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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Knowing Islamic Sciences [theology (kalaam)] Lesson Seven: The Shia (1) The turn now is for the discussion of kalaam (scholastic theology), as advocated by the Shia. This science, which deals with rational judgement and logic in the field of the fundamentals of Islamic beliefs, has a unique and excellent place with the Shia. Above all, kalaam , in the view of the Shia, has, on the one hand, a strong link with their reported tradition ( ahaadith ).

On the other hand, it meshes with their philosophy. As we have already mentioned, kalaam , in the view of the Sunnis, is a phenomenon that contravenes hadith and sunnah (Prophetic tradition). And yet, according to the Shia, kalaam does not go contrary to hadith and sunnah only, but has a special place in both of them.

The secret of this is that the traditions of the Shia, unlike those of the Sunnis, comprise a number of hadiths that deal with logic, metaphysics, and sociology, which have undergone critical study and examination. In the body of Sunni hadiths these subjects do not feature a lot.

Should you come across issues, such as decree and destiny, God’s Will and His Attributes, man’s soul, and life after death, imamate, caliphate, reckoning and the book [of good and bad deeds], you will not find a detailed study that should go with any of those issues. When it comes to the Shia hadiths , you will find, as a matter of course, discussions and elucidations backed by ample evidence.

It suffices to compare the sections, pertaining to these subjects, in the six Sunni authentic compendia of hadith with the corresponding ones in al-Kulaini’s al-Kafi. Consequently, in the Shia reported tradition, kalaam has been employed to mean intellection, i.e. rational analysis. It is for this reason too that the Shia did not split into two opposing schools, viz. Ahlul Hadith (traditionists) and Ahlul Kalaam (speculative theologians) as had been the case with the Sunnis.

Just to recap, according to Sunni sources, we have already mentioned that the first issue of controversy, over one of the fundamental beliefs of Muslims, was the question of the unbelief (kufr) of the fasiq (godless) by the Kharijites. Second in order was the question of man’s freewill and choice, which was advanced by Ma’bad al-Juhni and Ghelan ad-Dimashqi, contrary to what the Umayyad rulers used to advocate.