Akhbari-Usuli Dispute

The teaching of Islam is based on the Holy Quran (God's words reveled to the Prophet) and the Sunnah (words and actions) of the Prophet Muhammad (may peace and the blessings be upon him and his family) found in hadiths/ahadith.

The Holy Quran (Islam’s holy book) is still in the same language (Arabic) as was originally reveled to Prophet Muhammad (saw) 1432 years ago. The text has never been changed except some minor variation in reading. The collection of hadiths varied and has gone through a number of stages/people (narrators).

Then, Gleave asked a series of thought-provoking questions, i.e.,

1. Should the words of companions or the scholars that came later be held in the same position/respect as the Holy Prophet?
2. Which interpretations (hadiths) are legitimate and which need to be rejected?

On the spread of Akhbari thought, the author stated
"The Akhbaris flourished between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries (CE) amongst Twelver Shii scholars of Iran, Iraq, Eastern Arabia and India. Some Akhbaris views on the above questions were innovative and had little or no precedent in either Twelver Shiaism or Muslim thought more generally. Many of their opinions, however, followed well-worn lines of argument".[1]

According to Gleave, Shia theological/legal works are influenced by hadiths of the Prophet (akhbar), Mu’tazili inspired doctrine (that are based heavily on rationality or reasoned speculation) or in between two views.

Reference
[1] Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the Akhbārī Shiʿī School By Robert Gleave