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SAIYAD NIZAMUDDIN AHMAD

(INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION - KUALA LUMPUR)

TWELVER SVi HADiT: FROM TRADITION TO CONTEMPORARY EVALUATIONS

umerous passages of the Qur'an proclaim the Prophet Mu~ammad as a N model to be imitated and followed by the Muslim community. 1 The pres• ervation of the detailed facts of his life gradually gave rise to a vast body of litera• ture known as the ~adiJ. All Muslim groups - Sunni (}:lanafi, , Safi'i, }:lanbali, iahiri), Si'i (Ga 'fari, Zaydi, Isma 'iii), and Iba4i - have their particu• lar ~adi! collections.2 Given the fact that Western Orientalism has regarded Is• lam to be synonymous with Sunni , other Muslim groups such as the Si'ah have remained rather neglected in research, except among a small circle of nar• row specialists. Despite the flurry of interest generated in 1979,3 the study of the Si'ah remains neglected. The ~adi! have always played an important role in Is• lamic intellectual history and continue to do so. Again, this is true of all Muslim groups including the Si'ah. Yet, this subject has not really been given the atten• tion it deserves. The few studies in English of Si'i ~adi! that do exist are far too brief and general,4 primarily concerned with historical background,5 or not in-

1 - Qur. 33:21 (cf. 60:4 where the Prophet Ibrahim is mentioned a similar light); 4:80; 3:32, 132: 5:92; 8: I, 20, 46, 24:54: 47:33; 58: 13. 2 - The Sunni collections arc well-known and the Ga'fari collections arc the subject of this paper. As for the others, these are the most important sources Zaydi: Musnati Zayd, Eel. al• Yamani, Bayrut, 1966, ascribed to Zayd lbn ' lbn al-}:lusayn lbn 'Ali Jbn Abi Talib (d. 122/740). lsma'ili: Da'ti'im al-Isltimft ~ikral-l;altil wa l-~artim wa l-qaeftiytih wa l-a~ktim, ed. A.A.A. Fyzce, al-Qahirah, 1370/1950, compiled by Abu }:lanifah al-Nu'man Jbn Mu~ammad (d. 350/963). Iba4i: Musnad al-Rabi', Masqa~, 1326, compiled by Abu Ya'qub Yusuf Ibn Ibrahim al-Wargilani (d. 670/1270) with commentary by 'Abdullah Ibn }:!amid al-Salimi (d. 1332/ca. 1912). 3 - Sec Etan Kohl berg, "Western Studies of Shi'a Islam", in: Beliefand Law in lmtimi Shi' ism, Variorum, Aldershot, 1991, essay II; Farhad Daftary, The lsmti'ilis: Their History and Doc• trines, Cambridge, 1990, p. 1-31. 4 - Such as E. Kohlberg, "Shi'i }:ladith", in: Literature to the End of the Umayyad Pe• riod, eds. A.F.L. Beeston, T.M. Johnstone, R.B. Serjeant and G.R. Smith, Cambridge, 1983, p. 299-307 [his "al-U~ul al-arba'mi 'ah" is a welcome exception to these remarks. See Jerusa• lem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 10 (1987), p. 128-166), Ismail Marcinkowski, "AI-Kulayni and his Early Twclver Shi'ite }:ladith Compendium al-Kafi", , 74 (2000), p. 89-126.

OM, XXI n.s. (LXXXII), I, 2002 126 SA/1,1D N!ZAMUDDIN AHMAD

tended for a scholarly readership. 6 A full-length study of 51'1 ~adi! literature is a desideratum for . This introduction cannot aspire to be the latter. Our modest aim is merely to introduce 51'1 ~adit literature, focusing on termi• nology, authenticity, sources, and finally, to present a few very simple examples illustrating how the ~adi[ have been used in modern 51'1 legal discourse.7 Since most 51'1 sources are not widely known, we have given extensive lists of such works with full bibliographical information and a short description. Where ap• propriate, comparisons will be drawn with . We hope that this brief paper will be of use to chose not well acquainted with 5i'i sources and encourage further, more extensive writing on the subject. Both Sunnis and 5i'is regard the Qur,an8 and the (the "Prophetic example") to be rhe two fundamental sources of the 5ari'ah. To these two the Sunnis (namely the l:lanafi, the Maliki, Safi'i, and l:lanbali schools) add igrruic (the consensus of the jurists) and (juridical analogy).9 For their part, the

