Why do Zaydis not accept Fiqh Rulings from Ja'afar as-Sadiq?

I'm trying to transition into Zaydism, but I have keep having a nagging of question as to why is his fiqh rulings not accepted? Him and his father and his descendents wiped in wudu apparently, and we know them to be some of the best of people. So why is it this ruling is completely disregarded? I mean where else with they get this idea except from their forefather, the rightly guided ones.

I have weak knowledge of Arabic grammar but when I read the verse of wudu for example, it seems so so clear, more clear then any verse, but Hadith and grammar contradict it.

Was Ja'afar as saddiq in error somehow? Was this fabricated by the "Representatives" of "Imam Mehdi"? If so why would they even do that. It's just all very confusing to me, and I can't really find a good answer. I've been researching grammar and found that it depends on the Qira'a, but like there's no verses with such grammar that I've seen, so it's just all soooo confusing.

Like whys there's so much difference if Imam Zayd (a.s) was raised by the same father as Imam Baqir (a.s)? This doesn't make much sense to me at all. Is there some type of discussion on this that can clear my doubts completely, like why there's a difference, and also proving why it's washing, not wipe, proof Imam Baqir didn't wipe or advocate for it, or Imam Ja'afar?

This has been nagging at me for a while, and been the hardest thing about my transition from Ithna Ashara. The complete disregard of Ithna Ashara Hadith when we respect their imams, and Ahlul Bayt (a.s)

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Al-salamu alaikum akhiil karim,

i try to give you an answer which may help you to understand why the case seem to you like that the zaydis dont regard the fiqhi opinions of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq alayhi salam. (Which by the way is untrue because we have books were their opinions which are authenticated are included.)

In your question your mentioning that Imam al-Baqir and Imam al-Sadiq wiped their feet apparently.
If you try to solve this question you have to start from the basics.

Ask yourself this:
From where do we know their opinion? What are the sources?
If you find the sources then the question of the authenticity of this sources raises and needs to be researched.
So when you try to look up this sources you will see that they are not authentic. And the cause for that is that most of the riwayat of the ithna ashara are weak or even forged and that is admitted by themselves, thats why only akhbaris claim that books like al kafii are 100% sahih.

So why do ithna asharis believe that this was the opinion of the Imams alayhimus salam?

Because of tradition and not because it is undoubtly proven.

The Usul of the Ithna Ashari Shia is different than the Usul of the Ahl al Bayt themselves, many keyfigures of the ithna ashara werent imams of the ahl al bayt their roots is a mix of some influence of the ahl al bayt and some influences of other people, as for the usul of us Zaydis it is the usul on which the hassanids and hussainids agreed upon.

As for your saying that your weak in arabic grammar but the verse seems so clear for you.
This is like someone talking about higher math without beeing good at it.
How many times would he be right in his understanding?

In the End your own understanding and needs are not important for what is right or wrong, we rely on quran, sunnah and ijmaa and qiyas. The Ijmaa of the ahl al-bayt is firmly established by the hassanids and hussainids on this question only ithna ashara disagree with us on the ground that they have apperently conflicting reports on this question.

Your questioning why they should fabricate anything? Brother, you have a misunderstanding how people are, even the sahaba after witnessing Rasulullah -sallallahu alayhi wa salam- fought among themselves, even Ahl al bayt -who are a family- fought among themselves. People have many causes why they lie and forge things. Even the sunnis who are so proud about their ilm al riwayah admit that many riwayat are lies or forged, because thats how human nature is.

Now you will maybe ask how can we know then what the truth is? How can we follow haqq if haqq and batil are so mixed in this world. The answer is easy.

حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ، - الْكُوفِيٌّ - قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ فُضَيْلٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، عَنْ عَطِيَّةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ، وَالأَعْمَشُ، عَنْ حَبِيبِ بْنِ أَبِي ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَرْقَمَ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالاَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ إِنِّي تَارِكٌ فِيكُمْ مَا إِنْ تَمَسَّكْتُمْ بِهِ لَنْ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدِي أَحَدُهُمَا أَعْظَمُ مِنَ الآخَرِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ حَبْلٌ مَمْدُودٌ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الأَرْضِ وَعِتْرَتِي أَهْلُ بَيْتِي وَلَنْ يَتَفَرَّقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَىَّ الْحَوْضَ فَانْظُرُوا كَيْفَ تَخْلُفُونِي فِيهِمَا ‏"

Narrated Zaid bin Arqam, may Allah be pleased with both of them:
that the Messenger of Allah -sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa salam- said:"Indeed, I am leaving among you, that which if you hold fast to them, you shall not be misguided after me. One of them is greater than the other: The Book of Allah is a rope extended from the sky to the earth, and my family - the people of my house - and they shall not split until they meet at the Hawd, so look at how you deal with them after me."
(Jami al-Tirmidhi)

This hadith which is transmitted and accepted by all sects is proof enough and i advise all of you who are reading this to ponder on this hadith.

The ithna ashara claim that the meaning of this hadiths are to hold fast to the 12 imams but that is a distortion. If Rasulullah – sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sallam- had intended that, he would have said so. What he meant is the generality of the ahl al bayt, that includes the scholars and imams from the hussainid side and the hassanids.

So follow Quran, Sunnah, Ijmaa of Ahl al Bayt. Follow the Madhab of the Ahl al-Bayt, which is called Zaydiyya.

As for your question on why there is so much difference between zaydism and ithna asharaa, thats because the historical development of this two madhahib is quite different, keyfigures are always influencing a school of thought, circumstances, politics even economy are influencing it. The Ithna Ashara were a madhab based on reveration of the imams and on taqiyya. But taqiyya is like a sword it can hurt the user and the enemy. So many liars came in the rows of the ithna ashara and distorted the sayings of the imams of the ahl al bayt alayhimu salam. They claimed that any utterances from our beloved imams of the ahl al bayt which was against their treacherous lies were taqiyya. And with such a claim you can always distort the teaching of the imams because it is not proveable anymore what the truth is when we claim that even the imams made taqiyya.

See for yourself what twelver resources are saying on some transmitters of their own:

Narrated by Zurarah ibn A’yan: I asked Abu Abdullah (as) about the hadiths of Jabir Al-Jafy, he replied: I saw him only once with my father and he never met me.[Rijal Kashi p:191]

This Jabir is claimed to have transmittet over 40000 Ahadith on behalf of the imams.
Now lets see what has been said on Zurarah?

From al-Layth al-Mardi: I heard Abu Abdullah (alaihi salam) said: “Zurarah wouldn’t die except as a lost one”. [Ihtiyar marifatul rijal p.170]
No one has brought innovation to Islam like Zurarah did, may Allah curse him. [Rijal Al-Kashi p:149]
When the Imam was informed that Zurarah narrating something from him, he said:
He didn’t ask me in this way, and I didn’t answer like this, by Allah he lied upon me, by Allah he lied upon me, May Allah curse Zurarah, May Allah curse Zurarah, May Allah curse Zurarah, May Allah curse Zurarah. [Ihtiyar marifatul rijal p.168]
Another one on Mufaddal, a famous rawi of the ithna ashara:

Abdullah ibn Miskan says: Hujr Ibn Za’idah and ‘Amir ibn Judha’ah Al-Azdi came to Abu ‘Abdillah [Imam Jafar] and told him: “May we be ransomed for you! Mufaddal says that you [the Imams] determine the sustenance of the people.” He [Imam Jafar] said: ” By Allah no one besides Allah determines our sustenance. One day I needed food for my family. I was under difficult circumstances and thought hard about it, until I mananged to secure food for them. Only then did I feel content. May Allah curse him and disown him.” They asked: “Do you curse and disown him?” He replied: “yes, so you too, curse him and disown him. May Allah and his messenger disown him.”[Ikhtiyar Ma’rifat ar-Rijal vol.2 p.614]

wa salamu alaikum

Hey. I really appreciate these responses. It was pretty clear and concise. I can agree Ithna Ashara Hadiths are probably mostly fabricated, and it makes sense. But I had a few more questions. Right now I'm sort of at a middle grounds, unsure whether to fully commit to Zaydism, or just remain "Sectless."

What is your interpretation of verse 6:159?

Also why are Zaydis Hadiths considered reliable? I have heard from some brothers that Zaydi Hadiths are weak, easily fabricated, etc. I'm not sure if this is true since Hadith studies are way over my head.

