Shia clergy

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Part of a series on Shi'a Islam
Ahl al-Kisa
Ahl al-Kisa Muhammad Ali · Fatimah Hasan · Husayn
The Four Companions
The Four Companions Salman al-Farsi Miqdad ibn Aswad Abu Dharr al-Ghifari Ammar ibn Yasir
Beliefs & Practices
Succession of Ali Imamate of the Family Mourning of Muharram Light of Aql · Ismah Tawassul · Clergy The Occultation
Views
The Qur'an · Sahaba Mu'awiya I Abu Bakr · Umar
History
History of Shia Islam Ghadir Khumm First Fitna · Second Fitna The Battle of Karbala

Holy Days
Eid ul-Fitr · Eid al-Adha Eid al-Ghadeer Ashura · Arba'een Mawlid · Al-Mubahila
Branches
Twelver · Ismaili · Zaidi
v • d • e

1 Twelver
2 Ismaili
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Twelver

Usooli and Akhbari Shia Twelver Muslims believe that the study of Islamic literature is a continual process, and is necessary for identifying all of God's laws. Twelver Shia Muslims believe that the process of finding God's laws from the available Islamic literature will facilitate in dealing with any circumstance. They believe that they can interpret the Qur'an and the Twelver Shi'a traditions with the same authority as their predecessors. This process of ijtihad has provided a means to deal with current issues from an islamic perspective. Generally, the Twelver Shi'a clergy have exerted much more authority in the Twelver Shi'a community than have the Sunni ulema.

Most Sunni scholars, preachers, and judges (collectively known as the Sunni ulema) traditionally believe that the door of ijtihad, or private judgment, closed some four hundred years after the death of Muhammad. Sunni Muslims consider that Sunni scholars had studied the Qur'an and hadith for centuries, during which time they developed the four schools of law (madhhab), and that the height of Islamic knowledge was reached at this time, thus these teachings should be given the highest regard. However, this more expresses the status quo of the Sunni way of thinking than what Sunni ulema really believe. In other words Sunni scholars believe that categorically ijtihad is still possible, but they also believe that doing ijtihad can add very little to what is there given the effort of the older generations of scholars.

[edit] Ismaili

Main article: Dai'i al-Mutlaq

The term Dāˤī al-Mutlaq (Arabic: الداعي المطلق) literally means "the absolute or unrestricted missionary". In Ismā'īlī Islām, the term dāˤī has been used to refer to important religious leaders other than the hereditary Imāms and the Daˤwa or "Mission" is a clerical-style organisation. "The Daˤwa" was a term for the Ismā'īlī faith itself from early on. They are also called Dāˤī Syednas.