Hasan Ibn Abbās Ibn Harish and His Book We Have Sent It Down on the Night of Ordainment: A Study of an Example of Books Presented to the Imam

The question of the validity of the book We Have Sent It Down on the Night of Ordainmentby HasanIbn Abbās Ibn Harish al-Razi is the point of disagreement among the traditionists of the two schools of tradition of Qom and Baghdād. The traditionists of Qom such as Saffar، Koleini and Sheikh al-Sadoq have accepted the validity of the book and have reported its hadiths among their hadith sources under two headings، “Proving the Virtues of the Imams”، especially in relation to the knowledge of the Imams، and “Arguing for the existence of the Imam.” In contrast، the followers of the school of Baghdad hold that the author of the book is weak and his book is totally unreliable. Saffar al-Qomi speaks of presenting the book to Imam al-Jawād، peace be upon him، and the confirmation of its content by the Imam has been counted as a convincing reason for its validity. This article attempts، besides having an analytical look at the content of the book، to discuss the judgment of the Baghdādi scholars of the hadith on theauthor of the book and in consequence to explain the likely reasons of the difference among the followers of the Qom and Baghdād sects on the validity of the book and also evaluates the reliability of the account given on presenting it to the Imam.