Chronology of the Hadith Saying " The First Thing God Created Was Reason& "

Throughout the history, numerous traditions and sayings have been attributed to the Prophet and Imams, the authenticity of which requires extensive exploration and devoting much effort. Among these traditions, there is one famous saying to which Muslim philosophers, theologians, Sufis, exegetes and jurists have frequently referred: “The First Thing God Created Was Reason….” The present study aims at exploring the authenticity of attributing this saying to the Prophet. This tradition has not been mentioned in many of the early Shiite and Sunni Ḥadith collections neither have Ḥadith experts paid serious attention to it as a valid prophet's saying. It is usually described as one of the baseless and invalid traditions. In spite of its weakness, the tradition has always been in the spotlight by Muslim theologians and philosophers. The purpose of this study is to investigate how authentic the tradition is and whether or not it can be attributed to the Prophet or al-Imam al-Sadiq and al-Imam al-Baqir. It will also reveal the era in which this Hadith initially entered the Muslim tradition collections and what the motives of such fabricating were.