Al-Akhbar al-dakhila (book)

Al-Akhbar al-dakhila

Author	Muhammad Taqi Shushtari
Original title	اَلْاَخْبارُ الدَّخیلَة
Language	Arabic
Series	1 Vol.
Subject	Theology
Publisher	Maktabat al-Saduq

Al-Akhbār al-dakhīla (Arabic: الاخبار الدخیلة) is a book in Arabic written by Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Shushtari (d. 1995-6) concerning distortion of hadiths as well as forged hadiths. The book was originally in one volume, but three Mustadrak (supplementary) volumes were added to it. The first section of the book concerns distorted hadiths, and its second section concerns forged hadiths. In the third section, Shushtari deals with a critique and examination of supplications in two parts: distorted supplications and forged supplications.

Author

Main article: Muhammad Taqi Shushtari

Muhammad Taqi Shushtari (Persian: محمد تقی شوشتری) (b. 1320/1902-3 - d. 1416/1995-6) known as 'Allama Shushtari was one of the contemporaneous Shi'a Rijal scholars. He studied in Islamic seminaries of Iran, Najaf, and Karbala and accomplished writing many valuable works, including: Qamus al-rijal, Qada' Amir al-Mu'minin Ali b. Abi Talib. He passed away in Dhu al-Hijja 19, 1416/ May 8, 1996 and was later buried next to the tomb of Sayyid Muhammad Gulabi in Shushtar, Iran.

Title of the Book

When Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Shushtari was told that the title of the book implies that all hadiths collected in the book are forged or fabricated, while the book contains distorted hadiths indeed, he said in response: "All kinds of hadiths are gathered in the book; hadiths that were originally accurate but were later distorted, as well as other [forged] hadiths that can easily be found in the book".

Date of Writing

The first volume of the book was written in 1369/1949-50, the second volume was written from 1390/1970-1 to 1396/1976, and the third volume was being collected and written from then until 1401/1980, and the fourth volume was written after that. All volumes were published in Tehran by Ali Akbar Ghaffari.

Motivation for Writing

When Allama Shushtari was working on hadiths in Wasa'il al-Shi'a, Man la yahduruh al-faqih, Tahdhib, and al-Istibsar, he encountered problems and discrepancies that led to the writing of al-Akhbar al-dakhila. He scrutinized those hadiths and tried to uncover their status with regard to forgery and distortions. For example, he tried to pinpoint the right original form of hadiths which were distorted. He wrote the whole book in this way.

Structure of the Book

The book opens with a brief introduction written by the author's son. Contents of the book are organized in three general parts, each of which contains a number of chapters. In the first part of the book, the author examines distorted hadiths; in the second part, he deals with forged hadiths, and in the third part, he criticizes supplications in two sections: distorted and forged supplications.

Parts of the Book

• Part 1: distorted hadiths, in twelve chapters:

1. Chapter 1: distorted hadiths as evidenced by essential Shiite beliefs.
2. Chapter 2: distorted hadiths as evidenced by historical facts.
3. Chapter 3: distorted hadiths as evidenced by their parlance and manners of utterance, that is, evidence for their distortions lies within themselves.
4. Chapter 4: hadiths that are distorted because of being intermixed.
5. Chapter 5: hadiths that are distorted because of similar orthographies or missing words or letters.
6. Chapter 6: hadiths that are distorted because of involving two contrasting things.
7. Chapter 7: hadiths with distorted chains of transmitters.
8. Chapter 8: hadiths that are distorted because they involve paraphrases of the words of the Prophet (s) or Imams.
9. Chapter 9: hadiths with missing parts, which led to their distortions.
10. Chapter 10: hadiths that are distorted because of carelessness about their chains of transmitters or texts.
11. Chapter 11: hadiths in which the words of the transmitter or author is mixed with the words of the Infallible (the main text of the hadith), and led to distortions.
12. Chapter 12: hadiths that are distorted because of a confusion between margins and the main text.

• Part 2: forged and fake hadiths, which includes four chapters:

1. Chapter 1: hadiths by people who have claimed to have seen Imam al-Mahdi (a).
2. Chapter 2: hadiths in which an exegesis of the Qur'an is attributed to Imam al-Hasan al-Askari (a).
3. Chapter 3: hadiths to which something was added or from which something was removed intentionally or a number of its words were intentionally changed.
4. Chapter 4: miscellaneous hadiths.

• Part 3: distorted and forged supplications, which includes two chapters:

1. Chapter 1: distorted supplications
2. Chapter 2: forged or fake supplications.

Publication

The work has been published by Maktabat al-Saduq in Tehran as edited by Ali Akbar Ghaffari.