As for the wudu verse, understand why grammatically it's considered wash, (because of the fatha not matching wipe when it's معطوف) but the fact is I can't find any verses similar in it's grammatical construction. If you could provide me one that would be helpful.

My last question would be, why should I subscribe to one "Sect." Not, "the agreed upon from all?" (Rulings on halal haram stuff, pick stricter choice) Or pray based off where I'm at (Ex: pray Sunni way at Sunni mosque, Ithna Ashara at their mosques, and Zaydi way at home,
etc.)

What is wrong with this belief system? Is it not of Allah's character to accept this type of belief system over others?

as-salamu alaikum,

1.
i understand that you are between accepting zaydism or remaining sectless.
I can only explain to you the view of the zaydis the decision of what you do with that is only and only on you.

The thing about madhahib is that they have their causes why they exist. So „sectless“ is no actual option because there is always a manhaj which you follow, even if you dont subscribe yourself actively to a madhab.

Madhab started because people developed different approaches to understanding the proofs.

An example would be that a tabii said to himself: „in my opinion the opinion of abu bakr and umar are the strongest so if there is a dispute i will choose their opinion“ this tabii would have a „madhab“ even if he didnt call it like that. So a madhab is a approach to understanding and living religion. Zaydism is the approach of the generality of the ahl al bayt, so if you dont want to follow the approach of the ahl al bayt thats your decision but you will not be „sectless“, no, you will have your sect even if it is a sect which is compromised by only you.

In easy terms:
You are standing before the decision of „i will follow the approach of ahl al bayt“ or „i will follow another approach which is NOT the approach of the ahl al bayt“

but sectless you will be not.

2.
If you want to understand this verse you need to research who is intended in this verse, what the circumstances where and how the early muslims understood it. Some people are trying to understand this verse without knowledge so they misunderstand it.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُوا دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ  إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ (159)

Indeed, you ˹O Prophet˺ are not responsible whatsoever for those who have divided their faith and split into sects. Their judgment rests only with Allah. And He will inform them of what they used to do.

Our great Shaykh al-Islam al-Shahid Abu Said Muhassin Ibn Muhammad Ibn Karamah al-Jushami al-Bayhaqi radiyallahu anhu, who was one of the descendants of Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyya alayhi salam, said in his Magnus Opus „al-Tahzib fi al-Tafsir“ on this verse:

On Reading
• Hamza and Al-Kisāʾī recited it as "fāraqū" with an alif (long vowel), which is a reading implying a separation. It was narrated from Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib alayhi salam too.
◦ With that wording the meaning is "They went out of their religion and left it."
◦ Another meaning (farraqu) : They left their religion and disagreed, similar to how the Jews and Christians divided themselves.
◦ The recitation "farraqū" (without the alif) emphasizes the act of separation, while "fāraqū" with the alif suggests a complete departure.

On Language
• Sectarianism (الشيع): Refers to disagreements between groups about a matter, leading to divisions and schisms.
• And its Asl (root) is the meaning „becoming apparent“ like in the saying: „The news spread (and became apparent).“
• Another meaning is „follwing“ like the saying of the arabs: „may peace follow you!“
• And whoever follows someone he becomes his „Shia“

On Grammar
• "شيئاً": In this context, it is accusative because it is the predicate of the phrase "كان", meaning "was."
◦ The grammatical role indicates the object or emphasis of the separation.

On Revelation Context
• Reason for Revelation:
◦ This verse was revealed concerning disbelievers and their divisions, that is narrated from Al-Suddi.
◦ It was said that it was later abrogated.
◦ It was transmitted by Abu Hurayra that it was revealed on Ahl al Bidaa and Dalal.

So if you take in all of this information it becomes clear that this verse is not about the muslims having different opinions and developing madhahib. This verse is primarily about the mushrikin and ahl al kitab.

It is about their division and departure from the Din of Allah azza wa jall.

So the translation would be better like this:

Indeed, you ˹O Prophet˺ are not responsible whatsoever for those who have left the religion of Allah and split into sects (like polytheism, christianity or judaism). Their judgment rests only with Allah. And He will inform them of what they used to do.

