Liyakat Takim

In this paper, I examine the provenance of the Shi`i biographical lexica on the imams’ disciples (the rijal) and propose possible reasons for the composition of these works in the eighth and ninth centuries. I then consider the authentications (tawthiqat) of those who report traditions from the imams and compare and contrast the methods of authentication in both the early and later biographical works. I also suggest possible reasons for the development of subsequent modes of authentication.

Introduction

`Ilm al-rijal is a discipline that examines the status of the transmitters of traditions who figure in the isnad (chain of transmission) that is usually prefixed to a hadith (tradition) report. Studying biographical works is important, for it provides information on the traditions’ transmitters, who are evaluated to assess their character, reliability, moral probity, and religious affiliations. On the basis of such information derived from these works, a tradition can be classified as authentic, reliable, or weak.1 The biographical literature’s evaluation of a reporter directly affects the authenticity of the tradition he transmits, since his status is the single most important factor in classifying the hadith.2 Due to its influence on the hadith literature, jurists are required to study this discipline.

To understand the biographical texts’ importance and their indispensable role in helping a jurist reach a juridical decision, it is essential to briefly mention the role of hadith as a source from which legal precepts are derived.3 In Shi`ism, as in Sunnism, most Shari`ah rulings are derived from the Sunnah, which, in Shi`i legal theory, comprises the sayings, acts, and periods of acquiescence of the Prophet and the imams. Since the Sunnah is transmitted primarily in the form of hadith reports, those who narrate traditions from the Prophet and the imams play a decisive role in determining which hadith reports are accepted in the juridical manuals. If the biographical works have authenticated the transmitters, a jurist can cite their reported traditions as a sound proof in support of his legal judgment. It is in this context that the significance attached to the biographical texts can be comprehended. Besides furnishing information on the veracity or otherwise of the imams’ disciples, Shi`i biographical texts influence which legal traditions a jurist will deem authentic, thereby determining, in the final analysis, the community’s religious practices.

An interesting study, but one which is beyond the scope of this paper, is to compare the origins of and the genre of Shi`i biographical literature with that of the Sunni scholars. As I will show later, because they did not need to know the certainty of a tradition through the certainty of the mukhbir (narrator), Shi`i jurists approached their traditions in a way that differed from that of the Sunni jurists and authors of rijal works, as well as tabaqat, jarh, and ta`dil.

The Provenance of Shi‘I Biographical Works

An inquiry into the genesis of Shi`i biographical works entails a close study of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan Tusi’s (d. 1067) Kitab al-Fihrist 4 and Ahmad ibn `Ali Najashi’s (d. 1058-59) Kitab al-Rijal. These two works are indispensable for constructing a coherent picture of the pre-ghaybah (occultation) Shi`i biographical works. Astudy of these texts indicates that the incipience of Shi`i rijal works can be traced to `Abd Allah ibn Jabala al-Kinani (d. 834), who is reported to have written a rijal work.5 He was a contemporary of al-Hasan ibn `Ali al-Faddal (d. 838), who is also credited with writing a book on the same topic.6 Shi`i sources credit another contemporaneous disciple of the imams, al-Hasan ibn Mahbub (d. 838), with a rijal work entitled Kitab al-Mashyakhah. Strictly speaking, a mashyakhah work is a list of the author’s shuyukh (teachers) rather than an enumeration of the imams’ companions. 7 Shi`i rijal works also indicate that al-Hasan al-Faddal’s son `Ali (n.d.) and Ahmad ibn `Ali al-`Aqiqi (d. 893) both composed biographical works in the ninth century.8 `Ali ibn al-Hakam al-Zubayr (active in the early ninth century) is also reported to have authored a rijal work. Although neither Tusi nor Najashi mention this text, Ibn Hajar (d. 1449) occasionally quotes from it. Thus, in the case of Jabir ibn Sumayra, Ibn Hajar cites Ibn al-Hakam’s appraisal of him.9

After the times of al-Kinani and al-Faddal, many other Shi`i rijal works were compiled. These early rijal works were classified in alphabetical order.  Around the same time, a new genre of rijal literature, tabaqat, came to be recognized. In these works, the transmitters’ names were classified according to their generations. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Barqi (d. 887) composed a tabaqat work, still extant, that enumerates and identifies each imam’s companions. However, it does not provide a substantive analysis of the lives or status of the rijal. Since al-Barqi does not evaluate the veracity of the imams’ associates, the value of his work is limited. Thus, some Shi`I scholars have not considered it as being among the principal sources on the rijal.10 Other biographical works composed at this time, like those of Ibn Dawud al-Qummi (d. 978) and Ahmad ibn `Ammar al-Kufi (d. 957), enumerated and detailed the praiseworthy (mamduhin) or blameworthy (madhmumin) hadith transmitters.11

According to Ayatullah Abu al-Qasim al-Khu’i (d. 1992), a prominent scholar of Shi`i biographical literature, over one hundred rijal works were composed between the times of al-Hasan ibn Mahbub and Tusi. Although Muhsini, a contemporary rijal scholar, says that this figure is exaggerated, a perusal of the biographical texts of Najashi and Tusi indicates that many rijal works had been composed before their time. These works also indicate that the science of al-jarh wa al-ta`dil (“the wounding and the authentication”) was developed among Shi`i circles by the eleventh century.12 The development of this science by Tusi’s time can be discerned from several statements made in the rijal works of both Tusi and Najashi. For example, Tusi states in his work on usul al-fiqh:13

We have encountered a community which has differentiated between the [different] rijal reporting these traditions; they have authenticated those who are reliable (al-thiqat) among them and have considered weak the unreliable ones (al-du`afa’).They have distinguished between those whose traditions and reports can be relied upon and those whose transmissions cannot be relied upon; they have [also] commended those [who are] worthy of praise (al-mamduh) among them and have criticized those who deserve to be censured (al-madhmum). They have said: “So and so is suspect (muttaham) in his traditions, so and so is a liar; so and so is confused (mukhallat) [in his traditions]; so and so is an adversary (mukhalif ) in his school and beliefs; so and so is a Waqifi; so and so is a Fathi,” and other accusations which they have mentioned.14

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