permissibility of shaking non-mahram women (or men) by the hand under the condition of existence of a cover (e.g. gloves, etc. as an impediment to direct touch).

By studying the content of those traditions it is concluded that many of (seemingly) contradictory traditions are indeed complements to one another and can be brought together. Only those traditions are unacceptable that denote permissibility of shaking hands (with a non-mahram) without there be an impediment to direct touch. In addition, the effects of the verse (Q 60:12) on these traditions become clear, because on the one hand the atmosphere of paying allegiance to the Prophet (S) by the women is elucidated by different groups of traditions, and on the other hand the authenticity of the related traditions can be examined by studying the cause of revelation of this verse.

Keywords: Ikhtilāf al-Hadith, Prophet Muhammad (S), woman, shaking hands, the surah of Mumtaḥanah (Q 60).

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A criticism on the tradition "Ana nuqṭat taḥt al-bā’” (I am the dot under letter bā’)

Mohsen Daymeh-kar Garab

The tradition "Ana nuqṭat taḥt al-bā’” (I am the dot under letter bā’), which is a tradition ascribed to Imam Ali (A.S) mentioned in literatures having a mystical approach, has at times been explained in the mystical and philosophical heritage and about which many monographs have been written on occasion. This fact that emphasizes the necessity of evaluation of this tradition, is studied this article.

The investigations indicate that Ibn Ṭalḥh Shāfi‘ī living in the seventh/eleventh century was the first person who considered in his book "al-Durr al-munaẓẓam fī al-sirr al-a‘ẓam” this sentence as Imam Ali’s discourse. However, neither he nor later scholars who deemed the sentence attributed to the Imam have mentioned any evidence (or isnād) for their claim. On the other hand such individuals as ‘Ayn al-Quāt Hamadānī, Sam‘ānī, Ibn ‘Arabī and Sa‘īdud-din Furghanī have deemed it the words of Shiblī, the Sufi. At the same time Abu Sa‘d Khargūshī in his Tahdhīb al-Asrār, Abu ’l-Qāsim Qushayrī in his al-Risālah al-Qushayriyyah, Ghazzālī in his Iḥyā’ al-‘Ulūm , and ‘Aṭṭār Nayshābūrī in his Tadhkirat al-Awliyā’ believe that it is the discourse of an unknown contemporary of Shiblī.

In addition, non-existence of dots in the Arabic script in the early Islam, the history of adding dots in the Muṣḥafs, and adding dots as diacritic marks