Dala'il al-imama (book)

Dala'il al-imama
	Bibliographical Information
Author	Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari al-Saghir
Original title	دلائل الامامة
Language	Arabic
Series	1 volume
Subject	the biography, virtues and miracles of lady Fatima (a) and the Infallible Imams (a)
Published	Qom, 1383/1963-4
Publisher	Dar al-Dhakha'ir

Dalāʾil al-imāma (Arabic: دَلائِل الإمامَة), is an Arabic book written by Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari. It contains the biography, miracles, and virtues of lady Fatima (a) and the Infallible Imams (a). There are doubts about the name of this work and its ascription to al-Tabari. Dala'il al-imama is published for several times by several publishers.

The Author

For a long time it was thought that Muhammad b. Jarir b. Rustam al-Tabari, the Shi'a author of al-Mustarshid fi l-imama, was the author of this book. But there is evidence in the book that shows it is not written by him. Therefore, some scholars believed that there was another Muhammad b. Jarir b. Rustam - whom they titled as al-Saghir (the Junior) – that authored the book. On the contrary, some believed that basically the book is not written by Muhammad b. Jarir, not al-Kabir (the Senior) nor al-Saghir (the Junior). The reason the book was attributed to Mahammad b. Jarir al-Tabari was a false impression from some hadiths in the book which start with "Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari said …." They added that Dala'il al-imama is written by an unknown author who lived in early 5th/11th century and was contemporaneous with al-Shaykh al-Tusi and most probably lived in Baghdad. However, probably, due to his contemporaneity, al-Shaykh al-Tusi and al-Najashi did not mention his name in their Rijal books.

Name

In early sources, the title of the book is mentioned as Dala'il, Dala'il al-A'imma, Dala'il al-imama, and al-Imama. Because the first pages of the available manuscripts of the book are missing, the title that the author gave to his book is unknown. However, as Sayyid b. Tawus explicitly mentioned Dala'il al-imama as the title of the book, the book is commonly known by this name.

Date of Compilation

Due to missing first and last pages of the available manuscripts, identifying the accurate year of compilation of the book is almost impossible. However, according to a part of the book which says, "I narrate this report from a text written by al-Shaykh Abu 'Abd Allah al-Ghada'iri's handwriting," Aqa Buzurg Tihrani said that it was probably written after the demise of Gada'iri (d. 411/1020-1).

Content

The book contains the biography, virtues and miracles of lady Fatima (a) and the Infallible Imams (a). According to Sayyid b. Tawus and 'Allama al-Majlisi the book had two volumes; however, the available book starts from the chapter "Musnad Fatima" to "Ma'rifat Rijal Mawlana Sahib al-Zaman" (knowing the companions of our master the Owner of this Time).

Structure

Except for lady Fatima (a) and Imam al-Mahdi (a), the biography for each Imam contains these chapters: identification, sobriquets, mother, close companions, engraved words on the ring, children, and miracles. In subsequent manuscripts there is no chapter about the close companions. Biography of lady Fatima (a) starts with her Musnad and contains topics such as: the news of her birth, meaning of Muhadditha, emigration, marriage, marriage formula, Mahr (dowery), Zifaf (consummation), Fadak, visiting of women of Medina, Mushaf, her supplication, will, her dream before her martyrdom and hadiths about her virtues. In the chapter of Fadak, he has narrated the Hadith of Fadak from several chains of narrators. The last part of the book contains different topics such as: the existence of al-Qa'im (a), the hadith of the mother of Imam al-Mahdi (a) and her life story, Imam al-Mahdi's birth, lineage, Kunya, sobriquets, people who saw Imam al-Mahdi (a) during the life of his father, hadiths about the necessity of Occultation (Ghayba), people who saw Imam al-Mahdi (a) during Occultation, supplication of Imam al-Mahdi (a) and the name of his companions.

Publication

The available edition of the book is taken from an incomplete manuscript form the last few centuries. The first chapter which was about Amir al-Mu'minin (a) and lady Fatima (a) is incomplete. The manuscript of the book that was available to Sayyid b. Tawus is lost, and even al-'Allama al-Majlisi has used the incomplete edition. However, based on Sayyid b. Tawus's reports from this book, some scholars have added the missing parts to it. The book has been published in 1369/1949-50 and 1383/1963-4 in Najaf, in 1383/1963-4 in Qom and in 1408/1987-8 in Beirut. In 1413/1992-3, based on the reports of Sayyid b. Tawus from Dala'il al-imama in his books, such as al-Yaqin and Faraj al-mahmum, a part from the biography of Amir al-Mu'minin (a) was added to the book and it was published in Qom.

