A Comparative Study of Bukhari›s Great History and Ibn Abi Hātam Rāzi›s Al-Jarh wa al-Ta›dīl

Translated by: Narges Beheshti Abstract: There are numerous rijāl books which either talk about the hadiths narrators› classes, ancestry, and the date of death or criticize and praises them. Al-jarh wa al-ta›dil (criticism and praise) books are also divided into different types, some are only dealing with thiqa (trustworthy) narrators, some with weak and unreliable ones, and some with both groups. Two of the important books on this subject are Bukhari›s Great History and Ibn Abi Hātam›s al-Jarh wa al-Ta›dil. Some have accused Ibn Abi Hātam of having access to Bukhari›s Great History and attributing it to himself; therefore, his book›s arrangement and order of its chapters are the same as Bukhari›s, and in many translations it does not have anything new to add. In the present paper, the author makes an attempt to carry out a comparative study of these two books to reveal how Ibn Abi Hātam used Bukhari›s Great History in writing of his book. Regarding this, he begins by introducing Great History, its author›s purpose, and the extent to which this intention is fulfilled, then he goes on to talk about Bukhari›s method as well as the importance and privileges of his book. Next, he introduces al-Jarh wa al-Ta›dil and discusses the purpose of its compilation, the extent to which it is fulfilled, and the importance of the book. Finally, he concludes this paper with a comparative study of the mentioned books, and provides some examples of the topics which have been discussed by Bukhari but not mentioned by Ibn Abi Hātam.