Trans-denominational Narration in the Imami Hadith Tradition: A Re-examination of the Role of

Mosavi, Seyyed Mohammad; Sattar, Hosain; Sazjini, Morteza

doi:10.22034/hsr.2025.51811.1065

Trans-denominational Narration in the Imami Hadith Tradition: A Re-examination of the Role of "Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Asadī Qazwīnī" in the Narrative System of Shaykh Ṣadūq

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Qur’anic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran.

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Qur’anic and Hadith Studies, Faculty of Qur’anic Sciences, Zabol, University of Qur’anic Sciences and Knowledge, Zabol, Iran.

10.22034/hsr.2025.51811.1065

Abstract

Shaykh Ṣadūq, a preeminent Imami hadith scholar of the 4th century AH, began a new phase of his academic life by traveling to Rayy. On the other hand, Rayy had become a prominent hadith center due to the presence of Imami and Sunni scholars from across the Islamic world. The city's religious diversity, relative political freedom, and favorable economic conditions were also conducive to its growth. An examination of Shaykh Ṣadūq's works reveals that scholars from the hadith school of Qazwin were also active in Rayy. Therefore, the presence of Shaykh Ṣadūq in Rayy and his meeting with Qazwīnī scholars in this region adds to the significance of this study. "Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ali ibn Asad Asadī" is a Sunni hadith scholar from Qazwin whose name and memory are only found in Ṣadūq's hadith writings. The appearance of the narrations from Abul Ḥasan Asadī Qazwīnī suggests that he was a Shi'i hadith scholar. However, with the lack of data about him in Shi'i biographical sources on the one hand, and the existence of rare information about him in Sunni narrative sources on the other, his activities and background can be identified. This article, using a descriptive-exploratory method, identifies the Sunni denomination of Abul Ḥasan Asadī, studies this active Qazwīnī scholar in Rayy, and critically examines the consequences and reasons for his presence in the city. The transmission of Sunni narrations from Qazwin to Rayy and the influence of this Qazwīnī scholar on the scholarly foundation of Ṣadūq are among the most important consequences of Abul Ḥasan Asadī's presence in Rayy.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Rejal

References

Ibn Bābawayh, M. (n.d.). al-Amālī. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Bi'tha.

Ibn Bābawayh, M. (n.d.). Ṣifāt al-Shīʻa. N.p.: N.d.

Ibn Bābawayh, M. (1983 AD/1362 SH). al-Khiṣāl. (Ghaffari, A. Ed). Qom: N.n.

Ibn Bābawayh, M. (1941 AD/1361 AH). Maʻānī al-Akhbar. (Ghaffari, A. Ed). Qom: Dar al-Hadith.

Ibn ʻImād, A. (n.d.). Shadharāt al-Dhahab. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah.

Ibn Ḥajar al-ʻAsqalānī, A. (1904 AD/1325 AH). Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb. Beirut: Dar Sadr.

Isma'ilizadeh, A. (2003 AD/1382 SH). "Tawḥīd Ṣadūq from an Analytical and Critical Perspective." Ulum al-Hadith.

Baghdādī, Kh. (1996 AD/1417 AH). Tarīkh Baghdād, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah.

Dhahabī, Sh. (2006 AD/1427 AH). Sīyar Aʻlām al-Nubalāʼ. Cairo: Dar al-Hadith.

Rāfiʻī, A. (1956 AD/1376 AH). al-Tadwīn fī Akhbār Qazwīn. Tehran: N.n.

Rashīd al-ʻAṭṭār, Y. (2002 AD/1423 AH). Nuzhat al-Nāẓir fī Dhikr man Ḥaddatha ʻan Abil Qāsim al-Baghawīyy min al-Ḥuffāẓ wal-Akābir. N.p.: Dar Ibn Hazm.

Sattar, H. (2014 AD/1393 SH). An Examination and Analysis of the Reasons and Consequences of Transmitted Narrations in the Works of Shaykh Ṣadūq. Qom: Qom University. Vol. 12, no. 27, pp. 91-110.

Sattar, H. (2021 AD/1400 SH)."The Role of Transmitted Narrations in Intra-Shi'i Theological Differences; A Case Study of the Notions of the Prophet's Infallibility and the Distortion of the Qur'an." Ma'rifat al-Kalami. Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 27-49.

Suyūṭī, J. (1979 AD/1399 AH). Tadrīb al-Rāwī. (Hashim, A. Ed). Beirut: N.n.

Ṭūsī, M. (1960 AD/1380 AH). al-Fihrist. (Al Bahr al-Ulum, M. Ed). Najaf: al-Matba'ah al-Haydariyyah.

Kremer, J. L. (1996 AD/1375 SH). Revival of Culture in the Buyid Era. Tehran: University Publishing Center.

Najāshī, A. (1995 AD/1416 AH). Rijāl Najāshī. Qom: Mu'assasat al-Nashr al-Islami.

Mustawfi, H. Nuzhat al-Qulūb, (Le Strange, G. Ed). Leiden: N.n.

Musavi, S. M; Sattar. (2021 AD/1400 SH). "An Analytical Study of the Place of Reason in the Exegetical Narrations of Shaykh Ṣadūq." Hadith Hawzah.

Muqaddasī, M. (1987 AD/1408 AH). Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm. Beirut: N.n.

Muẓaffar, M. (n.d.). Tarīkh al-Shi'a. N.p.: N.n.