Question on hadith between sunni n syia

Question:

"So I have a question about hadith. I've read that Shias do not use the same hadith as Sunnis. So what hadith do Shias use and why do Shias consider hadith like Sahih Bukhari and Muslim to be inauthentic? Is the method use to collect Shias different from that used to collect Bukhari and Muslim and if so how."

Answer:

You are absolutely right, the body of hadith used by the Shia are different from the body of Hadith used by the al al Sunnah. Actually, the sources of Shariah (Islamic Laws) are themselves different. Let me try and explain for you:In Sunni Islam The following sources of Sharia are used:

Quran - The text of the Quran as a source for Islamic laws

Sunnah -Prophetic Traditions (we'll talk more about this later)

Qiyas - Analogical Reasoning

Ijma - Consensus of the Community

In Shia Islam we do not accept Qiyas as a valid tool in Jurisprudence. Qiyas is finding analogical situations and using them to create new rules.

I'll give an example

1st Part - Alcohol is forbidden in the Quran probably because it is intoxicating

2nd Part - Vodka is also intoxicating

3rd Part (conclusion) - Vodka is forbidden.

At surface value it seems like a reasonable tool; however, there is too much room for abuse.

Our 6th Imam (leader of the community religous and spiritual - different from caliph) also rejected Qiyas. He pointed out that the reasoning Shaitan used when he didn't bow down to Adam was also a result of using Qiyas (analogical reasoning).

An important element was left out. Instead Shias replace qiyas by 'aql'.

Aql refers to reasoning or the intellect.There are three categories of 'questions of jurisprudence'.

The first is (qat), the situation in which there is certainty. In this situation the ruling on this islamic law is made clear in Quran and Hadith and does not require further use of aql or ijma.

The second is (zann), literally means valid conjecture. In this situation rational princples are used to come to individual binding norms.

The last category (shak), literally means doubt.These are matters where there is no clear guidance.

Usually Shia Scholars use 4 criteria when passing rulings with regards to these matters:

bara'a - allowing maximum possible freedom of actions,

takhyir - freedom to select the opinion of other schools or other jurists if they seem more suitable,

istishab - continuation of any state of decision or legal ruling unless the opposite can be proved, and last

lyihtiyat - practice precaution whenever in doubt.

There is also a slight difference I noticed in my study of Sunni Islam with regards to IJMA. In Shia Islam usually IJMA is reserved to the ijma of the scholars. That is if there is a consensus on a particualar topic, unless it can be proven otherwise usually they will not change it.

However, it seems in Sunni Islam, ijma is not necessarily reserved to the scholars. The 'consensus' of the community can also be used to allow or forbid something. You might be confused let me give an example:

Question: Is smoking halal or haram?

When Sunni Scholars were first given this question, their initial answer was: smoking is haram. Ever since that ruling was passed, people were smoking all over the place. As a result Sunni scholars as a result of 'ijma of the community' were forced to allow it.

As per the specific question on hadith, there are a number of reasons the body of Sunni Hadith and Shia Hadith are differnt. I'm not sure what is the most important in categorizing a hadith as 'sound', but based on what i've read it seems extreme importance is given to establishing a mutawatir (successive) hadith and it would be given higher importance than a 'khabar al wahid' (hadith coming from only one source).

A Mutawatir hadith is one which can be confirmed to come from many chains of narration.This is also the case, that a hadith which can be verified to come from many chains of narrations is preferable to one which comes from one chain of narration.

However, in Shia Islam, there is a greater emphasis placed on the use of aql.

For Example: We wouldn't accept Bibi Aisha as a valid source for a source on Battle of the Camel; in which she was passinoately involved fighting against Ali.

There are 4 categories of hadith; which are probably similar to the categories of Sunni hadith:

sahih - correct

hasan - good

muwathaq - trustworthy

da'if - weak

Because both sunni and shia schools have recognized that there is a problem with forged hadiths, we accept the body of hadiths as a development of social, political agendas/interests. Won't attribute infallibility to the companions. We say the Prophet was infallible and his successors (the 12 imams) and his daugther. We consider these personalities as prime sources of getting hadith, rather than companions who might have only met the prophet a few times.