Evaluation of the Traditions on The Four Divisions of the Qur ān

There is a tradition attributed to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) in the Shī‘ī and Sunnī collections of ḥadīth, in which, according to His Holiness, the Holy Qur’ān is divided into four sections called sab‘a ṭiwāl, mi’īn, mathānī, and mufaṣṣal, each one of which have been given to him consecutively instead of the books of the past Prophets, the Torah of Moses, the Gospel of Jesus, and the Psalms of David. The major part of these traditions have been related either through Ibn al-Asqa‘ from the Prophet (S.A.W.) or through Sa‘d al-Iskāf from Imam Muḥammad Bāqir (A.S.) who quoted from the Apostle of Allah (S.A.W.). The large number of traditions along with the inattention to the truth and falsity of this kind of traditions by the scholars of the Qur’ān and ḥadīth and attributing them to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.), doubles the importance of studying these traditions in terms of their validity. Researching on the sanads of these traditions, the present article shows that some of these sanads contradict the context of the traditions and the sanad of Al-Kāfī’s traditions is sound and the traditions of Wāthilat b. al-Asqa‘ are unreliable (muḍṭarib) in chain of transmission and text. Finally, these traditions are judged to be sound because of their being mustafīḍ (diffused) or mutiwātir (frequently narrated) and due to their conformity of signification (dilāla) with the Qur’ān.