Jump to content

Dala'il Writing

Add links
Without priority, Quality: c
Without redirects
From wikishia
Persian translation of al-Bayhaqi's Dala'il al-Nubuwwa by Mahmud Mahdawi Damghani

Dala'il-Writing (or Proof-writing) is a branch of Sira writing in which the proof of the Prophethood of the Messenger of God (s) and the Imamate of the Imams (a) and the expression of their biography are done in the form of stating their miracles and karama. According to some researchers, Dala'il writing emerged and found its identity in the context of religious and sectarian disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, and between Sunnis and Shi'as.

One of the reasons for the emergence of Prophetic Dala'il writing is considered to be the spread of Islam in new lands and the necessity for Muslims to defend the Prophethood of the Messenger of God (s). In the field of Dala'il writing regarding the Imamate of the Imams, Shi'as, by writing works, proved a supernatural status for the Imams (a) in continuation of Prophet Muhammad (s); in contrast, Sunnis, by producing Prophetic Dala'il works, tried to refute Shi'a claims about the miracles of the Imams (a) by emphasizing the exclusivity of miracles to the Prophet (s).

The history of writing in the field of Prophetic Dala'il writing dates back to the final years of the second century AH to the early decades of the third century AH, and the time of compilation of the first Dala'il works regarding Imamate is indicated from the middle of the second century AH; accordingly, it is said that the collection and compilation of Dala'il works regarding the Imamate of the Imams (a) preceded the collection and compilation of such works regarding the Prophethood of the Prophet (s) in terms of time.

The content of Prophetic Dala'il works includes topics such as the miracles and karamat of the Prophet (s) before and after the Bi'tha and the narration of his prophecies about the future. The content of Imamate Dala'il writing enumerates matters such as the karamat of each of the Imams (a), from the ability to speak with non-humans and communication with the unseen world to performing acts beyond human power.

Two books, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa by Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani (d. 430/1038) and Dala'il al-Nubuwwa wa ma'rifat ahwal Sahib al-shari'a by Ahmad b. Husayn al-Bayhaqi (d. 458/1066), are considered among the most important and complete Dala'il works in the Prophetic field. In the field of Imamate, Dala'il al-Imama by Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari al-Saghir is considered the only ancient work that has remained.

Definition and Some Characteristics

Dala'il writing is considered a branch of Sira writing in which the proof of the Prophethood of the Messenger of God (s) and the Imamate of the Imams (a) and the expression of their biography are done in the form of stating their miracles and karamat.[2] Among the various branches of Sira writing, Dala'il writing is considered one of its later branches.[3]

It is said that since long ago, hadith masters used to collect various proofs to prove a specific subject from hadiths under a single title in a collection of books and treatises;[4] accordingly, Prophetic Dala'il writing and the Imamate of the Imams (a) are considered among these writings, and like Sira writing, its root is shown in hadith.[5]

The defense of the Prophethood of the Prophet (s) and the Imamate of the Imams (a) among Muslims has been shown in the context of two disciplines: hadith and theology: In theology, by employing rational arguments, the Prophethood of the Prophet (s) and the Imamate of the Imams (a) were proven and the claims of deniers were refuted, and in hadith, by presenting transmitted proofs from hadiths and Sira in the form of works with the general title of "Dala'il" (proofs), proof and refutation were carried out.[6]

Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, 'Ala'im al-Nubuwwa, 'Alamat al-Nubuwwa, A'lam al-Nubuwwa, and Ithbat Nubuwwat al-Nabi (s) are among the titles listed that have been used to refer to works created in the field of Prophetic Dala'il writing.[7] It is said that Dala'il writing works in the field of the Imamate of the Imams (a) are referred to with titles such as Dala'il al-Imama, Dala'il al-A'imma, al-Dala'il, al-Wasiyya, and al-Wilaya.[8]

Dala'il al-Imama written by Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari al-Saghir

Backgrounds: Dala'il Writing in the Conflict of Religious and Sectarian Disputes

According to some researchers, Dala'il writing in the field of the Prophethood of the Prophet (s) and the Imamate of the Imams (a) emerged and found its identity in a context of religious and sectarian disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, and between Sunnis and Shi'as:[9] One of the reasons for the emergence of Prophetic Dala'il writing is considered to be the spread of Islam in new lands and the necessity for Muslims to defend the Prophethood of the Messenger of God (s) against non-Muslims and heretics and to prove it.[10]

