This book stands forth as one of the best efforts at reconciling the differences between the Sunni and Shi’i schools of thought. The author, a highly distinguished Sunni scholar from Lebanon, argues cogently that the two dimensions of the Islamic tradition are in complete harmony as regards the essentials of the faith, and that their differences are legitimate applications of essential principles on the plane of theology, law and history. He focuses in particular on juristic divergences between the two schools and shows how these divergences can be justified according to a more flexible view of decisive criteria, instead of being held up as evidence of irreconcilable opposition and leading to inevitable conflict. Author: Mustafa al-Rafi'i Translated by: I.K.A. Howard ISBN: 0 946079 41 2 Binding: Paperback Publisher: Muhammadi Trust First Published: 1987
