پژوهش نامه علوم حدیث تطبیقی
پیاپی 1 (پاییز و زمستان 1393)

The well-known principle of leniency in dealing with narrations about recommended actions (al-tasamuh fi adillat al-sunan) that is often referred to by hadith scholars and especially the jurists among them¡ is based on the traditions of (BCCDE FCCG) which can be found in both the Shia and Sunni classical sources. The most common interpretation of these traditions is that there is no need of conducting an extensive investigation into the validity of such reports. Some are of the view that¡ due to this principle¡ not only the juridical reports but also the traditions relevant to beliefs¡ history¡ biographical literature¡ exegesis and the virtues of the family of the Prophet (a) have not been seriously scrutinized and verified. The article at hand tries to evaluate the validity of application of the principle of leniency on traditions about the virtues of the Prophet’s family. By examining the basis of this principle and exploring the views of the Shia scholars¡ it becomes evident that in reality most of the traditions about their virtues are outside the scope and purview of this principle. Only a few of the virtue-traditions that come from non-infallibles may be validated by means of this principle. Similarly¡ it can be evinced from the available evidence that this principle of leniency was never really applied to such traditions by the ‘virtue-recorders’ of the each of the two schools of though. These evidences sometimes take the form of testimonies that the authors of works about the virtues of the family of the Prophet (a) give in their preambles¡ which gives us a clear idea of their views regarding such traditions.

Sira or “Prophet Muhammad’s way of life” is considered to be one of the sources of Islamic rulings. The concept of sira is more specific than the action of an infallible and is more effective in deduction of religious decrees. Thus¡ it is important to understand the concept of sira¡ along with its main constituents¡ and then deduce the principles by which one would identify the same constituents in the traditions. In this paper an attempt has been made to analyze the concept of sira and identify its main constituents by surveying many different instances [of the sira] in the traditions and then deducing basic principles that may be used to identify the essential components of the sira. Upon investigation and analysis of the sira¡ we find that it consists of two key components: the continuity of an action and the support of pragmatic logic. Some of the means of identifying the continuity of an action in the traditions include: use of the present tense preceded by the word ‘kna’ (was/used to) and its derivatives¡ use of Arabic expressions such as ‘mzala’ (is still) and its derivatives¡ use of comparative and superlative forms of adjectives¡ use of intensives with ‘kna’ (was/used to)¡ the explicit use of the word of ‘sira’¡ emphatic words that signify continuity etc . Some of the ways of recognizing pragmatic logic [in the traditions] are as follows: explicit mention by the infallible Imam about the logic behind his way of life and behavior¡ the description of pragmatic logic by other contemporary infallible figures or their close companions¡ experimental knowledge¡ an unusual behavior that is repeated often¡ and application of rational reasoning.

After the demise of the prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him and his family)¡ the Muslims were prevented from writing¡ recording and disseminating the prophetic traditions. This prohibition lasted for over a century. It was Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz who formally nullified the ruling at the beginning of the second Islamic century. However¡ Muslim scholars refrained from compiling and writing down the prophetic traditions for an additional 43 years after this. The author maintains that the scholarly presence of Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (a) in Hirah between the years 132 and 136 A.H. and his didactic methods including his emphasis on writing¡ dictation and offering practical examples of instruction¡ drew other intellectuals to similarly work towards recording and codifying sciences¡ just as the Shias were doing¡ as they did not want to be left behind. By providing the names of the first pioneers who codified traditions¡ most of whom were disciples of Imam Sadiq (a)¡ the author tries to show how these individuals were inspired after being in the blessed presence of the Imam (a) and then commenced a new movement of writing and codification thereby preventing any further decline and loss [of prophetic teachings and traditions].

The faith of narrators [of traditions] is one of the effective elements in substantiating the validity of traditions¡ particularly those that deal with the virtues of the family of the Prophet (s). This point has been emphatically highlighted by Sunni scholars. Moreover¡ the narrator’s inclination toward a particular religious school of though and denomination has been extremely decisive in approving or disapproving of his traditions. Thus¡ whenever experts in the Science of Rijal [who verify the reliability of transmitters] found their beliefs contrary to their own¡ they accused them of innovation. This was the very reason that reports on the virtues of the family of the Prophet (s) were disregarded¡ under the pretext of the presence of Shias in chains of transmission. The Sunni experts in the Science of Rijal have diverse approaches with respect to the traditions of ‘heretics’. Some have accepted the reports of heretics whereas others have rejected them completely. The third approach is one that follows a middle path. The article at hand tries to study their arguments in detail and determine¡ on the basis of the Sunni foundations and views¡ the most accurate method of evaluating¡ [and then] accepting or rejecting the traditions.

Hakim Nishaburi was one of the great Sunni scholars and leading traditionists of his age. He reported numerous traditions on the virtues of the family of the prophet (s) in his books. Many Sunni scholars¡ however¡ accuse him of being too lenient in his classification and evaluation of traditions and the transmitters of traditions. The possible reasons behind such an accusation against Hakim Nishaburi include the following: his traditions do not comply with the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim (Shaykhain)¡ his approbation of weak traditions¡ reporting the virtues of the family of the Prophet (s)¡ his [negative] views about Muawiyah and his inclination towards the Shia school of thought. Though Hakim Nishaburi remained extremely loyal to the Sunni foundations in approving and disapproving of the transmitters of traditions¡ his views about Muawiyah and his tendency towards the Shia school of law won him Sunni scholars’ accusations that he was overly tolerant. Though the Tradition of Ghadir and its chain of transmission has been deemed authentic by many of the great Sunni scholars¡ and some have even claimed that there is a general consensus among the Muslims in this respect; yet when Hakim just reports this tradition¡ they accuse him of lacking diligence and being too lenient.

Gautier H. A. Juynboll (d. 2010) was an important figure in Western-Orientalist Hadith Studies. His work gained prominence and he was considered one of the foremost scholars in his field. Juynboll was a Schachtian and as such¡ he generally denied the ‘proof-value’ and authenticity of hadith. He posited opinions about a variety of issues related to hadith¡ ranging from the genesis and development of isnads¡ tawatur¡ the common-link theory etc. Though he only dealt with the Sunni hadith corpus¡ we expect that some of his methods may also be applied to Shia hadith. In the following article¡ we analyze his views on the provenance and development of isnads and the concept of tawatur¡ before proceeding to critically examine his unique perspective on the common-link theory that was initially propounded by Schacht.