The Impact of Abū al-Jārūd on the Imāmī Traditions

Abū al-Jārūd is one of the leading figures of Zaydis and the narrator of the significant books and traditions of Imam al-Ṣādiq (A.S.) and Imam al-Bāqir (A.S.), who has received the attention of the Imāmī rijālīs (biographers) and dignitaries. On one hand, the Imāmī and Sunnī rijālīs have weakened him and, on the other hand, he is known as the transmitter of many and sometimes important traditions in the Imamī sources. Knowing how his aḥādīth have found their way into the Imāmī ḥadīth sources as well as the subject and content of the traditions related from him therein is possible through studying Abū al-Jārūd’s books and transmitters of ḥadīth. These studies show that sometimes Abū al-Jārūd’s fame and reputation have caused some of the zealous and biased traditions to be attributed to him. Ibn ‘Uqda and his disciples have incorporated Abū al-Jārūd’s Tafsīr, which is one of the Imāmī’s most important exegetical sources, into the Imāmī sources and, in some instances, have presented Zaydi’s impressions of the exegesis of the Qur’ānīc verses, the samples of which can be seen in Tafsīr al-Qummī.