait Muammad b. Nuayr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dans ses épîtres appartenant aux Rasāil al-ikma, le corpus des écrits canoniques qui forment la base de la religion druze, amza b. Alī ébauche assez sommairement les principes d'une « loi spirituelle » censée remplacer la šarīa musulmane abrogée par al-ākim, et il y préconise une juridiction spécifiquement druze. Il dit avoir traité de cette loi dans un écrit intitulé al-Šarīa l-rūāniyya fī ilm al-laīf wa-l-basī wa-l-kaīf, qui toutefois ne figure pas dans le Canon, bien que les Druzes actuels en possèdent des manuscrits. Or, il s'agit à coup sûr d'un texte apocryphe, de date incertaine mais de loin postérieure à amza. En contradiction avec la doctrine développée dans les écrits canoniques, le druzisme y est présenté comme une religion révélée et scripturaire, à forte teneur « hermétique ». [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]