A Critical Analysis of the Narratives Regarding the Discontinuity of Prophethood in the Joseph Linage (AS)

One of the fundamental issues in the theory of prophethood is the belief in the infallibility of prophets. Nevertheless, one can find many narratives in the works of Shiite and Sunni scholars, the verification of which undermines the divine belief regarding the infallibility of the divine prophets. Although some of these narratives have been criticized and questioned by scholars, there are still a number of undecided narratives. They include several narratives according to which Joseph, arrogant of his mighty rule and power, did not descend from his horse to meet his father Jacob (AS). This insolence of his was punished by God in form of divesting his lineage of the light of prophethood. Some exegeses have justified these narratives by proclaiming that Joseph’s conduct exemplifies Abandoning the Better (Tark al-Awla). In this research, using a descriptive-analytical method, all narratives from primary sources - as reported in books such as Kāfi, Elal al-Sharia the Emāli – were collected and then subjected to content analysis. The results suggest weak documentation in all of these narratives with the content analysis exhibiting even further contradiction with rational and logical arguments.