مجله حدیث و اندیشه
پیاپی 15 (بهار و تابستان 1392)

There exist in the Holy Qur’an verses in which the discussion of final inheritors of the earth, divine owners and caliphs on the earth has been propounded. Among these verses from which the issue of Mahdi’ism (or messianism) has been inferred mention may be made of 21:105, 24:55 and 28:5. Some of the exegetes on the other hand, have not considered these verses as relevant to Mahdi’ism. They have interpreted the ‘earth’ in these verses as ‘Paradise’. This article investigates these verses in the three pivots of “lexical analysis”, “narrative analysis” and “interpretation of the exegetes”. Based on lexical indications the appearance of the verses, stipulation of the traditions and analysis of the exegetes’ statements, this article concludes that these verses also apply to the discussion of Mahdi’ism and have propounded the global government of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his advent) in the earthly world.

The culture of compiling Arba‘ūn Hadithan (a genre of literary and religious works centered around forty Traditions of the Prophet or his Household) in Islam has an old background and has arisen from the Prophetic tradition which says: “The member of my community who learns forty hadiths connected with what is required by the community in the prescriptions of the faith, will be raised to life by Allah on the Day of Resurrection among the authorities on the law and the scholars”. This article presents a list of compilations of this genre in the Islamic culture and investigates the isnād (transmission chain) and the content of the hadith.The hadith from the aspect of its isnād may not reach the rank of a mutawātir or mustafīḍ hadith, however, it has been relied on and practiced accordingly by both Shi‘a and Sunni experts, scholars and traditionists in the course of history.From the aspect of the content learning a hadith has the three degrees below:First degree: keeping a hadith in mind (and memorizing it) or recording it in notebooks and editing the text together with asking for permission and giving permission to quote it Second degree: learning its meanings and reflecting upon its subtle aspects and inferring its rules and understanding its knowledgeThird degree: practicing it and taking its status into account.By the term ummah (community) in this hadith the Prophet’s community is absolutely meant. It is not peculiar to a certain group. In addition it is meant both individually and socially as we see in the hadith No. 12.The objective reference of the term Arba‘ūn Hadithan is a concept inclusive for principles of doctrines, acts of worship and noble traits, however, its objective reference in the viewpoint of Muhammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfi‘ī is the manāqib (praiseworthy actions) of the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S). The mystery of the number forty is that this quantity of knowledge usually occasions the habitude and presence of other cases of knowledge.

Religion, being the message, rule, plan and rite originating from the source of existence, has the man as its audience; and has complete relating nature and functions. The most important section that properly makes the essence and relating function of religion clear is the knowledge explaining limits of man’s relations. Considering man’s status in the creation system and the path created by Allah in the form of religion and for his happiness, the most important sections of religious knowledge have directly or indirectly dealt with explaining, and organizing his relations, because the whole life of man is summarized in his relations, and the religion conveys messages that teach him how to live and how to connect with other people.

Labor is a manly natural ability and the source of man’s happiness in this world and the world to come. In Islam a remarkable emphasis has been put on the issue of labor and its components. The number of traditions quoted from Prophet Muhammad (S) and the Infallible Imams (A.S) on the subject of labor and what must be done about it and what must not, are true evidences for this claim. The culture of labor in each society represents the intellectual and social growth of that society, a result of which can be a healthy dynamic economy. It has been attempted in this article to study the requirements of an acceptable labor culture in the eyes of Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful (A.S) so that those requirements may be extracted and at the same time a reasonable and appropriate pattern in the labor culture may be achieved.In this study such cases as work ethic, order and planning and preventive measures are regarded as most important requirements of an acceptable labor culture from the standpoint of the Commander of the Faithful (A.S). This article has been compiled by analyzing the minor elements of each major title.

Concentration on the hadith transmitters of each zone is considered necessary in studying the hadith zones and in recognizing the inclination of intellectual sects in past courses. With a library method and a descriptive-analytical approach to the Rijal-based findings, the present article has studied the personality and theological status of one of the traditionist of Qum. Sa‘d b. ‘Abdullah Ash‘ari Qummi is a well-known and respectable personality among the scholars in Qum, or rather in the whole Shi‘a world. In addition to his conversance with the Shi‘a haidth science, he had gained enough knowledge of the Sunni Hadiths, a factor that presented him as a remarkable personality in the circumstance of Qum. Other than listening to the hadiths and transmitting them he put great emphasis on writing and recording the hadiths. His writings denote that not only in fiqh (jurisprudence) but also in Rijal science, sects and dominations, theology, and in the field of answering the doctrinal needs of the Shi‘a he has been a diligent influential scholar. The advantages taken by later scholars from his remaining treasury of knowledge are evidences for this claim.After giving a brief introduction to Sa‘d b. ‘Abdullah, this article has addressed his scholarly qualities, chain of media (ṭarīq) to reach his book for quotation and citation from him, his Shi‘a and Sunni masters and disciples, and his way of thinking. A rather detailed explanation has also been given about his works, and the grounds of dispute in them have been studied.Concentrating on the scientific personality of Sa‘d, it has been attempted in this process to present a more comprehensive approach towards the hadith school of Qum. Taking into account the scope of Sa‘d’s part in the Four Books, the article - as long as its limits permit to revolve around Sa‘d b. ‘Abdullah - endeavors to display the vastness of exchanging knowledge and broadness of awareness of the traditionists of this hadith zone.

Mujāhid b. Jubayr is one of most famous exegetes among Successors in the 2nd/8th century and among most reliable disciples of Ibn ‘Abbās. His exegesis is the only one survived from among the Successors’ era. Out of 2130 traditions available in this exegesis, 1730 ones end with Mujāhid through the well-known isnād (transmission chain) of ‘Abd al-Rahmān, Ādam, Warqā’, and Ibn Abi Nujayh. Other traditions trace back to the Prophet (S), the Imams (A.S), Companions and Successors through other isnāds. After the well-known isnād most of the traditions have been quoted through the chain of Ādam, Mubārak b. Faḍāla, and Hasan Baṣrī. The strange phenomenon in this exegesis is that from the beginning of the Surah of al-Qalam (Q, 68) up to the beginning of the Surah of al-Mursalāt (Q, 77) only a single tradition has been quoted through the well-known isnād. In the isnāds of this exegesis some defects (including miscalling of individuals, omission of the isnād, etc.) are seen.

The interpretative traditions of the Infallibles (A.S) are important from two aspects: (1) authoritativeness of interpretative traditions; (2) types of interpretative traditions.Reference to the exegesis books and evaluation of the traditions contained in them indicate that these traditions are dividable to certain types considering their possession of different functions. As for the types of interpretative traditions, different divisions by the thinkers and researchers of the Qur’anic sciences have been presented among all of which the division intended in the subject of this study has gained the confirmation and attention of certain professors and researchers because of its integrated and ordered classification (the division of the traditions to sections and division of each of the to their subsections)13 and this fact caused its preference and excellence to other kinds.In this division, the interpretative traditions of the Infallibles (A.S) have been studied, from the aspect of their approach, in the three sections of naqlī (narrative), tafsīrī (interpretative) and ta’wīlī (having esoteric interpretation); each section or division contains its subsections or subdivisions. The present article gives a detailed explanation of each of them together with examples for their better conception and deeper understanding.