The Khunsari Family and the Translation of Hadiths

Mahdi Mehrizi

In the Iranian history, the Safawid era was characterized by the development of hadith branches of knowledge. In it, four major movements can be noted: 1) compilation of great hadith collections, 2) writing commentaries on hadith books, 3) writing hadith-based Quranic exegeses, and 4) translation of hadiths into Persian. Noteworthy in this period are ten books and treatises, either authored or translated by the Khunsari brothers, i.e. Aqa Jamal al-Din (d. 1122/1710) and Aqa Radi (d.1113/1700), and the role they played in the hadith translation movement. They especially contributed to the popularization and simplification of hadiths. Furthermore, they signified their deep concern for the transmission of knowledge as their most important aim in translating hadith books. While the Kunsari brothers enjoyed high academic status, the translations produced by them are lucid, of which some examples are cited.

Key Words: Compilation, Hadith, Khunsari Family, Translation.

Click Here to read the Original Paper