In the field of Dala'il writing of the Imams (a), it is said that Shi'as were the first religious group to write works to defend their beliefs, among which were Dala'il books about Imamate; works to prove the Imamate of the Imams (a), placing them in a position in continuation of the position of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and proving their superiority over other Companions and Caliphs, relying on their Karamat and their connection with the unseen world.[11]

According to Muhammad Rida Ansari Qumi, a Shi'a researcher, the emergence of Prophetic Dala'il writings was a reaction by Sunni scholars to Shi'a Dala'il writings in the field of the Imamate of the Imams (a).[12] In his view, Prophetic Dala'il works, although narrating the narrations of the Prophetic Sira (s) with an emphasis on miracles and prophecies, were from another perspective an attempt to refute the religious beliefs of Shi'as about the issuance of Karamat from the Imams (a) by confining miracles and karamat to the Messenger of God (s).[13]

It is said that this religious background caused Sunni traditionists among Muslim authors to generally compile books on Prophetic Dala'il writing.[14] A matter that is considered the reason for the non-narration of the miracles and prophecies of the Prophet (s) about some events related to Imam Ali (a) and Shi'ism in these works.[15] Including the fact that the Prophet's (s) prophecy about al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam being unjust towards Imam Ali (a) in a war (Battle of Jamal) that he would fight with the Imam in the future has not been narrated in the main Prophetic Dala'il works, including the Dala'il of Bayhaqi and Abu Nu'aym Isfahani;[16] although it has been narrated in some early Dala'il sources.[17]

Time of Emergence

Rasul Ja'fariyan, a Shi'a historian, considers the period of the prevalence of Prophetic Dala'il writing to be in the fourth century AH;[18] some researchers believe that the history of writing in this field dates back to before this era, from the final years of the second century AH to the early decades of the third century AH.[19] The time of compilation of the first works of Dala'il al-Imama is indicated from the middle of the second century AH (probably after the martyrdom of Imam al-Sadiq (a) and during the Imamate of Imam al-Kazim (a)).[20]

Accordingly, it is said that the collection and compilation of Dala'il works regarding the Imamate of the Imams (a), in terms of time, preceded the writing of these works regarding the Prophethood of the Prophet (s); because the first tensions among Muslims regarding the issue of Imamate and Caliphate were formed after the Demise of the Prophet (s) in the first century AH; but all Islamic groups, in the first century AH and the first few decades of the second century AH, had no doubts about the Prophethood of the Messenger of God (s).[21]

It is conjectured that after this era and under the influence of conquests, with the appearance of heretics and their activities in the Islamic society by casting doubt on the Prophethood of the Prophet (s), the compilation of Prophetic Dala'il writing books began.[22]

Writings: Early Examples and Other Works

Al-Din wa al-dawla fi ithbat nubuwwat al-Nabi Muhammad (s) written by Ali b. Rabban al-Tabari

Early examples and other Dala'il writing works in the two fields of the Prophethood of the Prophet (s) and the Imamate of the Shi'a Imams (a) are reported in some sources as follows:

In the Field of Prophetic Dala'il Writing

In the field of Prophetic Dala'il writing, the oldest examples are considered to be the book Ayat al-Nabi written by Ali b. Muhammad Mada'ini (d. 224 or 228 AH) and Imarat al-Nubuwwa written by Abu Ishaq Juzjani (d. 276 AH).[24]

The books A'lam al-Nubuwwa by Abu Dawud Sajistani (d. 275 AH), Dala'il al-Nubuwwa by Ja'far b. Muhammad b. Hasan Faryabi (d. 300 or 301 AH), Dala'il al-Nubuwwa by Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani (d. 430 AH), Dala'il al-Nubuwwa wa Ma'rifat Ahwal Sahib al-Shari'a by Ahmad b. Husayn Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH), and Dala'il al-Nubuwwa by Isma'il b. Muhammad Taymi Isfahani (d. 535 AH) are listed among the most important[25] and the last three books as the most complete[26] of them in this field.

