اعتقادی و فروعی مسائل میں اختلاف کا دائرہ کار: رواداری اور اتحادِ امت کے فروغ میں اس کا کردار

The Scope of Disagreement in Doctrinal and Subsidiary Issues: Its Role in Promoting Tolerance and Unity of the Ummah

Abstract

This research examines the scope of disagreement in doctrinal (iʿtiqādī) and subsidiary (furūʿī) issues within Islamic discourse and explores its role in promoting tolerance and unity among the Muslim Ummah. Disagreement is an undeniable reality in Islamic intellectual history; however, not all disagreements are of the same nature or degree. Some disagreements pertain to fundamental principles of faith (uṣūl al-dīn) and essential matters of religion (ḍarūriyyāt al-dīn), in which no flexibility exists, while others concern subsidiary and jurisprudential issues that have been present since the Prophetic and Companions' era. Unfortunately, in contemporary times, this fundamental distinction is often overlooked, leading to the treatment of subsidiary matters as doctrinal issues, resulting in takfīr (excommunication), sectarianism, and social disintegration. The study clarifies the scope of doctrinal and subsidiary rulings, distinguishing between creed (ʿaqīdah) and opinion (naẓariyyah), examining the nature of differences among the Companions in subsidiary matters, analyzing the scholarly reasons for these disagreements, and determining their status in Islamic law. The research employs an analytical and descriptive methodology, drawing upon classical sources of Islamic jurisprudence, Qur'anic exegesis, and historical records. The findings reveal that while doctrinal matters require absolute unity, subsidiary differences should be approached with tolerance, mutual respect, and scholarly engagement. The study concludes that Islam, as the religion of moderation, promotes tolerance, unity, and mutual respect, and that subsidiary differences should never become a cause of conflict, division, or excommunication.