Journal of Hadith Studies
Year:2009 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:9

In a tradition in the book of Al-Kafi, the number of the verses of the holy Quran has been claimed to be seventeen thousand. The tradition has always been studied by Shi'a Quran-researchers, and used by opponents, especially Wahhabites, to invade Shia in general, and the author of the book, the late Koleyni, in particular. The validity of Al-Kafi and the authenticity of the tradition make it difficult to present a solution. Mentioning different viewpoints on the tradition and its chain of transmission, this article offers a solution for this problem. Researchers have suggested two ways to solve the problem of the mentioned tradition. First, they have emphasized on the different versions of Al-Kafi and believe that in valid versions of this book the number of verses differ from other versions. Second, the number of verses should be evaluated according to the interpretive revelation or exegesis of Quranic verses in smaller parts. Each of these solutions has their own advantages or disadvantages.

Noor al-Thaqalayn exegesis written by Abdul Ali Howayzi, Shiite jurist and hadith narrator in the late 11th century or early 12th century is considered as narrative. It contains more than 30000 narrations. Howayzi considers them as interpretive narrations related to the verses of Quran, so in a glance, the exegesis is a narrative commentary. However, being known as narrative, this study shows that it is not devoid of exertion (ijtihad), although the commentator avoided straight comments in explaining verses. Classifying, choosing and arranging narrations are based upon an intellectual effort and a purposeful approach. In this article, we interpret this intellectual effort as ijtihad and show that Howayzi's ijtihad is based on his epistemological and non epistemological factors.

Normally, hadiths consist of the two elements of text and the chain of transmission. There are two ways to study and analyze hadiths. The first is to study the text which is an internal research. The second is to study the chain of transmission which is considered an external study. The latter is based upon the science of authorities and contextual study of hadiths. In contextual study, the chain of transmission is analyzed regarding continuity, discontinuity, etc. In the study of authorities, the states of hadith narrators are investigated so as to determine their validity or invalidity and eventually the credit of narrations themselves. This process is subject to some rules and criteria in a branch of the science which is exactly organized and stated in the form of specific terms and expressions. One of these expressions is "moqarib al-hadith" whose meaning, implication and its position in the science of authorities is studied in this article.

No doubt one of the most important effective factors in the beliefs, views, conduct and discourses of Muslims is the speech of the holy Prophet. Beside this important factor, the way the speeches, life history and tradition of the Prophet are interpreted and conceived has caused the emergence of different sects and denominations. "Following and guidance" tradition, for Sunni people, constitutes the most essential and fundamental principle that brings together those differing and conflicting interpretations. According to this view, following any of the companions is permissible, which makes their speeches and conduct as valuable as the speeches and conduct of the holy Prophet. The invariable outcome of such a view is the acceptance of a kind of religious pluralism concerning the companions' speeches and deeds, an issue that leads sometimes to contradictory personal judgments. Considering the importance of the subject, the writer of this article has a new reading of the "following and guidance" tradition which he discusses in two parts. In the first he tries to objectively evaluate the text and the documents of the tradition and after surveying the necessary books and references he considers the important textual variations of the tradition. He goes on to discuss the different documents and ways this tradition has been related, which make the authenticity of this tradition almost impossible. In the second part, he studies the significance and the content of this tradition and explains that the message of this tradition is hardly compatible with the meaning of many other traditions, and a fair judgment makes the acceptance of such a tradition impossible.

One of the fields that has occupied the attention of the students of Quranic studies and tradition is the Meccan or Medinite origin of the verses and Suras of the holy Quran. This science is dependent on two things: employing reliable interpretative traditions and knowing the style and context of the Suras of the holy Quran. Evidently one of the purposes of knowing the Meccan and Medinite origin of the verses, besides other things, is to reach a more realistic understanding of the Quran and know better the abrogating and abrogated verses. Moreover, one of the important reasons of the study of the Meccan or Medinite traditions on the verses of the Quran is the existence of conflicting traditions, which early and recent scholars have followed two ways to determine. Earlier scholars have chosen the criterion of the priority of the traditions, but modern scholars have mainly tried to establish a relationship between the meanings of the Quran and historical facts, and in respect of content determine the verses of Meccan and Medinite origin. The author of this article maintains that though such traditions are in conflict with each other, the problem may be solved by considering the standards of content and style of the verses and also using reliable traditions.

In Islam, tradition has a special place; for it is the second source of understanding religion after the holy Quran. Muslim scholars use their best endeavours to keep and study traditions, and compose hundreds of books to recognize and understand the contents of traditions and their chains of transmission. Some of the narrations in the hadith sources do possess irregularity in texts or chain. What is meant by irregularity, here, is that a tradition has been narrated in different versions and texts or diverse chains of transmission. So, it is necessary for every teacher in the field to know the method of encountering such kind of traditions.Sometimes after using an exact and accurate method, an irregular tradition becomes a true one, and sometimes remains in its previous state. This article deals with the accurate methods of irregular traditions and explains the way of employing them. The necessity of this subject for the researchers of the religious issues is completely clear; for, one of the main sources in the historical, moral, theological, interpretive and legal researches in traditions, some of which have been irregular. As a result, knowing how to encounter these kinds of narrations is necessary for the scholars of the above-mentioned fields of knowledge.

There are various traditions emphasizing the distinction between the person who speaks and his speech. This shows the importance of understanding and evaluating a speech by itself without considering the speaker. But there are other traditions that emphasize thorough knowledge of speakers so as not to accept everyone's speech. There is an attempt here to study and survey these two groups of traditions in three different areas. The result of this study is that each group of traditions focuses on a certain dimension. The most important dimensions are epistemological, psychological and behavioural.

Metonymical expressions are aesthetic manifestations of speech and arts of orators. The people of any language improve the influence of their utterances by forms of metonymy. The text of Nahjul Balaagha is full of such expressions, and one of the difficulties for any translator is to translate these parts, for, the translators are not able to convey their meaning. In this article, some of the Persian translations of Nahjul Balaagha that have the mentioned defect are studied, and finally a number of suggestions are presented. This endeavour can be an introduction and a critique for the translation of metonymical expressions in Nahjul Balaagha, and hopefully enrich the level of discussion in this field.