Evaluation of the Rijālī Approach of Ayatollah Boroujerdi

Ayatollah Boroujerdi is a rijālī jurist who has a profound view on the issue of hadith and documents. He has works in the science of Rijāl (knowledge of the condition of the narrators of hadith). In addition to his jurisprudence, which has recounted many of his scholarly abilities in hadith research, the valuable book Al-Musuʿat al-Rijālīyyah presents some of his rijālī’s views. Given that; investigating different styles of rijālī and analyzing them as one of the tools for deriving Sharia commandments can provide the basis for the development and expansion of the science of rijāl and reaching deep knowledge, therefore, in this essay, referring to the remaining works of Ayatollah Borujerdi and his jurisprudence and principles; using the descriptive-analytical method and relying on library documents, we have investigated and analyzed his rijālī approach. His most important basis in knowing the narrator is the belief in the necessity of the science of rijāl in knowing the narrators; disbelief in the principle of obstruction in proving the justice of the narrator; belief in the validity of the rijālī books of the ancients as authentic scientific documents; belief in the inadequacy of Kutub Arbaʿah to recognize and introduce narrators; the amount of narration as a factor in knowing the narrator; the validity of the consensus of the predecessors and mashāyikh thiqāt (elders of the trusts), etc. Also, by looking at the works of this rijālī jurist, we can see that his method in correcting and modifying hadiths is: a historical look at the documents; the priority of referring to Kutub Arbaʿah compared to other texts; a comprehensive view in quoting the sayings of rijālī scholars; relying on the reports of rijālī scholars and the sayings and citations of scholars, etc.