Intro to the Akhbari book

Gleave stated that this book was the result of ten years of research, off and on. His other book is Inevitable doubt: two theories of Shīʻī jurisprudence. This book specifically focus on the ideas of Akhbarism.

The author hypothesize that the reason Shia were late in developing Usul al-Fiqh was because when an Imam was present, then there was no need for usul al-fiqh or book on jurisprudence.

The Zaydi allowed individual jurists to propose their own legal opinions using theoretical principle and not personal whims. Their writing began in the eleventh century. The earliest Zaydi’s work of Usul al-Fiqh is al-Mujzi fi usul al-Fiqh by Abu Talib Yahya b. al-Husayn al-Natiq bi’l-Haqq (d 1033).

The Ismaili Shia tradition (under the Fatimids and later) was not collected or written until the time of Qadi al-Numan, Da'a'im al-Islam. I've reviewed a paper about sources used for compiling his book (part 1, part 2 and part 3).

Then the author said "The Imami Shia developed an interest in legal theory following the disappearance of their Twelfth Imam in the year 874 AD. ... Within a hundred years of the Twelfth Imam’s greater occultation” (941) (after it became clear his promised return was not imminent), works of usul al-Fiqh were being composed by Imami (or Twelver) Shii scholars and the basis for a tradition of juristic scholarship was being laid."

The author then quoted some academic work that highlighted influence of Sunni (Shafii) legal theory in the earliest works of Shia Usul al-Fiqh.

Some interesting terminology/facts/info was presented in the introduction, i.e.,

1. Matters known with certainty
2. Matters that are disputed
3. The four famous (Shii) hadith books
4. Akhbar: Test for accuracy
5. Contradictory hadiths and ways to resolve them
6. Imams forbidding qiyas/analogical reasoning
7. Very little opposition to Shia Usul al-Fiqh developed by Allamah Hilli
8. He mistranslated khabar al-wahid. Real meaning.
Please continue reading part 3.