An Analysis and Evaluation of the Views of Orientalists concerning “Ghuluww” (Exaggeration) and “Taqīyya” (Dissimulation) in the Imāmī Heritage of Hadiths

The authenticity, validity, and origins of Shiite hadiths are essential and frequent issues in studies by Orientalists. In particular, they have studied “taqīyya” (dissimulation) and “ghuluww” (exaggeration) for a number of reasons, including a historical study of the early Shiite community with an emphasis on these two features in that period. Their research has resulted in reservations about the validity of Shiite hadiths, an emphasis on some Shiite hadiths being transmitted by allegedly unreliable people, reducing Shiism to taqīyya and ghuluww, and making the sacred place of the Shiite Imams seem unimportant or less important. Crucial objections can be raised against these studies, including the restriction of the ghuluww or exaggeration phenomenon to the Shi’a, not taking into account the explicit and harsh reaction of the Shiite Imams against exaggerators, negligence of strategies offered by the Imams and Imāmī scholars in order to discover taqīyya-based or dissimulated hadiths, restriction of the dominant and universal stream of Shiism to taqīyya, failure to consider taqīyya in other Islamic sects, failure to take note of the method and practice of the companions of the Imams as well as Imāmī scholars of hadiths in the face of dissimulated hadiths, and failure to draw a distinction between dissimulated and tawrīya-based hadiths (that is, those in which what is said is intended to mean what is not usually understood therefrom). In this paper, we try to analyze and evaluate significant views of Orientalists concerning ghuluww and taqīyya in the Imāmī heritage of hadiths.