References

The material for this article is mainly taken from دلائل الامامة in Farsi WikiShia.

v t e The Shia History Sources
1st Century	Kitab Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali
2nd Century	Waq'at Siffin
3rd Century	Al-Gharat • Tarikh al-Ya'qubi
4th Century	Al-Jamal • Tarikh Qom • Maqatil al-Talibiyyin • Masarr al-Shi'a • Tajarib al-'Umam • Muruj al-dhahab • Al-Tanbih wa l-ishraf • Ithbat al-wasiyya
5th Century	Dala'il al-imama • Al-Irshad
6th century	Rawdat al-wa'izin
7th Century	Nuzhat al-kiram • Kashf al-ghumma • Al-Luhuf • Kamil Baha'i • Muthir al-ahzan • Dhawb al-nudar • Manaqib al-tahirin
8th Century	Adab al-Sultaniyya • Rahat al-arwah
11th Century	Athar al-wuzara' • Waqa'i' al-sinin wa l-a'wam
10th Century	Athar Ahmadi • Anis al-mu'minin • Tasliyat al-majalis
11th Century	Al-Tatimma fi tawarikh al-a'imma • Hayat al-qulub • Hilyat al-abrar • Waqayi' al-sinin wa l-a'wam
12th Century	Jala' al-'uyun • Riyad al-abrar • Fara'id al-fawa'id
13th Century	Tufan al-buka' • Fayd al-dumu' • Rawdat al-shuhada' • Nasikh al-tawarikh
14th Century	Sulh al-Hasan (a) • Muntaha l-amal • Nafas al-mahmum • Lawa'ij al-ashjan • Dhakhirat al-darayn • Maqtal al-Husayn (by al-Muqarram) • Al-Anwar al-bahiyya • Sirat al-a'imma al-ithna 'ashar • Ibsar al-'ayn • Al-Shia wa l-hakimun • Qurrat al-basira • Kuhl al-basar • Bayt al-ahzan • Tatimmat al-muntaha
15th Century	Jannat al-'asima • Bahjat qalb al-Mustafa • Al-Sahih min sirat al-Nabi al-A'zam • Risala fi tarikh al-Nabi wa l-Al • Ma'sat al-Zahra' (a) • Furugh-i abadiyyat • Jihad al-Imam al-Sajjad • A'lam al-hidaya • Hayat fikri wa siyasi imaman Shia • 'Abd Allah b. Saba' wa asatir ukhra