5 - Muhammad Ismail Marcinkowski, "Al-Kulayni and his Early Shi'ite }:ladirh Compendium al-Kafi", Islamic C11lt11re, LXXIV (2000), p. 89-126. 6 - I.KA. Howard, "Man Li ya~d11mh al- by Al-~aduq, Al-Serat, 2 (1976); "Al-Kafi by Al-Kulayni", Al-Serat, 2 (1976); "Tahdib al-A~kam and Al-Istibfar by Al-Tusi", XXXX; page numbers nor available as articles were consulted online ar hrrp://www.al-islam.org 7 - From this point onwards and unless explicitly noted otherwise, our use of rhe words "si'i" "si'ah", ere. refers ro rhe majority llftili school of Twelve Si'is (al-fi'ah al-imamiyyah al• i!1Ja' aJariyyah) who are also known as rhc Ga' faris. 8 - Ir should be pointed our rhar rhe view rhar rhc Si' ah do nor accept rhc Qur'anic text as it stands and rhar ir has been corrupted, although widespread, is quire simply false. Ir is true rhar certain solitary Si'i scholars have supported this view (in facr only seven from rhe 4rh/1 0rh century ro rhe present), most notably }:lusayn Ibn Mu~ammad Taqi al-Nuri (d. 1320/1902) in his Faff al-birab ft ta' rif al-kitab, , 1298/1881, bur rhis has never been a view ac• cepted by rhc majority. In facr, Aga Bozorg Mu~ammad Mu~sin Ibn 'Ala al-Tihrani (d. 1389/1970), a student of Nuri's, has even argued (in rhis monumental bibliographical work al-l}ari' ah ila tafnif al-5i' ah, 26 vols., Tehran-Nagaf, 1353-98, XVI, entry 912) that his reacher was supporting - unlike whar rhe ride of his monograph implies - the contrary posi• tion. For a derailed discussion of rhe whole issue, see H. Modaressi, "Early Debates on the In• rcgriry of rhe Qur 'an", Smdia Islamica, LXXVII (1993), p. 5-39, and Mu~ammad }:lusayn al-}:lusayni al-Galali, Dirasah ~awl al-Q11r'an, 1st ed., Chicago, 1420/2000, p. 215- 269; cf. Joseph Eliash, "'The Si'ire Qur'an, a reconsideration of Goldziher's interpretation", Ambica, XVI (I 969), p. 15-24; Eran Kohl berg, "Some Notes on rhe Imam ire Arrirude ro the Qur'an", in: and the Classical Tradition, Essays Presented by his Friends and Pupils to Richard Walzer on his 10th Birthday, Oxford, 1972, p. 299-307, and Muhammad Is• mail Marcinkowski, "Some Reflections on Alleged Shi'ite Arritudes towards rhe Integrity of rhe Qur'an ", M11slim World, XCI (2001), p. 137-151. A number of fatwas affirming rhe au• thenriciry of the Qur 'anic rext as ir stands are ro be found in The Holy Qur' an, translated by S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali, Elmhurst, New York, 1988, p. 59a-64a. 9 - These are the sources of Islamic law according to the majority of Sunnis. The minority ?,ahiri school, although now virtually exrincr is quite noteworthy for its rejection of juridical analogy and sole reliance on the literal, apparent meaning of the Qur 'an and ~adi!- See Ignaz Goldziher, Die Znhiriten, ihr Lehrsystem 11nd ihre Geschichte, Leipzig, 1884, and its English ver• sion The Z'Ahiris: Their Doctrine and Their History, Trans. Wolfgang Behn, Leiden, 1971.