Ibn Shahab Zuhri and Enmity of the Household of the Prophet

Being an outstanding hadith transmitter of Sunni hadith collections as well as narrating some hadiths in Shiite collections while having some relation with Shiite fourth, fifth, and sixth Imams on the one hand and occupying various posts for 45 years in Marwanid court on the other, Zuhri played a significant role in organizing and writing down hadiths. Such a background caused contradictory judgments on his real position. While al-Shaikh al-Tusi and some others called him enemy, al-Muhaqqiq al-Bihbahani and others considered him Shi‘a and even a trusty, close companion of the fourth Imam and some such contemporary scholars as al-Khuee and Tustari, treated him as being Sunni but a moderate figure. Investigation of his mundanely behavior and chiefly partial narrations reveals that he was on the border moving closer to enmity and going astray more and more with the passage of time. Thus, to consider him as enemy is not that far from truthfulness.