Hawi l-aqwal fi ma'rifat al-rijal (book)

Hawi l-aqwal

Bibliographical Information
Author	Shaykh 'Abd al-Nabi Jaza'iri
Original title	حاوی الاقوال فی معرفة الرجال
Language	Arabic
Series	4 volumes
Subject	Rijal
Published	1418/1997-8
Publisher	Institute of al-Hidaya Li Ihya' al-Turath

Hāwi l-aqwāl fī maʿrifat al-rijāl (Arabic: حاوی الأقوال فی معرفة الرجال) is a book in Arabic in rijal, written by Shaykh 'Abd al-Nabi Jaza'iri (d. 1021/1612). The author divided the book to four parts titled by rijal terms and discussed the biography of 2358 transmitters of hadiths. In writing the book, he mostly referred to the activities and speeches of al-Najashi, al-Shaykh al-Tusi and al-Allama al-Hilli.

Naming

At the beginning of the book, 'Abd al-Nabi Jaza'iri said that he wrote this book following an istikhara by the Qur'an and named it Hawi l-aqwal fi ma'rifat al-rijal. In al-Dhari'a, Aqa Buzurg mentioned it as Rijal of Shaykh 'Abd al-Nabi Jaza'iri.

Introduction of the Book

In the introduction of the book, the author mentioned some issues in rijal:

• Definition and explanation of the subject matter of rijal

• Discussion on the terminology of authentication of the transmitters of hadith

• Reason for precedence of "jarh" over "ta'dil"

• The necessity of testimony of two just people to prove the purity of a transmitter of hadith

• Accepting the hadiths, transmitted by a hadith transmitter, before he has deviated from the right path

• Ways of distinguishing between transmitters of hadith in case of the similarity of names

• The seven schools of Shi'a

• Kunyas of the Imams (a)

• The difference between "asl" and "nawadir"

• Who is Ibn al-Ghada'iri?

Approach

In writing this book, the author has especially referred to rijal books of al-Najashi, al-Shaykh al-Tusi and al-'Allama al-Hilli. He first mentions the opinion of al-Najashi quoting his exact words, without the chains of transmission of hadiths, then he mentions the opinion of al-Hilli in Khulasat al-aqwal. Then, he mentions the views of al-Shahid al-Thani and al-Shaykh al-Tusi in al-Rijal and al-Fihrist. This way, he has tried to show which transmitter of hadith is mentioned in which of the five Shi'a principle in rijal. At the end of the discussions about every name, the author approves or rejects the issues and properly clarifies the state of the transmitter of hadith.

Content

The book is divided into four parts of Sihah, Hisan, Muwaththaqin and Di'af in an alphabetical order. The total number of people studied in this book reaches 2358.

In the section about Sihah, 763 people are mentioned who are considered as reliable. After this section, the author has studied those who are mentioned in Khulasat al-aqwal and then has mentioned Shi'a personalities and sources of hadiths after the time of al-Shaykh al-Tusi.

The second section is Hisan, referring to those whose reliability is not explicitly mentioned. It includes 80 people. At the end of this section, some friends and special companions of Imam Ali (a) and also the tribes of Rabi'a and Yaman are discussed.

In the third section, 62 reliable people are studied, who are introduced as reliable even with their corruption of beliefs. The fourth section is about weak ones who are 1168 of praised and unknown ones.

Ending

At the end of the book, Jaza'iri has mentioned some points:

• Kunyas and titles of famous figures

• Who is Abu Ja'far, teacher of Sa'd b. 'Abd Allah?

• Explanation of some chains of transmission of hadiths

• Explanation of the similarity of names

• The chain of transmission by Ibrahim b. Hashim b. Hammad b. 'Isa

• al-Kulayni's chain of transmission by Muhammad b. Isma'il

• The meaning of " 'Iddat-un min ashabina" (some of our companions) in al-Kulayni's hadiths

• Exceptions of the hadiths transmitted by Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Yahya

• Criticized ones among the companions of Imams (a)

• Owners of the letters by Imams (a)

• Dates of birth and martyrdom of Imams (a)

• Al-Shaykh al-Tusi's ways in transmission of hadiths in al-Istibsar and al-Tahdhib and the teachers of al-Shaykh_al-Saduq in Man la yahduruh al-faqih

• People of Consensus

• Introduction to tribes

Versions and Prints

The two available versions of the book are:

• The version in the Library of Iran Parliament. This is the version the author presented to the writer which seems to be his son to write it with a good handwriting. After finishing the writing, the writer has read the script to the author and he has added some newer points and corrected some mistakes of the writer.

• The version in the Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi Library in Qom.

Hawi l-aqwal was published in (1418/1997-8) with the research of Riyad Habib al-Nasiri by the institute al-Hidaya Li Ihya' al-Turath in Qom.