available within Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī one can find similarities in both resources. Abu ’l-Faraj’s narration is a combination of the narration of such hadith transmitters as Abu Mikhnaf, ‘Ammar al-Duhnī, and Jābir al-Ju‘fī. Therefore, his narration is a paraphrase (and not a verbatim report). For this reason, a double carefulness is required when one faces with narrations that seem to be paraphrases recorded in narrative historical books. In certain cases this maqtal contradicts indisputable events and or historical accounts. In some cases (in this book) the high status of the Infallible Imams (A.S) or their families were blemished and this account has become a base for citation by Shi‘a scholars in later centuries.

Keywords: Maqātil al-Ṭālibiyyīn, Maqtal al-Husayn (martyrdom account of Imam Husayn), Abu ’l-Faraj Iṣfahānī, ‘‘Āshūrā’-related narrations, distortions.

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Hadith school of the Imamiyya (Twelver Shi‘a) in Baghdad (during the Age of Presence)

Sayyid Akbar Mousavi Tenyani

Hadith center of Baghdad has always been important in the history of the Imamiyya’s thought. For this reason awareness of the history of the Imamiyya’s hadith in Baghdad will assist us in analyzing the history of the Imamiyya. It is shown in this article that upon migration of the Twelver Shi‘a personalities (aṣ-ḥāb al-Imāmiyah) from Kufa to Bahdad, along with the attempts of those Twelver Shi‘a personalities who had a Baghdadi origin, the hadith school of the Imāmiyya was established in the late second/eighth century and was active until the end of the first half of the third/ninth century. The hadith school of Baghdad was a major provider of hadith for other regions in which the Twelver Shi‘a Muslims dwelt. Numerous hadith works were compiled for the first time and were used in compilation of hadith collections in later periods. It was also indicated in this article that the Imāmiyya families in Baghdad who were involved in hadith (i.e. its reception, collection and tranmission) played (remarkable) roles in blossoming the hadith school of this city. Finally, it was indicated that the hadith school of Baghdad fell into a decline in the late first half of the third/ninth century due to political pressures of the Abbasid Caliphate

Keywords: school of Baghdad, history of the Imamiyya’s hadith, Imamiyya families involved in hadith.