Convergence of the Hadiths of Silsilat al-Dhahab of Imam Riḍā (AS) and His Miracles in Neishabur, Based on the Works of Ibn Shādhān

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Associate Professor, Department of Shiʻa History Studies, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of neyshabur, neyshabur, Iran.

Abstract

Faḍl ibn Shādhān Nīshābūrī (d. 260 AH/874 AD), who resided in Neishabur and was among the companions of Imam Riḍā (AS), severely criticized Dualism (Thanawīyyah), Trinitarianism (Tathlīthīyyah), Murjiʻah, Khawārij, Ahl al-Hadith, Mu'tazilah, Zaidiyyah, Waqifiyyah, and Isma'iliyyah in his refutations. His refutations indicate the active presence of these theological groups in Neishabur. Therefore, the opponents and audience of Imam Riḍā (AS) upon his arrival in Neishabur were four groups: Zanadiqa (dualists and Manichaeans) and Thanawīyyah (dualists); Trinitarians; groups of the Caliphate school; and branches of Shi'ism. Imam Riḍā (AS), by reporting three Hadiths of Silsilat al-Dhahab – "Shafaqat" (compassion), "Faith" and "Ḥiṣn" (fortress) – to thousands of Nīshābūrīans, identified all those beliefs and religions as misguided and unstable. He sought to highlight the discourse of Shi'i thought. Undoubtedly, the selection of these Hadiths at that historical juncture arose from the exigencies of the time and habitat. In addition to theoretical-cognitive functions, Imam Riḍā (AS) presented at least four miracles and charismatic acts to establish his own legitimacy and that of the Shi'i school: "Planting a healing almond tree; determining the Qibla (direction of prayer) of Neishabur; causing a spring to flow; and healing an injured person." The author of these lines, by library-based collection of the aforementioned data and presenting it in an analytical-descriptive manner, has endeavored to provide a documented and insightful article.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Full Text

Al-Quran Al-Karim.

Aqa Buzurg Tehrani, M. (1408 AH/1987 AD). al-Dharīʻah. Tehran: Islamiyyah Library.

Ᾱmidī, A. (1366 SH/1987 AD). Ghurar al-Ḥikam wa Durar al-Kalim. Qom: Maktab al-I`lam al-Islami.

Ibn al-Jawzī, Y. (1376 AH/1956 AD). Tadhkirat al-Khawāṣ. Qom: Al-Sharif al-Razi.

Ibn Ḥibbān, M. (1414 AH/1993 AD). Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān bi Tartīb Ibn Balbān. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Risalah.

Ibn Shahr Ᾱshūb, M. (1380 AH/1960 AD). Maʻāim al-ʻUlamāʼ. Najaf: Al-Matbaah al-Haydariyyah.

Ibn Shahr Ᾱshūb, M. (1376 AH/1956 AD). Manāqib Ᾱl Abī Ṭālib. Najaf al-Ashraf: Matba`at al-Haydariyyah.

Ibn Lūṭ ibn Yaḥyā Khuzāʼī. (n.d.). Baḥr al-Ansāb. Library of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Manuscript. (Naskh script). Registration No. 90728. Shelf No. 15204.

Ibn Nadīm Baghdādī, M. (1381 SH/2002 AD). al-Fihrist. (Tajaddud, R. Ed). Tehran: Asatir.

Ahmadi Mianaji, A. (1422 AH/2001 AD). al-Tabarruk. Tehran: Mash'ar.

Al-Irbilī, A. (1405 AH/1984 AD). Kashf al-Ghummah. Beirut: Dar al-Adwa'.

Ashʻarī, A. (1397 AH/1977 AD). al-Ibānah ʻan Uṣūl al-Dīyānah. Cairo: Dar al-Ansar.

Ashʻarī, A. (1400 AH/1980 AD). Maqālāt al-Islāmīyyīn. Germany: Franz Steiner.

Baḥrānī, H. (1415 AH/1994 AD). al-Burhān fī Tafsīr al-Quran. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Biʻthah.

Baḥrānī, H. (1413 AH/1992 AD). Madīnat al-Maʻājiz. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Maarif al-Islamiyyah.

Bukhārī, M. (1422 AH/2001 AD). al-Jāmiʻ al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ. Beirut: Dar Tawq al-Najah.

Bahrami, M; Ḥākimi, L. (1394 SH/2015 AD). "A Study of the Chain of Narration of Hadith Silsilat al-Dhahab." Research Paper of Comparative Hadith Sciences. Vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 125-146.

Bayat Mokhtari, M. (1391 SH/2012 AD). Faḍl ibn Shādhān's Meeting with Imam Riḍā (AS) "Criticism on the Knowledge of Hadith." Mashhad: Astan Quds Razavi Research Foundation.

Tarkhan, G. (1390 SH/2011 AD). "The Relationship between Monotheism and Wilayah." Qabasat. Vol. 16, no. 62, pp. 120-140.

