The Mirror of Knowledge

The Mirror of Knowledge

The Theory of Naṣṣ and Its Place in Ahl al-Sunnah Political Thought: A Historical Re-reading up to the 9th Century AH

Document Type : Scientific-research

Author
Mohammad Haji Taqi
Department of Islamic History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
10.48308/jipt.2026.243263.1743
Abstract
This research examines the place of the "Theory of Naṣṣ" (textual designation) in Ahl al-Sunnah political thought up to the 9th century AH. Shīʿa grounds the legitimacy of the Imāma in divine Naṣṣ, whereas the prevailing Sunnī tradition emphasizes election and bayʿa (allegiance). Nevertheless, currents such as Ahl al-Ḥadīth, the Ḥanābila, and some ascetics have utilized the Theory of Naṣṣ to counter Shīʿism and defend the legitimacy of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. In Sunnī tradition, this theory has a secondary and reactive construct, having been pursued from the early centuries by sects such as the Bakriyya, the Murjiʾa, and the Karrāmiyya, and manifesting in later centuries in the form of prophetic narrations. The proposition of the Theory of Naṣṣ is linked, on the one hand, to the caliphate as the focal point of the Theory of Election (ikhtiyār), and on the other hand, to the spread of Shīʿism and Sufism. The main finding is that, despite the contrast between the Theory of Naṣṣ and the Sunnī discourse of legitimacy, the circumstances of the caliphate's fall and the ascendancy of Shīʿī–Ṣūfī thought brought about a significant transformation, turning the Theory of Naṣṣ from a confrontational discourse into a part of the theory of legitimacy among some Sunnī scholars.
Keywords
Ahl al-Sunnah
Political Thought
Legitimacy
Theory of Naṣṣ
Theory of Election
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