v t e Theological Works
1st/7th century	Kitab Sulaym
2nd/8th century	Tawhid al-Mufaddal
3rd/9th century	Naqd al-'Uthmaniyya • Al-Mustarshid fi l-Imama • Tafsir al-Hibari
4th/10th century	Al-Ghayba (by al-Nu'mani) • Al-I'tiqadat • Al-Tawhid • Kamal al-din • Fada'il al-Shi'a • Tashih al-i'tiqad • Awa'il al-maqalat • Al-Nukat al-i'tiqadiyya • Al-Shuhub al-thawabiq • Al-Yaqut fi 'ilm al-kalam • Al-Fusul al-'ashara fi l-ghayba • Al-Hidaya ila l-usul wa l-furu' • Al-Ifsah fi l-imama • Iman Abi Talib • Al-Irshad • Kifayat al-athar
5th/11th century	Al-Dhakhira • Tamhid al-usul • Kitab al-Ghayba • Al-Shafi fi l-imama • Al-Iqtisad • Tanzih al-anbiya' • Taqrib al-ma'arif • Dala'il al-imama • Jumal al-'ilm wa l-'amal
6th/12th century	Al-Ihtijaj • Al-Naqd • Isharat al-sabaq • Al-Hujja 'ala l-dhahib
7th/13th century	Al-Tahsin • Talkhis al-muhassal • Tajrid al-i'tiqad • Qawa'id al-maram • Muntakhab al-anwar al-mudi'a • Al-Maslak fi usul al-din • Al-Tara'if • Mi'raj al-yaqin • 'Ijalat al-ma'arif • Bana' al-maqalat al-fatimiyya • Al-Najat fi l-qiyama
8th/14th century	Al-Alfayn • Nahj al-haqq wa kashf al-sidq • Kashf al-yaqin • Minhaj al-karama • Al-Abhath al-mufida • Al-Bab al-hadi 'ashar • Anwar al-malakut • Kashf al-murad • Wajib al-i'tiqad • Nihayat al-maram • Manahij al-yaqin • Ishraq al-yaqut • Nafi' yawm al-hashr
9th/15th century	Al-Lawami' al-ilahiyya • Sharh al-bab al-hadi 'ashar • Ilzam al-nawasib • Al-Sirat al-mustaqim
10th/16th century	Hadiqat al-shi'a • Haqa'iq al-iman • Al-Nizamiyya fi madhhab al-imamiyya
11th/17th century	Gowhar-i murad • Ihqaq al-haqq • Nawadir al-akhbar • Al-Mabda' wa l-ma'ad • Al-Sawarim al-muhriqa • Sarmaya-yi iman • Shawariq al-ilham
12th/18th century	Haqq al-yaqin • Ghayat al-maram • Al-Nass al-Jali • Diya' al-qulub • Manhaj al-rashad
13th/19th century	Anis al-muwahhidin • Hadi l-mudillin • 'Abaqat al-anwar
14th/20th century	Al-Ghadir • 'Aqa'id al-imamiyya (Muzaffar) • Al-Nass wa l-ijtihad • Asl al-Shi'a wa usuluha • Misbah al-hidaya • Ilzam al-nasib • Hidayat al-umma • Naqd al-washi'a • Manar al-huda • Dala'il al-sidq • Nur al-afham • Shabha-yi Pishawur • Shi'ite Islam • Al-Muraja'at • Kashf al-irtiyab • Al-Huda ila din al-Mustafa • Al-Shi'a bayn al-asha'ira wa l-mu'tazila • Fayd al-qadir
15th/21st century	Ma'alim al-madrasatayn • Bidayat al-ma'arif al-ilahiyya • Muhadirat fi ilahiyyat • Sharh ihqaq al-haqq • Sharh minhaj al-karama • Manshur 'aqa'id imamiyya • Al-Haqiqat-u ka ma hy-a
Theologians

v t e Imamate
Imams	Imam Ali b. Abi Talib (a) • Imam al-Hasan (a) • Imam al-Husayn (a) • Imam al-Sajjad (a) • Imam al-Baqir (a) • Imam al-Sadiq (a) • Imam al-Kazim (a) • Imam al-Rida (a) • Imam al-Jawad (a) • Imam al-Hadi (a) • Imam al-Hasan al-Askari (a) • Imam al-Mahdi (a)
Verses	Al-Wilaya Verse • Ibtila' Verse • Uli l-Amr Verse • Al-Ikmal Verse • Al-Tabligh Verse • Al-Sadiqin Verse • Qur'an 7:142
Hadiths	Hadith al-Thaqalayn • Al-Ghadir Sermon • Hadith al-Wisaya • Hadith al-Manzila • Hadith Yawm al-Dar • Hadith Man Mat • Hadith Silsilat al-Dhahab • Al-Ziyarah al-Jami'a al-Kabira • Hadith al-Khilafa • Hadith al-Safina • Hadith of Twelve Caliphs • Hadith of Lawh • Hadith al-Wilaya • Hadith of Jabir
Events	Event of Ghadir • Incident of Saqifa
Books	Al-Ghadir • 'Abaqat al-anwar • Al-Muraja'at • Al-Nass wa l-ijtihad • Ihqaq al-haqq • Shabha-yi Pishawur • Ithbat al-hudat • Minhaj al-karama • Al-Hidaya al-kubra • Al-Khara'ij wa l-jara'ih • Al-Ifsah fi l-imama • Dala'il al-imama • Al-Sirat al-mustaqim ila mustahiqqi l-taqdim
Beliefs	Infallibility of Imams • Abandoning the Better • Wilaya • knowledge of the Unseen • Occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (a) • Zuhur • Imamate of the Twelve Imams (a) • Ahl al-Bayt (a) • Caliphate • Legislative Guardianship • Muftarad al-Ta'a
Trusts	Tablets of Moses (a) • Ark of the Covenant • Mushaf of Fatima (a) • Ring of Solomon (a) • Stick of Moses (a) • Jafr • Book of 'Ali • Shirt of Joseph (a)
Related	Confidants of the Imams • Tawalli • Tabarri • Mahdawiyya • Raj'a • Ulu l-Amr • Abandoning the Better
God in Islam • Prophethood • Resurrection