Tanūkhī, M. (1364 SH/1985 AD). al-Faraj baʻd al-Shiddah. Qom: Manshurat al-Sharif al-Razi.

Touran, A. (1398 SH/2019 AD). The Creation of Light of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in Early Imamiyya Thought. Qom: Dar al-Hadith.

Tawfiqi, H. (1381 SH/2002 AD). Introduction to Major Religions. Tehran: Samt.

Ja`farian, R. (1379 SH/2000 AD). History of Islamic Iran. Tehran: Mu'assaseh Farhangi Danesh va Andisheh Mo'aser.

Al-Ḥāʼirī, M. (1385 AH/1965 AD). Shajarat Ṭūbā. Najaf: Manshurat al-Maktabat al-Haydariyyah.

Ḥāfiẓ Iṣfahānī, A. (1934 AD). Dhikr Akhāar Iṣbahān. Leiden Protected Press: Brill.

Ḥurr ʻᾹmilī, M. (1384 AH/1964 AD). al-Jawāhir al-Sanīyyah. Baghdad: Al-Maktabat al-`Ilmiyyah.

Ḥurr ʻᾹmilī, M. (1376 SH/1997 AD). al-Fuṣūl al-Muhimmah. Qom: Mu'assasat Ma`arif Islami Imam Riḍā (AS).

Ḥillī, H. (1405 AH/1984 AD). al-Alfīn. Kuwait: Maktabat al-Alfin.

Ḥillī, H. (1417 AH/1996 AD). Kashf al-Murād. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Ḥuwayzī, A. (1370 SH/1991 AD). Tafsir Nūr al-Thaqalayn. Qom: Mu'assasat Isma`iliyan.

Haydari, K. (1429 AH/2008 AD). ʻIlm al-Imam: Taqrīr al-Shaykh Ali Ḥammūd al-ʻIbādī. Qom: Dar Faraqid.

Haydari Nasab, A; Bayat Mokhtari, M. (1399 SH/2020 AD). "A Textual-Documentary Study of the Narration of Al-Īmānu Maʻrifatu bil Qalb... and the Instability of Ibn Ḥibbān's Approach." Farhang Razavi. Vol. 8, no. 30, pp. 9-23.

Rāwandī, Q. (1409 AH/1988 AD). al-Kharāʼij wa al-Jarāʼiḥ. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Imam al-Mahdi (AS).

Zamakhsharī, J. (1412 AH/1991 AD). Rabīʻ al-Abrār. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Alami.

Subhani, J. (1395 SH/2016 AD). Muḥāḍirāt fī al-Ilāhīyyāt. (Rabbani Gulpaygani, A. Sum). Qom: Al-Imam al-Ṣādiq (AS).

Subhani, J. (1423 AH/2002 AD). al-Madhāhib al-Islāmīyyah. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Imam al-Ṣādiq (AS).

Saʻīdīzadeh, R. (1386 SH/2007 AD). "Chronology of the Migration of His Holiness Thamin al-Hujaj." Collection of Papers of the Second and Third Scientific Conference on Road Development in Velayat. Mashhad: Khorasan Razavi Cultural Heritage Organization.

Sultani, M. (1390 SH/2011 AD). Zaydi History and Beliefs. Qom: Entesharat Adiyan.

Shoushtari, M. (1417 AH/1996 AD). Qāmūs al-Rijāl. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Shahrestani, M. (1404 AH/1984 AD). al-Milal wa al-Niḥal. (Sayyid Kaylani, M. Ed). Beirut: Dar al-Ma`rifah.

Saberi, H. (1395 SH/2016 AD). History of Islamic Sect. Tehran: Samt.

Subhi, A. (1985 AD). Dirāsah Falsafīyyah li Ᾱrāʼ al-Firaq al-Islāmīyyah fī Uṣūl al-Dīn. Beirut: Dar al-Nahdah al-Arabiyyah.

Salihi al-Shami, M. (1414 AH/1993 AD). Subul al-Hudā wa al-Rashād. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyyah.

Ṣadūq, M. (1398 AH/1978 AD). al-Tawḥīd. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Ṣadūq, M. (1362 SH/1983 AD). al-Khiṣāl. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Ṣadūq, M. (1385 AH/1965 AD). ʻIlal al-Sharāyiʻ. Najaf al-Ashraf: Manshurat al-Matbaah al-Haydariyyah.

Ṣadūq, M. (1404 AH/1983 AD). ʻUyūn Akhbār al-Riḍā (AS). Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Alami lil-Matbu`at.

Ṣadūq, M. (1313 AH/1895 AD). Man Lā Yaḥḍuruhū al-Faqīh. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Ṣaffār, M. (1362 SH/1983 AD). Baṣāʼir al-Darajāt. Tehran: Manshurat al-Alami.

Ṭabāṭabāʼī, M. (1362 SH/1983 AD). Nihāyat al-Ḥikmah. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Ṭabrisī, F. (1417 AH/1996 AD). Iʻlām al-Warā bi Aʻlām al-Hudā. Qom: Mu'assasat Al al-Bayt (AS) li Ihya' al-Turath.

Ṭabarānī, S. (1415 AH/1994 AD). al-Muʻjam al-Awsaṭ. Cairo: Dar al-Haramayn lil-Tibaah wa al-Nashr.

Ṭūsī, M. (1417 AH/1996 AD). Fihrist Kutub al-Shīʻah wa Uṣūlihim. Qom: Mu'assasat Nashr al-Faqahah.

Irfanmanesh, J. (1376 SH/1997 AD). Historical Geography of Imam Riḍā's (AS) Migration from Medina to Marw. Mashhad al-Muqaddasah: Bonyad Pazhouheshhaye Islami.

ʻAṭārudī, A. (1397 AH/1977 AD). News and works of Imam Riḍā (AS). Tehran: Library of Sadr.

ʻAṭārudī, A. (1406 AH/1985 AD). Musnad al-Imam al-Riḍā (AS). Mashhad: Al-Mu'tamar al-`Alami al-Imam al-Riḍā (AS).

Fattal Nīshābūrī, M. (1375 SH/1996 AD). Rawḍat al-Wāʻiẓīn. Qom: Entesharat Razi.

Al-Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, M. (1378 SH/1999 AD). al-Tafsir al-Aṣfā. Qom: Markaz al-Nashr al-Tabili Maktab al-Ilam al-Islami.

Al-Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, M. (1374 SH/1995 AD). al-Tafsir al-Ṣāfī. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Hadi.

Al-Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, M. (1416 AH/1995 AD). al-Wāfī. Isfahan: Maktabat al-Imam Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (AS).

Fīrūzābādī, M. (1415 AH/1994 AD). al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyyah.

Qummī, M. (1381 SH/2002 AD). al-ʻIqd al-Naḍīd wa al-Durr al-Farīd. Qom: Dar al-Hadith.

Qundūzī , S. (1416 AH/1995 AD). Yanābīʻ al-Mawaddah. Tehran: Dar al-Uswah.

Kashshī, M. (1404 AH/1983 AD). Ikhtīyār Maʻrifat al-Rijāl al-Maʻrūf bi Rijāl al-Kashshī. Qom: Mu'assasat Al al-Bayt.

Kulaynī, M. (1363 SH/1984 AD). al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah.

Al-Muttaqī al-Hindī, A. (1409 AH/1988 AD). Kanz al-ʻUmmāl. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Risalah.

Majlisī, M. (1403 AH/1983 AD). Biḥār al-Anwār. Beirut: Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi.

Mortazavi, M. (1375 SH/1996 AD). Theological Movement in the Era of Imam Riḍā (AS). Mashhad: Astan Quds Razavi.

Mashkur, M. (1384 SH/2005 AD). Islamic Sect Culture. Mashhad: Islamic Research Foundation.

 Motahhari, M. (1350 SH/1971 AD). Mutual services between Islam and Iran. Tehran: Publishing Joint Stock Company.

Maʻrūf al-Ḥasanī, H. (1421 AH/2000 AD). al-Shīʻah bayna al-Ashāʻirah wa al-Muʻtazilah. Beirut: Dar al-Malak.

Mufīd, M. (1414 AH/1993 AD). al-Irshād. Beirut: Dar al-Mufīd.

Mufīd, M. (1413 AH/1992 AD). Awāʼil al-Maqālāt. Qom: Publications of Sheikh Mufid World Congress.

Mousavi Bojnourdi, M. (1386 SH/2007 AD). The Great Islamic Encyclopedia. (Vol. 14). Tehran: The Center of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia.

Mawlawi, A. (1382 SH/2003 AD). Ancient Monuments of Khorasan. Tehran: Cultural Heritage and Honors Association.

Al-Mīlānī, M. (1426 AH/2005 AD). Qādatunā Kayfa Naʻrifuhum? Mashhad: Nur al-Kitab.

Najāshī, A. (1427 AH/2006 AD). Rijāl al-Najāshī. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Nawʻi, Gh. (1386 SH/2007 AD). "A Study of the Situation of Neishabur during the Presence of Imam Riḍā (AS)." Collection of Papers of the Second and Third Scientific Conference on Velayat Road. Mashhad: Khorasan Razavi Cultural Heritage Organization.

Valavi, A; Bakhtiyari, Z. (1398 SH/2019 AD). "An Analysis of the Reasons for Ali ibn Musa al-Riḍā's (AS) Reliance on the Hadith Silsilat al-Dhahab." Farhang Razavi. Vol. 7, no. 27, pp. 201-230.

Hashemi Khu'i, H. (1360 SH/1981 AD). Minhaj al-Barāʻah. Tehran: Culture Foundation of Imam Mahdi (AJ).

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 15 April 2025
  • Revise Date: 29 May 2025
  • Accept Date: 31 May 2025
  • First Publish Date: 21 April 2026
  • Publish Date: 21 April 2026

Share

How to cite

Statistics