Studying and Criticizing The Five Raised Theories about the Number of the Ayat al-Ahkam in Holy Quran

The major part of the Quranic verses is devoted to the human needed religious commandments including political, economic, judicial, penal instructions which are known among Islamic jurists and commentators as “the Ayat al-Ahkam”. But about the exact number of these verses, there is a long dispute among Islamic scholars which their viewpoints are categorized into five main theories. Most Shia and Sunni scholars consider the number of these verses as five hundred, whereas some have announced them fewer and some have recognized more than this number, and also a group of Islamic scholars have considered the number of these verses changeable according to the changing tastes and talents of individuals, and some believe that all of the Quran verses are the Ayat al-Ahkam. But none of these theories appear to be based on careful research and investigation and the correct theory is a different one. In this article, these five views and their criticisms in addition to the correct view beside the reasons to justify it are presented.