The Criteria for Reviewing Hadith; The Caseof the al-Ghadir Hadith

The al-Ghadir hadith is one of the documented hadiths referred to by the Shi’a to prove that Imam ‘Ali (PBUH) was appointed by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to succeed him. Hence, Sunni scholar have examined the hadith, and sometimes questioned its authenticity, or interpreted it in such a way that does not imply the appointment of Imam ‘Ali by the Prophet. Using library research methods, and analyzing the documents, the author examines a reason for denying the hadith by Sunni scholars, that is, the insufficient frequency of its sources (tawator or estefadhe, in Arabic). He, then, poses questions such as what the sufficiency of frequency of historical sources as a criterion for assessing the authenticity of a hadith means, where the criterion can be applied, whether noncompliance with the criterion undermines the authenticity of a hadith, whether the al-Ghadir hadith passes the minimum requirements, according to the criterion, and what are the documents confirming the hadith. Answering the above questions, the author concludes that the al-Ghadir hadith certainly meets the requirement of minimum frequency of sources required by Muslim scholars.