Shi'a

Shia (شيعة‎ Shīʿah, from Shīʿatu ʿAlī, "adherent of Ali"), also transliterated Shiah and Shiʿah, is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor and the Imam (leader) after him, most notably at the event of Ghadir Khumm, but was prevented from the caliphate as a result of the incident at Saqifah. This view primarily contrasts with that of Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor and consider Abu Bakr, who they claim was appointed Caliph through a Shura, i.e. community consensus in Saqifa, to be the first rightful Caliph after the Prophet. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias of Ali, Shias or the Shi'a as a collective or Shi'i or Shi'ite individually.

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Both Sunni and Shi'a muslims are the ahl al-qibla and belong to the ummah of Prophet Muhammad (s). Their main difference is considered to be in the matter of succession to the Prophet (s) where the Shi'a believe that Imam 'Ali b. Abi Talib was appointed by the Prophet (s) to be his successor, whereas the Sunni's believe the matter was not determined by him (s) and the caliphate of Abu Bakr was legitimate.

Both groups refer to the same Qur'an as their primary source of Divine instruction and guidance.

The Shi'a adhere to the family - ahl al-bayt - of the Prophet (s) in matters of understanding the creed and law of Islam and the sunnah of the Prophet (s), whereas the Sunni's refer to the Companions of the Prophet (s) to understand religion.

Many early Sunni scholars of jurisprudence directly and indirectly benefited from the teachings of the Shi'a Imams, in particular Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, and that resulted in significant consistency between the rulings found in the Sunni schools of law and the Ja'fari Shi'a school of law. Of course, there remain areas of difference as well.

Here is a great book to check out the similarities and differences from the jurisprudential angle:

The Five Schools of Islamic Law
https://www.al-islam.org/five-schools-islamic-law-allamah-muhammad-jawad...

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Zeinab Donati, Zeinab Donati has been studying books about various Islamic subjects for more than 19 years. She is deeply interested in history and politics as well as social issues in particular those pertaining... Answered 5 years ago

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Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answer imported 5 years ago

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Mohammad Ali Shomali, Hujjat al-Islam Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali is a graduate of the Islamic Seminaries of Qum and has also both a BA and an MA in Western Philosophy from the University of Tehran and a doctorate in... Answer imported 5 years ago

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Azhar Nasser, Sheikh Azhar Nasser was born and raised in Michigan and obtained a degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Michigan. He pursued his religious studies at the Hawza of Najaf under the... Answer imported 5 years ago

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Mustafa Jaffer, Sheikh Mustafa Jaffer pursued Islamic studies in Tehran, Iran, and also earned his masters degree in Arabic-English Translation and Interpretation from Edinburgh, Scotland. He has also led Hajj... Answer imported 5 years ago

A hadith is mainly verified from the chain of its narrators. Scholars, before deciding to either accept or reject any hadith, will spend time in studying the lives of all the narrators of the hadith. Aspects to be studied include the era in which the narrator lived - does it coincide with the era of the authority he is reporting on? Was the narrator old and learned enough to understand the hadith? Was the narrator a renowned fasiq (one who commits sins openly)? Has the narrator ever been known to fabricate a hadith?

Moreover, a hadith is also deemed accepted or rejected based on its contents. Do the contents of the hadith contradict the Holy Quran? Is the content of the hadith against logic?

There are many ahadith that have been acknowledged by all Muslims. Others have been accepted by all, but with differences in versions. Bukhari, in particular, is a Sunni scholar who compiled the ahadith, thus forming what we today know as the Sahih Bukhari. The fact is that we Shias do not reject Bukhari. There are many ahadith in Sahih Bukhari that have been accepted by Shias, but we Shias do not hold that whatever is in Sahih Bukhari is always true. For that reason, we also do not accept everything that is contained in Bihar-ul-Anwar, a book in which Allama Majlisi has compiled all the ahadith!

In conclusion, a hadith is accepted because of the authenticity of the narrators and the soundness of its content. Any doubts in the character and personality of any one narrator out of a chain of narrators will render the hadith unacceptable by Shia scholars.