Early Zaydī Views of Hadiths about Twelve Imams:The case of Abu al-Jārūd

Some of the Shiite hadiths concerning the emergence of Twelve Imams are transmitted on the authority of non-Twelver Shīʿīs. Abu al-Jārūd (2nd/8th century), for instance, is one of the most important early Jārūdī-Zaydī figures who has related a report on the authority of Imam Bāqir (114 AH/ 732 CE), referring to the well-known Luḥ- tradition (the Tablet of Fātima in which indication to the twelve successors is made). This research, first, focuses on the early-Jārūdī doctrine in order to dissect the reasons behind the reliance upon Jārūdī narrators in the Shīʿī collections. In other words, why Imāmī traditionalists have trusted Jārūdī narrations. At the next step, Sociohistorical accounts of the emergence of the Jārūdī sect are considered to demonstrate that citation such as one by Abu al-Jārūd, not only are justifiable in Imamate tradition, but also narrations of such exemplify the early Jārūdī doctrine about hadiths related to Twelve Imams.