Analyzing the Pattern of Fāḍil Tūnī 's confrontation with the Tradition

There are different opinions about the intellectual disposition of Fāḍil Tūnī; he has been considered a jurist and fundamentalist, or a fair traditionist. The disagreement mainly originates from his legal pronouncements and views on the exoteric meaning of the Quran, authority of the traditions, Usūl al-Fiqh (fundamentals of jurisprudence), and Rijāl. In this study, the space in which Fāḍil Tūnī lived, was analyzed. According to the results, after revealing the weak points of Ḥillah school's jurisprudence model in the works of Muḥaqiq Ardabīlī's intellectual circle, several alternative models were proposed by 11th-century scholars, including Muḥammad Amīn Istarābādī whose theory accepted by Imāmīyyah scholars. As a replacement for this model in accepting the narrations, Faḍil Tūnī, another scholar, redesigned Muḥaqiq Ḥillī's view in al-Muʿtabar. He considered the Solitary Hadith as authoritative. Also, it is allowable, in his opinion, to act according to the Four Shiʿa Books if there is no Opponent Hadith and they aren't contrary to a famous tradition. So, despite Istarābādī, he considered Rijāl science practical, but only when there is a conflict between the hadiths. However, Faḍil Tūnī's validation model of the narrations wasn't accepted by the scientific community because his action was a belated attempt; the book al-Fawāʾid al-Madanīyyah had spread among Imāmiyyah and gained relative acceptance. Moreover, regarding the theory of authenticity of the isnad, the revealed inefficiency had caused the scientific community of Imāmiyyah to be satisfied only with a scientific revolution.