3.
Ok, the answer for that is simple, we zaydis dont claim that all hadiths are sahih. Our usul on hadith, our take on this science is similar to sunni ilm al riwayah with some differences.

The genereal rule is this:
If a Riwayah is in accordance to the Quran and the Opinions of the Ahl al Bayt and is mashur (famous, that means nothing strange) we take it as a proof. Does it mean it is 100 percent sahih? No. Is there any hadith in this world where we know that it is 100 percent sahih? NO.
But if it is not disagreeing with the quran and not disagreeing with the ahl al bayt, then it isnt doing any damage to the religion itself.

Another rule is that we prefer the riwayat of the ahl al bayt themselves over other transmitters, because we believe that the owner of the house knows better what is in the house.

And this is true for their jarh and tadil, so if a sunni alim is saying „Yeah, but Abu Khalid al Wasiti wasnt a trustworthy transmitter.“ We would take the opinion of our ahl al bayt ulama who deemed him as trustworthy, we take their opinion on him cause they would know better if he lied on their father/relative Imam Zaid alayhi salam or not.

Another proof for the strength of the zaydi riwayat is that the forging and extreme lying about riwayat is rampant within the murjiaa (ahl al sunnah and ithna ashara shia) because they claim that you get out of hell even if you were a grave sinner and liar, while khawarij and zaydis and mutazila believe that grave sinner will stay in hell forever, so people who believe that their lying would take them straight to hell would naturally be more cautious on transmitting and avoid lying. Thats why in the science of jarh wa tadil on riwayat you will see that many early scholars would deem the riwayat of the khawarij as sahih not because their were in agreement with them but because they knew that the strong belief on avoiding lies protected these people in general more than other sects on the question of transmitting riwayat.

4.
On this question i can only tell you that this verse is very special in its structure and i dont know of any ayah which is exactly the same in its structure. But that there is no similar structured ayah is not important for the fiqh of this ayah.

5.
As i wrote you are already in a sect, nobody is sectless because sect is a name for certain beliefs and a„manhaj/methodology“ nothing more or less.

If you dont follow the manhaj of Ahl al Bayt that means you follow another manhaj even if its only your own manhaj. The question here is why should you think about yourself that you know it better than the sunnis, zaydis, ithna ashara or ibadis? What makes you special?

Zaydism is a very open minded madhab as long you are not violating its core principles thats why there is no rule that a zaydi needs to be hadawi, but you have to follow the usool. That means you can follow the fiqhi opinions of imam al nasir or imam al-baqir or imam al sadiq alayhimus salam, there is no problem with that but you have to apply the usool and the usool proves that wiping the feet is not the madhab of imam jafar al-sadiq alayhi salam, it is simply wrong and not allowed. So all opinions who are contrary to ijmaa of ahl al bayt are invalid.

And if you want to follow imam jafar you need to research his opinions from authentic resources not from ithna ashara, only a scholar could differentiate the true opinions from the miriads of lies in their sources.

Allah azza wa jall made a promise in the quran and he WILL fullfill it.
If you belief in tawhid, quran and follow the prophet, and if you do the wajeebat and avoid the grave sins, you WILL enter jannah. Which madhab you belonged is irrelevant in this respect, but if you follow an opinion in aqidaa which itself is kufr or belie the quran or dont believe in the following of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam or are doing grave sins than he WILL fullfill his promise on putting you on jahannam.

This al-Wa’ d wa al-Wa’eed is a core principle of the ahl al bayt.

As for praying with other people, as long your prayer doesnt become invalid it is not a problem, you have to look if they are doing anything which is invaliding the prayer according to ahl al bayt. And taqiyya is not allowed for simple things like „i dont want to get in discussions“ or „i dont want to damage the repudation of my family“. Thats not the attitude of a Mumin and of a man of honor, thats not the attitude of the followers of the ahl al bayt. Do you think Imam Ali alayhi salam would do that? They stood for truth even if it was bad for them in worldly matters. Maybe because of the discussions some people will find the truth and you will be rewarded for them.

Ponder on these things. If you decide to become a true zaydi than know the zaydis will welcome you gladly as they do with any muslim brother who decides to follow the manhaj of the ahl al bay alayhimus salam.

Wa salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh