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Book Reviews

Common Sense and Ḥadīth – A Look at Modarressi’s Text and Interpretation

The latest addition to Hossein Modarressi’s oeuvre, which was much anticipated, unfortunately failed to impress. It was nothing close to his Crisis and Consolidation which was undoubtedly paradigm shifting in its effect. With half of the book comprised of ‘examples’ – traditions from Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (a) on various, mostly jural, topics – this work … Continue reading »

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Bihar al-Anwar

Biḥār al-Anwār al-Jāmiʿatu li Durari Akhbāri al-Aʾimmat al-Aṭhār (Oceans of light: A Compendium of the Exalted Traditions of the Pure Imāms) by ʿAllāmah Muḥammad al-Bāqir ibn Muḥammad al-Taqī al-Majlisī (d. 1111 A.H.) is an encyclopedic compilation of aḥādīth. This work, which occupied al-Majlisī for most of his scholarly life, grew from a more modest work … Continue reading »

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Which work did Shaykh al-Tusi write first – his Rijal or his Fihrist?

This is an interesting question and quite relevant to the understanding of the differences that are found in these two works of al-Shaykh. Many scholars think that the Fihrist was written before the Rijāl because: (a) Shaykh al- Ṭūsī refers to his Fihrist in his Rijāl (b)He also asks the reader to look for more … Continue reading »

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Rijal al-Barqi

This book is also known as Tabaqāt al-Rijāl. Its author believed to be Abu Ja‘far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khālid al-Barqi (d. 275 or 280 AH) who was one of the great narrators of hadith in the third century after Hijra and was one of the companions of the Imams (‘a). Ahmad ibn Muhammad authored … Continue reading »

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Books of Rijal

The books of Rijāl that are currently in our possession can be divided into three groups: 1) The main foundational books of Rijāl: These are the books that have been authored up until the time of Shaykh Tusi. These are known as the Kutub al-Qudamā’. 2) The books that were authored after the time of … Continue reading »

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