Ulum-i Hadith (Hadith Sciences) Journal No. 65 Released

Detailed analysis of meanings of terms and finding examples is of the issues that are of importance in the field of hadith studies. Since one word in different eras and schools has different meanings, finding the exact meaning of the term and its history can be of great help to researchers. The authors of this paper try to examine the term "qawi (strong)" in `Ilm al-Hadith (Hadith Science) through the above mentioned approach. There are approximately 16 meanings for this technical term in fiqhi (jurisprudential) and hadith books. They first give and account of the term: its origin and development, its early application to school of Hillah and then to the school of Jabal Amil. They finally view the concept from different perspectives. Results of the present research study indicate that praising subsequent to discrediting, the Imami narrator as a condemned one, or praising subsequent to accrediting the non-Imami narrator play an important role in defining hadith-e qawi (strong hadith). This research also shows that those who coined this term have not taken into consideration the relationship between literal and idiomatic meanings of the term so it is not wrong to say that they have somehow misled the seekers of hadith.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the kind of cognition which has been used in the traditions of the Infallible Imams to correct vices and fortify the moral virtues. To do so, the authors of the present paper have studied the traditions of moral virtues and vices, identified their cognitive method and classified them, using the descriptive - analytical method, based on archival and library resources. The findings of this study indicate that six groups of cognition have been used in correction and control of behavior: human cognition and knowledge of himself, of the world, of death, of the hereafter, of God and of the consequences. Each of these six topics consists of different dimensions and in respect to their qualities; they will correct or fortify one moral virtue or more. The results of this study: a) Islamic cognitive model in ethics, is a six-sided model, b) one or more of the above mentioned groups can be used for making a change in human behavior.

Traditions of Rijat, derived from the book "Bihar al-Anwar", have been divided into several groups by their implications. Of 160 hadiths narrated by the late Majlisi, more than 50 hadiths have been selected by eliminating repetitive themes. Since most of them have been transmitted from the book "Mukhtasar Basair al-Darajat", written in the ninth century AH a few centuries before the book "Bihar al-Anwar", their documents have been reviewed in this paper.  Survey results indicate that some of these hadiths can be found in reliable hadith books such as "al-Kafi" and "Man la Yahzaruh al-Faqih" along with their firm documents. The abundance of other hadiths shows that principle of rijat can be proved through their frequency, though we cannot speak firmly of the details of rijat. The authors of the present paper mention the names of the narrators of rijat hadiths in a table at the end of this paper based on "Mukhtasar Basair al-Darajat". Their character and intensity destroys the possibility of their collusion to transmit forged hadiths.

The different approaches of two schools of Baghdad and Qom to hadith, hadith teachings, and their criteria for the validity of hadith have resulted in a picture quite different from that of these two schools. This is due to the Baghdad’s approach to Qom arisen from the defense of narrators and honoring their elders and content of their heritage. Although the school of Baghdad has made some criticisms of the method of heritage studies and rijali opinions of Qom, big descriptions of  great Shi`a listographers of the teachers of Qom, their writings, and their reliance on ways of transmission of hadith legacy from Qom reveal Baghdad’s specific respect for this great school.

Kulayni has directly narrated 831 hadiths from Muhammad ibn Isma'il without adding any suffix or prefix to it. Most researchers in the field of Hadith and some rijal scholars have identified him to be Muhammad ibn Isma'il Bunduqi Neishabouri. Opinions of two contemporary jurists Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khoi on his trustworthiness and reliability differ a lot. Though he has not been accredited by rijal scholars such as Tusi and Najashi, Imam Khomeini, at least in four cases, has accredited him. However, considering the existing evidences, we face with his supreme status. The abundance of hadiths narrated from him by Kulayni, on the one hand, and their content certainty on the other hand are more important than the rijal scholars’ tawthiq (accreditation). Moreover, a lot of his traditions have been transmitted in other ways that are accurate or reliable or valid without any addition or omission.  Ayatollah Khoei, on the contrary, does not regard the abundance of hadiths narrated from him by Kulayni as a guarantee of his tawthiq (accreditation). He stipulates that there is no obvious indication that Kulayni has given his fatwa or religious obligations concerning lawful and unlawful things according to Muhammad ibn Isma'il’s traditions. Finally, with the assumption of such a fatwa, it does not imply tawthiq.  Exploring evidences like the character of Kulayni as a narrator from Muhammad ibn Isma'il, licensed by him to narrate hadiths and accredited by famous scholars like Allameh Helli, the First Martyr, the author of Ma`alim, Vahid Behbahani, Mir Damad, Hurr Amili, etc. result in consistency of Imam Khomeini's approach. Of course, it is not reasonable to be satisfied with tawthiq and tadif (accrediting and discrediting) as the only agent and ignore other indications.

There is an argument for rationality of belief in God and the Day of Judgment in some Islamic traditions which says: Given the possibility that God actually does exist and assuming the infinite gain or loss associated with belief in God or with unbelief, a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss. This kind of argument did not appeal to Muslim theologians. However, there is an instantiation of this argument in Christianity which is known as Pascal's wager. According to some studies this argument has been transmitted from the writings of al-Ghazali to Christian culture. After reporting and analyzing the relevant hadiths, the present paper makes an analysis of the Christian version and reconsiders the drawbacks of this argument as well as its strength. The major drawbacks attributed to this argument are because of ignorance of its nature and function. Consequently, it seems that this argument has its effectiveness.