Muhaddith: Difference between revisions

'''Muḥaddith''' (Arabic: {{ia|مُحَدُّث}}), or a scholar of [[hadith]]s, is an expert of hadiths, transmitters of hadiths, terminologies of hadiths, reliable and unreliable hadiths, and problems with hadiths. Most muhaddiths wrote large hadith books. The best-known Shiite muhaddiths include [[al-Kulayni]], [[al-Shaykh al-Saduq]], and [[al-Shaykh al-Tusi]], the authors of the [[Four Books]]. [['Allama Majlisi]] and [[al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili]] were well-known muhaddiths in the [[Safavid]] period. In later periods, [[Mirza Husayn Nuri]], the author of ''[[Mustadrak al-wasa'il]]'' and [[Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi]], the author of ''[[Safinat al-bihar]]'', came to be known as muhaddiths.

According to [[al-Mamaqani]] in his book, ''[[Miqbas al-hidaya]]'', muhaddith is a person who knows how to establish the reliability of a hadith, the names of its transmitters, and their righteousness, as well as whether or not something is added to, or eliminated from, a hadith. In his commentaries on ''Miqbas al-hidaya'', Muhammad Rida Mamaqani takes a muhaddith to be a person who knows the science of hadith and its terminologies as well as the terms of abstruse hadiths (gharib al-hadith) and types of hadiths. He quotes ''[[Kashshaf istilahat al-funun]]'' as suggesting that a muhaddith is characterized by hearing, writing, reciting, and memorizing hadiths, as well as travelling to different places in order to hear hadiths. According to [[al-Shahid al-Thani]], a muhaddith is a person who is engaged with the tradition of [[the Prophet (s)]] and [[Imams (a)]] in a scholarly way.

According to al-Mamaqani, if a person is referred to as a muhaddith in a source of [[rijal]], that would count as a praise, although it does not amount to that person’s reliability.

Al-Mamaqani has compared terms such as “rawi” (transmitter of hadiths), “musnid” (transmitter of hadiths through chains of transmission), “muhaddith”, and “hafiz” (memorizer of hadiths) with one another. According to him, a “rawi” is a person who just transmits a hadith, whether or not he mentions the chain of transmission. “Rawi” is of a lower ranking than a muhaddith. He makes it explicit that a person is not called a “muhaddith” just by having heard a hadith.

In some sources, “muhaddith” refers to a person with an [[Akhbari]] tendency, in contrast to an [[Usuli]] rationalist tendency. Such a person relies mostly on hadiths. They are also known as “Ashab al-Hadith” (people of hadith).

The authors of the [[Four Books]] are the earliest Shiite muhaddiths whose works are available to us today. They are [[Muhammad b. Ya'qub al-Kulayni]] (d. 329/941) the author of ''[[al-Kafi]]'', [[Muhammad b. 'Ali b. Babawayh]] (d. 381/991) the author of ''[[Man la yahduruh al-faqih]]'' and several other books of hadiths, and [[Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi]] (d. 460/1067), known as “al-Shaykh al-Tusi”, the author of ''[[Tahdhib al-ahkam]]'' and ''[[al-Istibsar]]''. They lived in 4th/10th and 5th/11th centuries.

Muhaddiths in the period of the [[Safavid]] dynasty in [[Iran]], in which [[Akhbarism]] was dominant, significantly contributed to the growth of the Shiite heritage of hadiths. They compiled several collections of hadiths in this period, including ''[[Bihar al-anwar]]'' which is the most comprehensive Shiite collection of hadiths. Muhaddiths of this period include [[Muhammad Muhsin Fayd Kashani]] (1091/1680) the author of ''[[al-Wafi]]'', [[al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili]] (d. 1104/1693) the author of ''[[Wasa'il al-shi'a]]'', and [[Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi]] (d. 1110/1699) the author of ''Bihar al-anwar''.

Well-known Shiite muhaddiths in 14th/19th and 15th/20th centuries are [[Mirza Husayn Nuri]] (d. 1320/1902), known as “al-Muhaddith al-Nuri”, the author of ''[[Mustadrak al-wasa'il]]'', and [[Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi]] (d. 1359/1940), the author of ''[[Safinat al-bihar]]''.