Some of the Prophetic Dala'il writing works were written by those who previously belonged to a religion other than Islam; for example, Ali b. Rabban al-Tabari (d. 260 AH), a Persian physician and theologian, who was a Christian before converting to Islam[27] and after becoming a Muslim, wrote a book on the proofs of the Prophethood of the Prophet (s) titled al-Din wa al-dawla fi ithbat nubuwwat al-Nabi Muhammad (s).[28]

Although most authors of Dala'il writing books are considered to be from the Sunnis,[29] in Shi'a bibliographic sources, works with titles related to Prophetic Dala'il writing (s) have been recorded; including the book Dala'il al-Nabi (s) written by Ahmad b. Yahya b. Hakim Azdi Kufi (d. probably late 3rd century AH)[30] and Masabih al-anwar wa anwar al-absar fi ma'ajiz al-Nabi al-mukhtar (s) written by Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani (d. 1107/1695-6).[31]

In the Field of Imamate Dala'il Writing

Ansari, relying on Rijal al-Najashi,[32] has surmised that a person named Abu l-Hasan Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Ali b. Umar b. Rabah al-Qalla', one of the companions of Imam al-Sadiq (a) and Imam al-Kazim (a), was the first person to leave a Dala'il writing work by writing a book titled Dala'il in the field of the Imamate of the Imams (a).[33]

According to Ansari, after him, another group of Shi'a scholars proceeded to compile Dala'il writing works in this field, the names of some of whom can be retrieved from bibliographic works such as al-Dhari'a; people such as: Ali son of al-Hasan b. Ali b. Faddal, Hasan son of Ali b. Abi Hamza al-Bata'ini, Abd Allah b. Ja'far al-Himyari al-Qummi, Muhammad b. Mas'ud al-'Ayyashi, Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Thaqafi, Muhammad b. Ibrahim al-Nu'mani, and al-Shaykh al-Saduq.[34]

It is said that most Dala'il writing works about the Imamate of the Imams (a) have been lost, and Dala'il al-Imama, written by Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari al-Saghir, a Shi'a writer of the 5th century AH, is the only ancient work that has remained.[35] Nevertheless, titles related to Dala'il writing are seen in some Shi'a bibliographic sources; including:

Dala'il al-Nubuwwa written by Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani

Content of Dala'il Writing Works

Based on some Prophetic Dala'il writing sources (s),[41] the content of these works is reported as follows:

  • Stating virtues of Prophet Muhammad (s) in the Qur'an which are exclusive to him among the Prophets (a) and that his Prophethood preceded the Prophethood of all prophets, including Adam (a).
  • Stating his mastership over all humans in the Resurrection and his and his Ummah's mastership over other prophets (a) and their nations.
  • Narrating reports based on the existence of information about the Prophethood of the Messenger of God (s) among the kings of other nations (Yemenis, Romans, and Iranians) and scholars of other religions (Jews and Christians) before the birth and Bi'tha of his holiness.
  • Stating what has been heard from Jinns, idols, and soothsayers about the Prophethood of the Prophet (s).
  • Reporting the Karama of the Prophet (s) before the Bi'tha, from the embryonic period, pregnancy, and birth to childhood and youth.
  • Stating the Miracles of the Prophet (s) after the Bi'tha, from miracles such as the Splitting of the moon and speaking with inanimate objects, plants, animals, and Jinns to miracles by which God saved him from the evil of his enemies and the hardships of the period of invitation and government.
  • Narrating the prophecies of the Messenger of God (s) about events that will happen in the future.[42]

