the Method of Molla Mohammad Taghi Majlesi in his Interpretation of the Traditions in Lavame Sahebgherani

Mohammad Taghi Majlesi (Majlesi,the senior), one of the 11th century scholars, has done some precious works on interpreting tradition books including Rawza-to-l-mottaghin (the Arabic interpretation of Man-la--yahzarah-o-lfaghih) and Lavame' Sahebgherani (the Persian interpretation of the mentioned book). In his Lavame' Sahebgherani, Mohammad Taghi Majlesi has scrutinized the traditions from three general dimensions: accuracy of text, interpretation of the apparent meaning and gathering and resolving the contradictory traditions.In obtaining the accuracy of text, he has considered the following items: different versions of text, considering the selected part of the text (taghti'), the modification and changes in the text(tashif and tahrif), paraphrasing in the text and assessing the text by comparing them to the Quranic teachings.In order to interpret the apparent meaning of the traditions, he pays attention to the literal and technicalmeanings of the words, the Arabic grammar and other traditions in the subject. He interprets the meaning of traditions with complete proficiency and has done his best in explaining their meaning and solving the ostensible contradictions between the traditions on one subject and explaining their relation as: generic and specific, unconditional and conditional, Mojmal and Mobayyan, Nass and Zaher. In few cases, where there has really been contradiction between the traditions, he has preferred some or has considered different sides optional.