The role of Abu Ja'far Skafi (d. 240 AH) in defending the Alavi sanctuary

The legitimacy of Imam Ali's (as) caliphate and his position among the Rashidun caliphs in terms of superiority had become a completely problematic issue in the third century among Sunni scholars, and conflicting views were expressed about it. One of those who took a completely positive position and agreed with the Shiite belief was Abu Ja'far al-Skafi (d. 240 AH), a Mu'tazilite scholar from Baghdad. Like most Mu'tazilites in Baghdad, he placed Imam Ali (as) in a higher position than the previous three caliphs and did not consider the Imam's civil wars to be a violation of the legitimacy of his caliphate. In addition, he made the strongest defenses of the Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (as) against the Nasebis, including the Morja'a, Osmaniyyah, the Baghdadi narrators, and even a number of Mu'tazilites. In this study, Scafi's views were examined based on his two remaining books, Al-Me'yar and Al-Mowazneh and Jahez's Naqz al- Osmaniyyah. The findings of this study indicate that Scafi's works had an effective role in eliminating negative propaganda against the Imam and became a criterion and guide for Sunnis to know the Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (AS) correctly.