Journal of Hadith Studies
Year:2011 | Volume:3 | Issue:5|Papers Count:10

In a historical survey of the traditionist [tradition-oriented] schools, sometimes we meet with certain houses which had substantial effect on the development of those schools, in a way that one cannot discuss those schools without considering the role and influence of those houses. In this respect the influence of the Asharite House on the traditionist school of Qom is so vast that one may say that until the first half and the middle of the third century AH the traditionsit school of Qom was equal to the Asharite traditionist school. The writers of this article attempt to discuss the role of the Asharites in the emergence and development of the traditionsit school of Qom from the first to the third century AH and also explain the development of this school and the degree of the influence of this House on it.

Beside investigating the different kinds and functions of the Interpretative narrations this article attempts to study their most important functions, by offering some samples, in understanding and interpreting the verses of the Quran with emphasis on the views, principles, method and the interpretation tendency of Allameh Tabatabie. The main question of this paper is whether all the narrations that exist in interpretation or interpretative narrations have the same role and function in understanding the meaning of the verses of the Quran.

Experts in criticism and amendment have criticized some narrators of hadith because of some attributes, special moral traits or particular convictions. Belief in exaggeration and authorization is one of the factors which the narrators in earlier sources of transmitters of hadith have considered blameworthy. This phenomenon was widespread among the transmitters of thehadith of the Imams in the second and third centuries AH, and of course the infallible Imams strongly opposed it. The scholars of the transmission of hadith being inspired by the way the Imams dealt with such transmitters and on its basis-especially under the influence of the scholars and traditionists of the third and fourth AH centuries of Qom-have used certain expressions and terms in their works in reference to the school of exaggeration and authorization. However, the expressions used in reference to the exaggeration and authorization of the transmitters in the early Shii sources of transmitters of hadith are not consistent and sometimes they are used interchangeably.Accordingly, the views of those who intended to differentiate carefully between the mentioned two groups by employing certain terms or expressions are not always conclusive, and the sources of the transmission of hadith in certain cases do not endorse such view. This group had an effective role in introducing such terms in the sources of the science of the transmission of hadith. The present article is based mainly on the views of scholars like Kashi, Najashi, Sheikh Tusi and Ibn Ghadhaeri on the transmitters of hadith.

Abu Hanifah, Numan Ibn Thabit, has been the disciple of some scholars for many years of his life. In this respect it is reported that he has uttered a saying which shows how he was helped in a special way for two years of the years of his learning and also his special praise for one of his grand teachers. He has said, "Were it not for the two years, al-Numan would have perished." Some of the Imami authors having revealed this saying in one of the writings of the 13th century AH have argued that this saying refers to Imam al-Sadiq and the two years Abu Hanifa was his student. This article by highlighting the excuses Abu Hanifah brings for deserting Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, and turning to Zayd Ibn Ali, shows that this saying refers to Zayd and it is he who is praised in this controversial utterance, for in short Abu Hanifah in the world of learning loves Zayd and is indebted to him and he thinks he is the rival of Imam al-Sadiq and his countryman.

It is evident that observing the religious and social norms often leads to more order in different affairs of life and the development of the society, especially in its scientific, cultural and economic institutions.Every society or group has its special principles, laws, customs and conventions to maintain relationships among each other and to exercise their individual and social affairs, which they call "norms". Knowing the norms and perversions and their related subjects, including the reasons of violating the norms (perversion) can be effective in controlling perversion and preserving and enforcing the values and useful norms. Many of the speeches of Ali, peace be upon him, inNahj al-Balaghehcontain social subjects and questions. Moreover, the subjects of this book display the way Ali followed to maintain divine laws and rules and the way he dealt with social norms and perversion.Therefore, in this article after a brief explanation of norms and the reasons why they must be followed, the view ofNahj al-Balagheh on some reasons which in sociology considered to be the cause of violation of norms are discussed. Among these the most important causes, namely the absence of norms, ignorance and not knowing their benefits are discussed. Ignoring the principles of correct education and not being ready for changes and crises are also some of these reasons.

Basator flying rug tradition illustrates the strange event of Ali’s space journey on the flying rug, which took place in the presence of some companions of the Prophet, including Abu Bakr and Umar. This journey from Madinah to the Cave of the Sleepers has taken place at the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his household, to prove the supremacy of Ali and his authority over others. In all narrations except that of Thaalibi it is reported that the people of the Cave answered the greeting of Ali but refrained from answering the greeting of others. In this article besides offering the transmission chain of theBasat tradition, it is shown that the main transmitters of the tradition have been Jabir and Anas. Then a full report of the sixteen ways the tradition has been transmitted is given. At the end in a library research and on the basis of Shii and Sunni sources all the ways in which the tradition has been transmitted, in respect of documents and content, have been evaluated. It is concluded that the possibility of such occurrence is totally accepted but in regard of the reliability of the documents, which makes the theoretical ground of this research, the occurrence of the event itself meets with some doubt. Of course, on the basis of the reliability of the sources the truth of the tradition and on the ground of the tradition being well-known and accepted by earlier scholars its occurrence may be accepted, though the tradition concerning the number of the people and the events that happened throughout the journey is not clear.

Ibban Ibn Taghlib is one of the eminent Shii scholars in the fields of Quranic readings, jurisprudence, literature andhadith. Scholars of the transmitters of hadith speak of him rarely. On the other hand, in the study of the history of Islamic sciences in the first two centuries in the Islamic calendar, recognizing a key figures like him and removing any ambiguity about his thoughts and life is considered to be necessary. One of the methods to know such characters better is to consider the documentation of their narrations and extract the historical data implied in them.This study attempts to discuss the way Ibban referred to companions and successors in his documentation, and by identifying and classifying his masters among those two generations to find out more evidence on his life and thought, to display his education and understand his ideological dependencies.

In this article by reviewing the concept of image from the viewpoint of the ancients and moderns, the constituents of the artistic image in the monumental Ali’s epistle of admonishes to Imam al-Hasan are studied and some of the advantages and differences of the images of this epistle with poetic images are pointed out. Moreover, in the light of the views of the experts in criticism and new rhetoric some of the examples of these constituents in this epistle are analyzed to show better the differences of the images of Nahj al-Balagheh with those of other works.

Twenty fifth of Dhilqidah is called "the spreading of the earth". It is commonly believed that at the beginning all the surface of the earth was inundated by the water of the first torrential rains. Water gradually receded to ditches on the earth and in consequence the lands surfaced, and with the passage of time they were spread, the first place emerging out of water being that of Kaba. In this article it is explained that dahw or "spread" in traditions could be interpreted in two ways: the expansion of earth and the movement of earth, and there for edahw could have two meanings.The writer of this article, besides looking into the sources of the traditions related to the spread of earth and evaluating their documents, discusses the meaning of the word dawh or spread, and by offering some documents shows which one of the two meanings is intended here. He also tries to compare the traditions with the verses of the Quran and reiterated traditions to show their truth or incorrectness.