Usuli

Usuli denotes a school and method within Twelver Shia Islam that stresses the use of ijtihad, or independent legal reasoning, by qualified jurists to derive religious law. The Usuli movement emerged in the early modern period in Iran as a reform within Shia jurisprudence, opposing the Akhbari approach, which emphasized reliance on narrations from the Imams and discouraged independent reasoning.

Usulis argue that human reason and systematic analysis are essential to interpreting the Qur’an and Hadith, and that qualified jurists (mujtahids) have the authority to deduce new rulings in light of changing circumstances. In this framework, lay Muslims follow a living or historically prominent mujtahid—the marjaʿ al-taqlīd—for binding legal rulings. The Usuli school promotes a structured clerical authority and a continuing conversation of legal interpretation across generations.

Key features include a hierarchy of qualified jurists, ongoing training in ijtihad, and a formal set of sources for law. Usulis typically regard the Qur’an and Hadith as primary sources, supplemented by consensus among qualified scholars (ijma) and reason (aql) as essential tools in legal derivation. The practice of taqlid allows followers to depend on a chosen marjaʿ for guidance on many legal questions.

Impact and contemporary relevance: Usulism established enduring clerical authority within Shia communities, shaping legal interpretation, education, and social leadership in regions such as Iran and Iraq. Today, many Twelver communities rely on a marjaʿ al-taqlīd and a network of seminaries (hawzas) in places like Qom and Najaf. The Usuli framework remains a defining feature of modern Twelver jurisprudence, balancing tradition with ongoing scholarly interpretation.

By contrast, the Akhbari school emphasizes propagating and applying hadith with minimal reliance on independent reasoning.