Shii Theologians and the Development of Theology in Leiden's Encyclopedia of the Quran

As followers of one of the two main branches of Islam, the Shīʿa have a history that dates back to the advent of Islam and in the past centuries, they have contributed a very valuable heritage and have preserved important parts of this ancient heritage in their sources and works. Part of this heritage can be evinced from their invention of various sciences and their role in the advancement of several sciences. Theology (kalām) is
considered one of the most important Islamic sciences, and the Shīʿa most certainly played a significant role in its development. Many scholars have attempted to describe this role and in this article, we have attempted to collect the views of some Orientalists in this regard. We have sought to answer the question of the role played by the Shīʿa in the formation and development of Islamic theology from the viewpoint of the authors of the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam. The findings of our research indicate that Orientalists also believed that Shīʿa scholars have influenced the development of theology in several ways. One of the most important ways they did this was by presenting new subjects, issues, elucidations and theories in this science. From the viewpoint of the Orientalists, the Shīʿas were able to cultivate the science of Islamic theology by formulating new issues and presenting novel explanations in order to explicate their specific beliefs. In the beliefs they held in common with the Sunnīs, such as
monotheism, divine justice, faith etc., they presented distinct expositions and interpretations, and in those beliefs that were specific to their creed, such as Imamate and matters related to it, they added original contributions to the science of kalām. These specific issues can be regarded as the main distinction of Shīʿa in the science of theology, and other beliefs such as taqiyya, bada, rajʿah etc. are also deemed to be influenced in one way or another by the Shīʿa belief in the Imamate.