Mohammad Baqer Behbudī and the Defects of Hadith ( ilal) and the Ways of Recognizing it

Mohammad Bagher Behbudi is one of the contemporary scholars in the field of tradition with new ideas on criticizing hadith. In his evaluation of hadith, he does not limit himself to superficial investigations of isnad but further, he considers simultaneously, both text and isnad. In his viewpoint, the defects of traditions including any kind of hidden or apparent flaws are divided into three categories:Those concerning the isnad, that of the text and those concerning both together. In order to reach this objective, he employs any kind of data from text and content as well as other sources such as historical books, books on transmitters of hadith (rijāl) and that of hadiths from which information can be obtained concerning the transmitters of traditions, their chain of narration, the context of hadith, along with the cultural and historical realities of that era. Precise analysis of the aforementioned data along with comparing similar traditions in four different levels and considering the criteria of textual criticism has led him to discover and amend numerous hidden defects of traditions.