What is it about?

In the early 17th century, the Shiʿi juristic tradition experienced the first coherent refutation of ijtihad (rational legal inference) at the hands of Mulla Muhammad Amin Astarabadi (d. 1626–27). The latter rejected the efforts of leading Iraqi and Syrian jurists to apply ijtihād (rational legal inference), hadith categorization, and dirāya (scrutiny and stratification of accounts) in deriving Shiʿi law.

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Why is it important?

This article is the first attempt to tie the Traditionist movement in Iran to the political and legal changes brought about by the rise of the Safavids. Astarabadi became skeptical of the mujtahids’ epistemology and methodology and was concerned that they had jeopardized God's law and hence the believer's salvation. The article also brings a corrective to the view that the traditionist movement in Iran emerged as a rejection of the influence of Sunnism and "borrowings" from Sunni scholars.

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This page is a summary of: SHIʿI JURISPRUDENCE, SUNNISM, AND THE TRADITIONIST THOUGHT (AKHBĀRĪ) OF MUHAMMAD AMIN ASTARABADI (D. 1626–27), International Journal of Middle East Studies, February 2015, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0020743814001421.
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