A Comparative Study of the Role of Ayatollahs Khui and Sobhani in the Development of Ilm al-Rijal

The necessity of studying the specific attestation [of reliability] inthe science of rijāl (lit. biographies of narrators) in order to distinguish the truthful narrators indicates the importance of this science in biographical research. The importance of a dichotomous formulation of classifying narrators as either ‘reliable’ or ‘weak’ in erstwhile biographical sources on the one hand, and the ambivalence and ineffectiveness of the principles and criteria of the biographers in revealing the character of a narrator of ḥadīth on the other, has led scholars of the science of rijāl to work towards establishing theoretical foundations and effective criteria for specific attestation [of reliability]. The present paper analyzes the principles and criteria espoused by Ayatollah Khūʾī and Ayatollah Sobḥānī as examples of two outstanding contemporary scholars in this field. We will show that by laying a foundation and propounding a meaningful criterion, Ayatollah Khūʾī has played the role of a bridge between the early scholars and the contemporary period, such that the latter is encouraged to come up with innovations in this science. The conception of a new principle, namely “the mujtahid’s quest to accumulate evidence and proof in order to establish the reliability of a narrator,” is one of the innovations presented by Ayatollah Sobḥānī. This scholarly effort indicates the dynamism and aptness of the criteria presented by contemporary scholars of the Shīʿa world in establishing the reliability of the narrators of ḥadīth.