Based on Tabari's Dala'il al-Imama,[43] the content of Dala'il writing works in the field of the Imamate of the Imams (a) is reported as follows: a brief description of the life of each of the Imams (a), then details about the Karama of each of them, from the ability to speak with inanimate objects, plants, animals, and Jinns and their connection with the unseen world to performing acts that are beyond human power.[44]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭabarī al-Ṣaghīr, Dalāʾil al-imāma, 1413 AH, p. 181-182.
  2. ↑ Khānjānī, "Dalāyil-nigārī dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 132.
  3. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1393 Sh, p. 99.
  4. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 138.
  5. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1393 Sh, p. 99; Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 138.
  6. ↑ Naṣṣār, Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (ṣ), 1399 Sh, p. 379-380; Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1393 Sh, p. 100-102.
  7. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1393 Sh, p. 102; Khānjānī, "Dalāyil-nigārī dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 132.
  8. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 141.
  9. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islāmī, 1393 Sh, p. 100; Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 128.
  10. ↑ Naṣṣār, Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (ṣ), 1399 Sh, p. 379-380; Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islāmī, 1393 Sh, p. 100; Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 128.
  11. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 141.
  12. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 141.
  13. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 141.
  14. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 138.
  15. ↑ Khānjānī, "Nigāhī bi kitāb-hā-yi dalāyil dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 149.
  16. ↑ Khānjānī, "Nigāhī bi kitāb-hā-yi dalāyil dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 150.
  17. ↑ For example see: ʿAlī b. Rabban Ṭabarī, Al-Dīn wa al-dawla, 1393 AH, p. 85-86.
  18. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1393 Sh, p. 99.
  19. ↑ Khānjānī, "Dalāyil-nigārī dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 132; Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 128-129.
  20. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 128-129.
  21. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 128.
  22. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 128.
  23. ↑ Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa, 1361 Sh, vol. 1, p. 48-50.
  24. ↑ Khānjānī, "Nigāhī bi kitāb-hā-yi dalāyil dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 134.
  25. ↑ Munajjid, Muʿjam mā ullifa ʿan Rasūl Allāh (ṣ), p. 62-65; Khānjānī, "Dalāyil-nigārī dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 132-135.
  26. ↑ Khānjānī, "Dalāyil-nigārī dar sīra-yi nabawī", p. 132.
  27. ↑ Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān, vol. 5, p. 159.
  28. ↑ ʿAlī b. Rabban Ṭabarī, Al-Dīn wa al-dawla, 1393 AH, p. 35-36; ʿAlī b. Rabban Ṭabarī, Al-Dīn wa al-dawla, 1393 AH, p. 210.
  29. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 138.
  30. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 8, p. 253-254.
  31. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 21, p. 86.
  32. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, 1418 AH, p. 92.
  33. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 139.
  34. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 8, p. 236-239.
  35. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 139.
  36. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 15, p. 383.
  37. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 7, p. 145.
  38. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 20, p. 253.
  39. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 8, p. 247.
  40. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 8, p. 241.
  41. ↑ Abū Nuʿaym Iṣfahānī, Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa, p. 3-8.
  42. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 141-142.
  43. ↑ Ṭabarī al-Ṣaghīr, Dalāʾil al-imāma, 1413 AH, p. 657-663.
  44. ↑ Anṣārī, "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma", p. 142.

References

  • Abū Nuʿaym Iṣfahānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa lil-Ṭibāʿa wa al-Nashr, n.d.
  • Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Muḥammad Muḥsin b. ʿAlī. Al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-Shīʿa. Edited by Sayyid Aḥmad Ḥusaynī Ishkawarī. Beirut, Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1403 AH.
  • ʿAlī b. Rabban Ṭabarī, ʿAlī b. Sahl. Al-Dīn wa al-dawla fī ithbāt nubuwwat al-Nabī Muḥammad (ṣ). Edited by ʿĀdil Nuwayhiḍ. Beirut, Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīda, 1393 AH.
  • Anṣārī, Muḥammad Riḍā. "Ṭabarī-yi sivvum wa kitāb-i Dalāyil al-imāma". Kayhān-i Andīsha. No. 58, Bahman & Esfand 1373 Sh.
  • Ibn Khallikān, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa anbāʾ abnāʾ al-zamān. Edited by Iḥsān ʿAbbās. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, n.d.
  • Jaʿfariyān, Rasūl. Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām. Tehran, Nashr-i ʿIlm, 1393 Sh.
  • Khānjānī, Qāsim. "Dalāyil-nigārī dar sīra-yi nabawī". Kitāb-i Māh-i Tārīkh wa Jughrāfiyā. No. 61 & 62, Aban & Azar 1381 Sh.
  • Khānjānī, Qāsim. "Nigāhī bi kitāb-hā-yi dalāyil dar sīra-yi nabawī". Tārīkh-i Islām dar āyīna-yi pazhūhish. No. 11, Autumn 1385 Sh.
  • Munajjid, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Muʿjam mā ullifa ʿan Rasūl Allāh (ṣ). Edited by Nādī ʿAṭṭār. Cairo, Dār al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ lil-Turāth, n.d.
  • Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Rijāl al-Najāshī. Edited by Sayyid Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1418 AH.
  • Naṣṣār, ʿAmmār ʿAbūdī. Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (ṣ) nazd-i muʾarrikhān-i Musalmān tā pāyān-i ʿaṣr-i ʿAbbāsī. Translated by Āmina Mūsawī Shajarī & Sayf ʿAlī Zāhidī-far. Qom, Pazhūheshgāh-i ʿUlūm wa Farhang-i Islāmī, 1399 Sh.
  • Ṭabarī al-Ṣaghīr, Muḥammad b. Jarīr. Dalāʾil al-imāma. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Biʿtha, 1413 AH.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Dala%27il_Writing&oldid=201368"