Origin of Differences in the Verdicts of Scholars who Derive Legal Rulings

The culture of Ijtihad and research manifested itself in the human society ever since the advent of Islam with scholars from the School of Ahlul- Bayt (AS) making more efforts in this area than those of other schools. They left an important legacy of views and opinions in every field of science that they stepped into. One of the branches of rational sciences is Ilm Usul al-Fiqh (lit. knowledge of principles of jurisprudence) which scholars use to derive and deduce legal rulings from their sources such as the Quran and Sunnah. At times, this has led to discrepancies in their views and verdicts. Obviously, the outward and surface meanings of the Quranic verses and traditions are one of the main reasons responsible for the differences. The Sunni populace who have deprived themselves of the knowledge of the family of the Prophet (S) have taken recourse to rational reasons such as istihsan (juristic preference), common good, blocking the means and analogy which have no value and momentum in the school of Ahlulbayt (AS). The hadith being issued in the state of taqiyah (dissimulation), the differences in the recitation of the Quran, the effect of social conditions on the Mujtahid's verdicts and identification of the criteria for trustworthiness of the narrator are some of the main causes of difference of opinion among the scholars of both branches of faith.