Theoretical Principles of Proximty of Islamic Denominations

There is no doubt in the importance and neccesity of Muslims^, unity and proximity amongst the Islamic denominations. Over the last century, due to the appearnce of radical Islamic movements resulting in overt enmities toward Islam, the proximity of Islamic denominations has turned to a significant preoccupation for those who are concerned about the future of the Muslim. Despite many books and articles written on the issue, we still face a large lack of research over some aspects of it such as theoretical principles, and rational and traditional infrastructures which secure the pillars of proximity. In this research we have surveyd religious origins and justifications of proximity under its theoretical principles as well as rational foundations and objectives. One of the achievements of the research is returning interdenominational disputes to intra-denominational jurisprudential and theological methods of Idjtihad (knowledge of extracting religious laws) which, in the other words, is an improvement in the notion of Idjtihad. The research also opens a new horizon toward proximity through the attention it pays to the issue of Ilal-ul-Sharaye or Maghasid-ul-Sharia which is a ground of commonality amongst Islamic denominations, dealing with the causes of religious beliefs. Notions such as Ummat-ul-Wahida (unified community) and religious fraternity are the Quranic grounds of proximty of Islamic denominations. Furthermore, when Quran and Sunnah recognize the discrepancies among the Muslim as ordinary and inevitable, it could be used as a barrier before diputes and conflicts. If it is a Quranic principle to grab at the Rope of God and not to disperse, and discrepancies are inevitable, so in spite of the differences a peaceful coexistence could be stablished. Considering the criticisms over the proximty of Islamic denominations, some of them being research-based, in this thesis we attempt to discover the foundations of the criticisms and repell them in order to remove the theoretical barriers before proximty.