Effect of taṣḥīf and idrāj on understanding the meaning of the text of traditions(a case study of three traditions pertaining to women)

Taṣḥīf and idrāj are from among the instances of iḍṭirāb al-ḥadīth (disturbance of tradition) causing disorder in the comprehension of the text of traditions. Taṣḥīf means partial alteration of the hadith due to misreading; and idrāj means mixing the narrator's words with those of the infallible figure. These factors cause ambiguity in the meaning of the tradition and bring about difference and contradiction in the reports and consequently, the audience or the reader will fail to learn what the speaker has seriously meant. It is incumbent, therefore, upon the scholars of hadith to recognize these damages and this way to prevent the consequences of misunderstanding and invalid or partial deductions in the text of traditions and to understand the purpose of the Infallibles’ discourse. Having applied a descriptive-analytical method this article has investigated through dating the text and the isnads of the traditions three traditions regarding “impermissibility of leaving home for women” in both Sunni and Shi‘a sources. It detected taṣḥīf and idrāj with regard to the terms “mutalaffi‘āt” (covered or wrapped in their robes) vs “tafilāt” (spit) and “masjid” (praying room) vs “mikhda‘” (chamber) and “thiyābar-riqāq” vs “thiyābir-riqāq” and then has changed the present misunderstanding to an opposite stance that is permissibility of leaving home for women by removal of taṣḥīf and idrāj.