Islamic Legal Orthodoxy: Twelver Shiite Responses to the Sunni Legal System

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Summary: Hypocrite
Review: I speculate this book was funded and written probably by some Wahabbi with Saudi oil money. Then and now Shia Islam has been under attack by almost every group. It is the nature of our history and our religion. May Allah bless the prophet and the 12 imams who died for the propogation of our religion. The reason why Shia Islam is under attack is because it shakes the foundation of Sunni Islam. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the prophet appointed Imam Ali as his successor, it is an insult to the prophet to claim he left no successor. May Allah guide these people and curse the enemies of the ahlu-bayt.

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Summary: A groundbreaking study of the Sunni influence on Shii law
Review: Stewart has fully demonstrated the fallacy of perceiving Shii law as independent of Sunni law. His study reveals intriguing facts about the number of Sunni teachers that Shii luminaries such as Mufid, Tusi, Hilli, and others had. The book also shows the dependence which Shii scholarship had on Sunni works of usul al-Fiqh (legal principles) and Ijtihad (legal deduction). This book sets a fantastic precedent in our knowledge of Shiism and its historical background.

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Summary: Interesting Historical Information
Review: This book suprized me. It is the first time I was made aware of this claims or facts. The author shows that the Shia is a response to Sunnis. They did not have a school of their own but when they excluded from the Sunni community, first they dissimulate as a Shaf'i and than started their own school of thought. They did not know in the beginning what they were doing and in time they established and made their own philosophy and all these are due in response to Sunnis. Author provides a lot of short biographical information about the Shia muctehids, quite interesting information. Their acceptance of concensus just to get approved by the majority of community and than their refusal of concencus as part of usul al-fikh. Proof that Imam Cafer Al-Sadiq(as) was not really the founding Imam of the Shiat's. They did not have any school of thought at that time because majority of the community did not have their own school of thought where they would reject the Shiat's because of their belief in Imamate, Mutah etc. Interesting, definetely a must read.