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{{Short description|Scholarly disagreement in Islamic law}}
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{{Usul al-fiqh}}
'''Ikhtilāf''' ({{langx|ar|اختلاف|lit=disagreement, difference}}) is an [[Islam]]ic scholarly religious disagreement, and is hence the opposite of [[ijma]].

==Direction in Quran==
According to [[Verse of Obedience]], disagreements about any religious matter are to be arbitrated by referring to the [[Quran]] and [[Sunnah]] to dismiss ikhtilaf and to avoid [[taqlid]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ad-Dahlawi |first1=Waliyullah |last2=Achmad |first2=Bahrudin |title=HISTORIOGRAFI IKHTILAF DALAM ISLAM: Al-Inshof fi Bayani Asbabil Ikhtilaf |date=19 May 2022 |publisher=Almuqsith Pustaka |pages=176–178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PmhwEAAAQBAJ&dq=nisa+59+ikhtilaf&pg=PA177 |access-date=3 December 2022 |language=id}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=M.S.I |first1=Ahmad Musadad, S. H. I. |title=MUQARANAH MADZAHIB |date=26 October 2017 |publisher=Duta Media Publishing |isbn=978-602-6546-29-6 |pages=117, 118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0T2DwAAQBAJ&dq=nisa+59+ikhtilaf&pg=PA118 |access-date=3 December 2022 |language=id }}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Syirazi |first1=Dr Abdul Karim Biazar |title=Menuju Persatuan Islam: Pandangan Ulama Internasional |date=1 January 2015 |publisher=Nur alhuda |isbn=978-602-306-015-3 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCrGDwAAQBAJ&dq=nisa+59+ikhtilaf&pg=PA110 |access-date=3 December 2022 |language=id}}</ref> While those in authority are absent from arbitration in that verse, they are mentioned in verse 4:83, which includes the passage, "And whenever tidings come unto them, whether of security or fear, they spread it about, whereas had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those of them whose task it is to investigate would have known it."{{sfn|Nasr|Dagli|Dakake|Lumbard|2015|p=533}} This argument has been attributed to [[Muhammad al-Baqir]] ({{Died in|{{circa|114/732}}}}),{{Sfn|Lalani|2000|pp=63-4}} which also appears in ''[[Tafsir al-Qurtubi|al-Jami' li-ahkam al-Quran]]'' by the Sunni [[al-Qurtubi]] ({{Died in|671/1272}}).{{sfn|Nasr|Dagli|Dakake|Lumbard|2015|p=533}}

==Hadith==
The [[hadith]] of [[Muhammad]] which states that ''"Allah will ensure my [[ummah]] will never collude en-masse upon error"''<ref>Narrated by [http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/33/10 al-Tirmidhi (4:2167)], ibn Majah (2:1303), Abu Dawood, and others with slightly different wordings.</ref> have been mentioned in the books of [[Sahih at-Tirmidhi|Tirmidhi]], [[Ibn Majah]], [[Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal|Musnah Ahmad]], and [[Sunan al-Darimi|Darimi]]. This is often quoted as the primary proof of [[Ijma]] as well as rejection of ikhtilaf from the Hadith from the Sunni View.

Some Islamic scholars teach that when there is a scholarly disagreement on a certain issue, it is impermissible to condemn a person who follows a position that is different from one's own. The requirement to command the right and forbid the wrong does not apply when there is ikhtilaf upon a position.

However there is doubt as to the authenticity of this statement as to whether it truly came from Muhammad or not. People often quote this statement as a hadith, but it is not mentioned in the [[six authentic collections]] of hadith and its chain of narrators is also not known. There are various versions of this statement. In some versions it is rendered: "The difference of opinions among my Companions is a mercy for you"; alternately, it is rendered as: "The difference of opinions of my Companions is a mercy for my Ummah". Many scholars of hadith consider both of these versions as weak or da'if as far as their narration is concerned.<ref>[[al-Suyuti]] [[al-Jami al-Saghir]] [[Ibn al-Hajib]] Mukhtasar</ref>

==Jurisprudence==
The term '''''ikhtilāf al-fuqahā''''' or '''''ikhtilāf al-fiqh''''', meaning "disagreement of the jurists", refers to the differences of opinions among early [[Islamic jurist]]s and especially to the genre of works compiling and comparing conflicting [[Fatwa|opinions]]. Such compilations were usually organized topically and might contrast different [[Madhhab|schools of ''fiqh'']] or differences within a given school. ''Ikhtilāf al-fuqahā'' is the title of a work by [[al-Ṭabarī]].<ref>John L. Esposito (ed.), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Islam'' (Oxford University Press, 2003), s.v. "Ikhtilaf al-Fiqh".</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ijma]]
* [[Adiaphora]]
* [[Bid‘ah]]
* [[Ghulat]]
* [[Uli al-amr]]
* [[Seventy-three Sects (Hadith)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/thestudyquran_201909/mode/2up |title=The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary |publisher=Harper Collins |year=2015 |isbn=9780062227621 |editor1-last=Nasr |editor1-first=S.H. |editor2-last=Dagli |editor2-first=C.K. |editor3-last=Dakake |editor3-first=M.M. |editor4-last=Lumbard |editor4-first=J.E.B. |editor5-last=Rustom |editor5-first=M.}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lalani |first1=Arzina R. |title=Early Shi'i Thought: The Teachings of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir |date=2000 |publisher=I. B. Tauris |isbn=978-1860644344}}

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[[Category:Arabic words and phrases in Sharia]]
[[Category:Islam-related controversies| ]]
[[Category:Islamic jurisprudence]]


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