Author Archives: editor
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
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
The General Attestation of Reliability (al-tawthiq al-‘am) of the Banu Faddal
In his Kitāb al-Ghaybah, Shaykh al-Ṭūsī quotes a narration from one of the special deputies of the 12th Imam, al-Ḥusayn ibn Rūḥ, in which he says that the 12th Imām was asked about the books of Ibn Abī al-Ghazāqir after he had been censured and a malediction had been pronounced against him. The Imām (‘a) … Continue reading
The “difficult” narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a)
Kulayni reports the following in al-Kafi (vol. 1 p. 401) قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ ع قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص إِنَّ حَدِيثَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَعْبٌ مُسْتَصْعَبٌ لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِهِ إِلَّا مَلَكٌ مُقَرَّبٌ أَوْ نَبِيٌّ مُرْسَلٌ أَوْ عَبْدٌ امْتَحَنَ اللَّهُ قَلْبَهُ لِلْإِيمَانِ فَمَا وَرَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ حَدِيثِ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ ص فَلَانَتْ لَهُ قُلُوبُكُمْ وَ عَرَفْتُمُوهُ فَاقْبَلُوهُ وَ مَا … Continue reading
Reconstructing the person of Ibn Shu‘ba al-Harrani
The author of the famous fourth century hadith compilation Tuḥaf al-‘Uqūl, Abu Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Shu‘ba al-Ḥarrāni is an individual whose character remains elusive because nothing has been said about him in the early works of rijāl. Though more recent scholars have mentioned him with praise, the late Sayyid al-Khui (r) … Continue reading
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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