Muhaddith: Difference between revisions

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 transmitter of hadiths is a person who just transmits a hadith, whether or not he mentions the chain of transmission. the transmitter of hadiths 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]].

According to authors of [[diraya]] books, a scholar of [[rijal]] is a person who individually knows transmitters of hadiths and their characteristics and assesses the reliability or unreliability of a transmitter. However, a muhaddith is a person who is an expert on chains of transmission of hadiths and their texts, in addition to knowledge of transmitters of hadiths, and can thus discern the reliability or unreliability of 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).

Shiite muhaddiths have at least been classified in two ways. First, on the basis of historical periods, and second, on the basis of their schools of hadiths, such as the school of hadith in [[Qom]], the school of hadith in [[Kufa]], and the like.

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. 329/940-41) the author of ''[[al-Kafi]]'', [[Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Saduq]] (d. 381/992) the author of ''[[Man la yahduruh al-faqih]]'' and several other books of hadiths, and [[Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Tusi]] (d. 460/1067-68), 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 [[Mulla Muhsin al-Fayd al-Kashani]] (1091/1680) the author of ''[[al-Wafi]]'', [[al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili]] (d. 1104/1692-93) the author of ''[[Wasa'il al-shi'a]]'', and [[Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi]] (d. 1110/1698-99) the author of ''Bihar al-anwar''.

Well-known Shiite muhaddiths in fourteenth/nineteenth and fifteenth/[[twentieth centuries]] are [[Mirza Husayn al-Nuri]] (d. 1320/1902-3), 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]]''.

==References==

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