In the same way, the ummah (i.

In the same way, the ummah (i.e. Muslim community) has branched out forming various sects and schools, each claiming following the guidance of the Holy Qur’an and the course of the Holy Prophet as well as having the right to its side and the Sunnah in its purest form.

Is it then possible to believe that all the different Islamic sects and schools are true and receiving their genuineness from Almighty Allah and the Holy Prophet, although the right path is singly one and it is necessary to search for it? Likewise, should we believe all the accusations that all the Islamic sects and schools have charged with each other?

In this manner, disputations of the various sects and schools have revolved upon vicious circle of reciprocal accusations, while the one and only thing to be adopted by a sound reason with regard to such discrepancies is to give preference to a sect over the others since it is unreasonable to decide all of them as true or decide all of them as false. This is because the right takes only one form, and the true sect is only one.

On this account, it is inescapably obligatory upon all Muslims to take individual endeavors for hitting upon the genuine norm that takes to the reality of what the Holy Prophet had conveyed from Almighty Allah. Because the issue of regarding the Sunnah as the second authoritative principle in Islam is unanimously acceptable by all Muslims, the study should be consecrated to identifying the methods of proving a saying’s ascription to the Holy Prophet.

In other words, which item of the heritage attributed to the Holy Prophet should be regarded as authoritative? To answer, it is perhaps claimed that the true Hadiths are only those authenticated according to the rules of `Ilm al-Rijal (The study of the manners and history of the narrators of a Hadith in order to attain reliability), while those not authenticated must be thrown away and neglected.

At first blush, the previous claim may seem to be true; but the well-versed in the affairs of the Islamic law recognize that the reliability on a definite Hadith does not depend on the isnad [^2] only; rather there are certain standards and regulations to be necessarily observed in this regard. Nevertheless, some principles and criteria of the `Ilm al-Rijal have been submitted to certain regulations; and neither logic criteria nor have Qur'anic principles been set as the judges in such issues.

Discrepancy and contrast are therefore obvious in the judgment of a certain narrator.