پژوهش نامه علوم حدیث تطبیقی
پیاپی 3 (پاییز و زمستان 1394)

“Juxtaposing the Qur’an” and “Subjective Exegesis” are two terms that can be found in the Shiʿi and Sunni traditions in various contexts. An in-depth study of the connotations of these traditions reveals the link between these two terms. Both Shiʿi and Sunni scholars opine that subjective exegesis and juxtaposition of the Qur’an have a common purpose and shared origin, yet in practical terms, juxtaposing the Qur’an is one type of exegesis which runs contrary to affirming the Qur’an with the Qur’an and the correct method of interpreting the Qur’an through the Qur’an. Hence, the relationship of this kind of exegesis to subjective exegesis is such that the former falls within the domain of the latter. In reality, one of the erroneous exegetical methods that lead to and fall under the rubric of subjective exegesis is the Juxtaposition of the Qur’an with the Qur’an. The traditions that speak about juxtaposing the Qur’an, found in both Shiʿi and Sunni sources, have both strong and weak chains of narrators. Due to the large number of traditions with sound chains, both schools of thought have come to consider it as authentic. The connotation of juxtaposing the Qur’an is studied and analyzed less in Sunni sources and they mostly suffice with mentioning the narrations themselves. However, in Shiʿi sources, aside from the narrations, there has been special consideration and analysis of the narrations that speak about this form of exegesis.

Taking lessons from the life of the Infallibles (a) in all aspects has been a practice of the Muslims throughout the ages. However, certain aspects of their lives such as their political and social stance is not without apparent ambiguities and complexities. Therefore, in order to clear the doubts about the political and social life of the Infallibles (a), it is necessary to follow certain principles and guidelines. Taking into consideration the capacity of the community is one of the principle factors that can remove any apparent ambiguity about their political and social stance and can, to a great extent, make it easier to follow in their footsteps. The conclusions of this research show that in order to correctly understand the stance taken by the Infallibles (a), and the logic behind their actions, it is imperative to consider the capacity of the community [at that time]. Some of the examples of this include: the level of insight and awareness in the community, the strength of will and determination in the members of the community, and the general condition of loyalty and dedication of individuals in the society. Ignoring all these factors in the lives of the Infallibles (a) can lead one to misunderstand their stance and the reason for some of their actions.

Belief in a promised savior from the progeny of the Final Prophet (s), who is also named after the latter, is a common tenet between all the Islamic sects, albeit with differences pertaining to some of the details regarding him. One of these details include the question of whether the Imam of the Age (a.t.f.) has been born or not. Of the proofs presented by the Shiʿa regarding the birth of the Imam of the Age, one is the tradition of ‘the twelve caliphs’. This tradition, in its various forms, appears in early reliable Shiʿi sources and the phrase ‘twelve caliphs’ has also been reported in early Sunni sources. All these reports indicate that the Noble Prophet (s) intended to introduce twelve individuals, one after the other, as his successors and the future leaders of the Muslim community, and the narrators have relayed the purport of his message in their traditions. In reality, the true message of the narrations regarding the twelve caliphs points to the continuity of the imamate of the twelve Imams as the successors of the Noble Prophet (s) until the Day of Resurrection. These traditions can also be used prove the birth of Imam al-Mahdi (a.t.f.) in two ways, both of which are discussed in the following article.

In the original ḥadīth sources of the two schools of thought, Shiʿi and Sunni, there are certain narrations from the infallibles (a) that contain the phrase: laysa minnā (“[He] is not from us”). The ḥadīth scholars of the two schools differ regarding the meaning of this statement of the Infallibles (a). Actually, the meaning of this phrase is: ‘he is not from our Shiʿa’ as understood from the context of the narrations and verses. In some of the traditions, the referents of the phrase “from us” are specifically the righteous Shiʿas. In other traditions this phrase denotes one’s exit from Islam, where ‘Islam’ refers to complete submission [to God] and following [His commandments], not Islam as an established religious tradition. In all these instances, the real purport of the Infallibles’ statement is: ‘loyalty and obedience to the Infallibles (a)’. Thus the interpretation offered by some Sunni ḥadīth scholars that the statement means: ‘it is not from our etiquette or our way’ is incorrect.

Most of the scholars of ḥadīth focus entirely on the foundational principles related to the contents and chains of traditions while trying to establish the reliability of narrators. In order to approve or discredit an individual narrator, they examine attributes like reliability, honesty, strong memory, precision etc. This was the approach of some of the foremost Sunni scholars, including the authors of the Saḥīḥayn. However, most of the Salafis go beyond these accepted principles and yardsticks to include the denomination and creed of the narrator as one of the factors to be considered when accepting or rejecting his narrations. Some of the evidence that the Salafis present for discrediting the narrators who ascribe to different schools of thought include: discrediting by accusation of Shiʿism, discrediting due to criticism of [some] Companions, discrediting because of narration of merits of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), and discrediting narrators who believe in rajʿah. In this way, some of their biographers have discredited Shiʿi narrators for one of the aforementioned reasons and have accused them of being liars despite the fact that many of these same narrators have been deemed honest and trustworthy by many of the renowned Sunni scholars.

Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) always emphasized that as long as the Islamic government is not supported by a conscious and committed public, there can be no religious reform. It is upon this basis that the Imam played a pivotal role in protecting the faith and preserving the correct teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the face of one of the plights of his era, namely the emergence of divergent creeds and ideologies. He (a) took effective measures to counter these deviant trends. In this paper, we have sought to highlight some of these deviant trends and ideologies that were present at the time of Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) and in the process, we present seven different methods adopted by Imām al-Ṣādiq (a) in countering these groups.