# What do Sunni Muslims think of the twelve Shia imams?

*The twelve Shia imams in Sunni Islam, Ja'far al-Sadiq, and agreeing to disagree*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vrr5cww8asg/s/1/
- Date: 2021-12-22 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: 12 Shia Imams According To Sunni Islam? | Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–6:24)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrR5CWw8asg&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vrr5cww8asg/

**Topics:** Sunni-Shia dialogue; Scholars and imams of the past

**Question as asked:** What is your opinion on the twelve imams revered in Shia and Sufi Islam?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The Shia imams are generally respected in Sunni Islam but are not used as reference points; he suspects Ja'far al-Sadiq was closer to the Shia picture of him than Sunnis admit, as an assumption. Sunnis and Shia should agree to disagree and be fair to each other.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he feels that Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq may have been closer to what the Shia claim him to be than to what the Sunnis claim, while calling this an assumption and not a known fact.

**Evidence, his words at 1:58:** “i feel that because maybe he was closer to what the shia claim him to be than what the sunnis claim him to be allah but i i feel that may be the case” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrR5CWw8asg&t=118s)

## Longer summary

Asked his opinion on the twelve imams revered in Shia and Sufi Islam, Mufti Abu Layth says the imams of the Ahl al-Bayt are generally revered and respected in Sunni Islam, though some may disagree on the twelfth, and that the dispute is over how far they are reference points. Taking Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq as his example, he says Sunnis respect him highly but do not turn to him for hadith or fiqh, and that although he taught Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa they seldom quote him. He says he feels this may be deliberate, and that Ja'far may have been closer to what the Shia claim of him than what the Sunnis claim, calling this an assumption rather than a known fact. He then says the differences between Sunnis and Shia are here to stay, that both come from love for the deen, that Sunnis share principles such as love for the family of the Prophet, and that he feels the Shia tradition is caught up in history and the tragedy of the Ahl al-Bayt, which leads to hating certain companions. He closes by urging both sides to agree to disagree, to seek common ground rather than convert each other, and, recalling the verse discussed in the stream, not to let disagreement with a sect make them unfair.

## Sources and names cited

- the twelve imams
- Ahl al-Bayt
- Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
- Imam Malik
- Abu Hanifa
- Shia
- Sunni
- Sufi

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–6:24)

[0:00] what is your opinion on the 12 imams revered in shia and sufi islam i think generally the imams of shia islam are mostly revered and respected within sunni islam generally speaking they are i mean on the 12th imam i think some of people may disagree but right there isn't any disrespect towards the imams of alabaith but obviously they disagree in to what degree

[0:38] are these people the reference points so let's say imam jafar sadiq is a respectable highly respected imam within all of islam mostly speaking within sunni and shia islam but his um i suppose his point of being or his being a reference point for all matters in islam would definitely be highly disputed so sunni islam generally won't not that they don't agree with him but he's not the

[1:18] main reference point for let's say you want to learn about hadith you're not going to say well what did imam jafar sadik say about it you're just going to look at the hadith colors or you want to learn about you're going to look at the fixed colors and so they don't use them as reference points and to be fair i think there's a some element that it is done on purpose because i feel historically that the jaff like let's say that's a good example imam ja afar because he's a teacher to people like imam malik and imam abu hanifa but they

[1:58] seldom quote from him and i feel that because maybe he was closer to what the shia claim him to be than what the sunnis claim him to be allah but i i feel that may be the case so both both spheres agree on these figures shia islam will claim that he used to have certain kinds of teachings like the supremacy of the albeit and the um the bloodline the sacred bloodline and and he would have certain obviously the whole shia tradition or huge amount of it is based on

[2:36] let's say imam jaffra so sunnis will claim that no the shia have made up most of these things and imam jaffar wasn't really somebody that would have said things like this but then they don't quote from him which leads one to assume that well in which case it's more likely that he is saying what they are saying or at least close to what they are saying otherwise you would all equally have a series of things transmitted from him uh that's i mean that's just this is an assumption obviously we don't know

[3:16] these as these things as a fact but that's what i think that's my um assumption on this yeah and and there are you know we have to try to overcome some of these barriers we have to because you know these differences are not going anywhere so and we have to try to think that look all people are trying to come from a position of love for the deen and we may agree with them we may not agree with them we obviously won't let's say our sunnis we will disagree with the shia on many views

[3:52] but it doesn't mean that we have to hold an enmity or we have to be you know people are different tk you know in principle we agree with many of the principles i'm just saying like let's say the principle of of love like they have love for the family of the prophet salallahu now that principle we agree with it it's an amazing principle and even if we're not doing it as much and they are doing it so you know in that sense we could be proud of them and then you know they would have certain things we would disagree with let's say

[4:31] um that obviously there is a lot of sometimes as well in the shia tradition um i i feel that they caught up a lot in history because the whole thing is centered around the history and the tragedy of the alabaith and by contrast it then leads out to let's say hating on certain companions and stuff but what i'm trying to say is that where we disagree we could just leave that and we agree we can respect each other and then just we don't need to talk about it you know we don't need to i don't need to turn you into a sunni you don't need to turn people into a shiite we just need to understand that look

[5:11] these things are here to stay and we have plenty of common ground and just move forward with an element of um we agree to disagree and just love and just you know just harmony in that sense and we have to try to be fair as well where we have made mistakes try to be fair or if if you are going to discuss something be fair the verse that we looked at today

[5:41] just because you disagree with the sect don't let it lead you astray don't let it make you be unfair because you know it's it's very unlikely that you are 100 upon the huck in everything and they are 100 upon the falsehood in every this doesn't make sense that's like rationally incoherent and you have to be people have to say look okay either you just don't discuss it but if you are going to discuss it try to be fair you know this whole verse we're looking at

[6:22] you

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment vrR5CWw8asg/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vrr5cww8asg/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.