وَادِّعَاءُ كُلٍّ مِنَ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ النَّصَّ فِي بَابِ الْإِمَامَةِ
And each of the two parties claiming textual evidence concerning the imamate.
The issue of naṣṣ is not merely whether a text exists. Its authenticity, meaning, and implications must be considered. Different parties infer particular succession claims from reports and indications, while their opponents contest the interpretation or the inference.
A disciplined method separates three steps: whether a report is reliable, what its wording means, and whether it necessarily designates a successor.