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Rightly-Guided Caliphs Abu Bakr Umar ibn al-Khattab Uthman ibn Affan Ali ibn Abi Talib
Sunni schools of law Hanafi Maliki Shafi'i Hanbali Zahiri Others Farahi Awza'i Thawri Laythi Jariri
Sunni schools of theology Atharism (Ahl al-Hadith) Ash'arism and Maturidism (Ahl al-Ra'y) In terms of Ihsan: Ahl al-Wijdan wa al-Kashf (Sufis)
Contemporary movements Salafism Ahl-i Hadith Modernism Sufi modernism Wahhabism Barelvi Deobandi Neo-traditionalism al-Ahbash
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Part of a series on Shia Islam
Twelver Shi'ism
The Fourteen Infallibles Muhammad Fatimah The Twelve Imams Ali Hasan Husayn al-Sajjad al-Baqir al-Sadiq al-Kazim ar-Rida al-Taqi al-Naqi al-Askari al-Mahdi
Principles Monotheism Justice Prophethood Imamate Judgement Day
Other beliefs Imamate of the Family Angels Mourning of Muharram Intercession Occultation Wilayat al-Faqih Usul al-fiqh Ijtihad Taqlid Irfan
Practices Salat Sawm Hajj Zakat Khums Jihad Amr bi-l maʿrūf Nahy ani l-Munkar Tawalli Tabarri
Other practices Mourning of Muharram Arba'een Pilgrimage Intercession
Holy cities Mecca Medina Najaf Karbala Mashhad Jerusalem Samarra Kadhimiya Qom
Groups Ja'fari Usuli Akhbari Alevi Shaykhi
Other related sects and groups Alawites Sufism and Alevism Qizilbash Safaviyya Bektashism and folk religion Malamatiyya Qalandariyya Hurufism Bektashism Rifa`i Galibi Ni'matullāhī
Scholarship Law Marja' (list) Hawza Ayatollah (list) Allamah   Hojatoleslam Ijtihad
Hadith collections The Four Books Kitab al-Kafi Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih Tahdhib al-Ahkam Al-Istibsar Other hadith collections Book of Sulaym ibn Qays Bihar al-Anwar Wasā'il al-Shīʿa Reality of Certainty Nahj al-Balagha Mafatih al-Jinan Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya Al-Amali
Sources of ijtihad and jurisprudence Qur'an Hadiths of The Infallibles Consensus Reason
Related topics List of Twelver Shia books Criticism of Twelver Shi'ism
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Hujjat al-Islam (Arabic: حجة الإسلام, romanized: ḥujjat-u l-Islām, Persian: حجةالاسلام or حجت‌الاسلام, romanized: hojjat-o l-Eslām) is an Islamic honorific title meaning "authority on Islam" or "proof of Islam".^[1]

Sunni Islam

Its first recorded use was in a Sunni context, as a title for the 11th-century theologian al-Ghazali, due to his refutations of Hellenistic-influenced philosophers and Isma'ilis.^[1] It was later used as a term of respect for judges.^[1]

In the contemporary era, Egyptian Muhaddith Qadi Ahmad Shakir would confer the title "Hujjat al-Islam" to his master Muhammad Rashid Rida, upon his death.^[2] Deobandis granted this title to their leader Hanafi Maturidi theologian Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi for his debates with scholars of other religions and establishing Darul Uloom Deoband.

Shia Islam

In Twelver Shia the title is awarded to scholars. It was originally applied as an honorific to leading scholars, but now the use indicates a status in the hierarchy of the learned below ayatollah.^[1]

Its earliest attested use for a Shia personage was during the Qajar period for Muhammad Baqir Shafti (d. 1843).^[1]