An Account of the Hadiths of Ṭīna: Dissimulation or Determinism?

Determinism (jabr) is one of the most important theological challenges, originated in Islam by Mu’awiya in the second half of the first century AH, and was then promoted by the subsequent Umayyad caliphs. On the contrary, Shiism was strongly opposed to determinism, fighting this false belief under the leadership of the Imams from the Household of the Prophet Muhammad. Notwithstanding this, there are hadiths from the Imams known as “Hadiths of Ṭīnat” (Hadiths of Nature), which might imply determinism. Much has been said by way of justifying and accounting for these hadiths and showing their compatibility with the belief in human free will in his actions and beliefs, but all these seem implausible. Thus, having tentatively accepted the reliability of such hadiths, we conclude that since the Imams were in circumstances that demanded dissimulation (taqīyya), they had to talk by way of dissimulation, using the word, “ṭīn” (clay), as a symbol. Therefore, hadiths of Ṭīnat denote something indeed which is contrary to their apparent meanings, and they need to be known by considering other hadiths.