Hadith al-Thaqalayn: Difference between revisions

Hadith of thaqalayn (Arabic: حديث الثقلين, literally: hadith of the two weighty things) is a famous and mutawatir (frequent) hadith from the Prophet (a): “I leave after myself the book of Allah (Qur’an) and my ‘itra (family) between you, these two will never separate each other till the judgment day.”

The hadith is accepted by all Muslims, both Sunni and Shi’a, and has come in the hadith books of all of Islamic sects.

Shi’a scholars relying on hadith of thaqalayn, prove the necessity of Imam, necessity of infallibility of Imams, and the necessity of continuation of Imamate in all times.

‘’Usul al-Kafi’’ which is one of the four books of Shi’a:

“Indeed I am leaving two things among you, to which if you hold yourself, you will never astray: the book of Allah –who is all mighty and great- and my ahl al-bayt (household), my ‘itra (family). O people hear! And I have announced to you that: indeed you will enter my presence and I will ask you about what you did to the thaqalayn (two weighty things) and the thaqalayn are the book of Allah and my ahl al-bayt.”

‘’Sunan al-Nasa’i’’, one of the six sahih (authentic) books of Sunnis:

“Looks like I have been called, and I answered (my time of death has come), indeed I have leaved the thaqalayn (two weighty things) among you, one of them is greater form the other, the book of Allah and my ‘itra (family), my ahl al-bayt (household). So look after how you will behave with them after me, indeed they will never separate each other until they enter my presence by the pool [in the paradise].”

The hadith is accepted by both Shi’a and Sunni scholars and its authenticity could not be rejected.

According to the book ‘’[[Hadith al-thaqalayn wa maqamat ahl al-bayt]]’’, the hadith is narrated by 25 companions of the Prophet (s) in Sunni sources, some of which are:

# Zayd b. Arqam: the hadith of thaqalayn is narrated with 6 chains of narration from him in the books: ‘’Sunan an-Nasa’i’’, ‘’al-Mu’jam al-kabir’’, ‘’Sunan al-Tarmadhi’’, ‘’Mustadrak al-Hakim’’, ‘’Musnad Ahmad’’.

# Zayd b. Thabit: in ‘’Musnad Ahmad’’ and ‘’al-Mu’jam al-kabir’’.

# [[Jabir b. ‘Abd Allah]]: in ‘’Sunan al-Tarmadhi’’, ‘’al-Mu’jam al-kabir’’, and ‘’al-Mu’jam al-awsat’’.

# Hudhayfa b. Usayd: in ‘’al-Mu’jam al-kabir’’

# Abu Sa’id al-Khudri: in ‘’Musnad Ahmad’’ and ‘’Du’afa’ al-kabir’’.

# Imam ‘Ali (a): with 2 chains of narrators in ‘’al-Bahr al-zikhar’’ and ‘’Kanz al-‘Ummal’’.

# Abudharr al-Ghifari: in ‘’al-Mu’talaf wa al-Mukhtalaf’’.

# Abu Hurayra: in ‘’Kashf al-astar ‘an zawa’id al-bazar’’

# ‘Abd Allah b. Hantab: in ‘’Usd al-ghaba’’

# Jubayr b. Mut’im: in ‘’Zilal al-Janna’’

Al-Bahrani, the author of ‘’[[Ghayat al-maram wa hujjat al-khisam]]’’, narrated the hadith from 39 chains of narrations from Sunni authors. According to the book, the hadith is narrated in ‘’Musnad Ahmad’’, ‘’Sahih Muslim’’, ‘’Manaqib Ibn al-Maghazili’’, ‘’Sunan Tarmadhi’’, ‘’al-‘Umda Tha’labi’’, ‘’Musnad Abi Ya’li’’, ‘’al-Mu’jam al-awsat’’, ‘’al-‘Umda Ibn al-Bitriq’’, ‘’Yanabi’ al-mawadda’’, ‘’al-Tara’if’’, ‘’Fara’id al-simtayn’’, and ‘’the commentary on Nahj al-balagha’’ for Ibn Abi al-Hadid.

===Shi’a Sources===

According to ‘’[[Ghayat al-maram wa hujjat al-khisam]]’’, in Shi’a sources 82 hadiths is narrated with the content of the hadith of thaqalayn, in many books such as: ‘’[[Usul al-kafi]]’’, ‘’[[Kamal al-din]]’’, ‘’[[al-Amali for  al-Saduq]]’’, ‘’[[al-Amali for al-Mufid]]’’, ‘’[[al-Amali for al-Tusi]]’’, [[‘Uyun akhbar al-Rida]]’’, ‘’[[al-Ghayba for Nu’mani]]’’, ‘’[[Basa’ir al-darajat]]’’.

In addition to the narration of the hadith of thaqalayn, Shi’a scholars have also written independent books about it, like:

‘’Hadith al-thaqalayn’’ by Qawam al-Din Muhammad Wishnawi Qummi, ‘’Sa’adat al-darayn fi sharh hadith al-thaqalayn’’ by ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi in Farsi, ‘’Hadith al-thaqalayn’’ by Najm al-Din al-‘Askari, ‘’Hadith al-Thaqalayn’’ by Sayyid ‘Ali Milani, ‘’Hadith al-thaqalayn wa maqamat ahl al-bayt’’ by Ahmad al-Mahuzi.

There’s disagreement about when and where the hadith is stated; for example Ibn Hajar al-Haythami says: “the Prophet (s), stated the hadith of thaqalayn, after the conquest of Mecca, on his way back to medina, in [[Ta’if]]”; but others mentioned other times and places.

Studying this different hadiths, it’s apparent that although some of them could be considered as different reports about a single occurrence, but not for many others; so it is clear that the Prophet (a) has mentioned the importance of thaqalayn (Qur’an and ahl al-bayt) in different times and places, especially in his last days of life.

* In [[Hajj al-wida’]], on a camel, in the [[‘Arafa]] day.

In some of the sources of Sunnis, instead of the word “’itra’’ (family) the word “sunna” (tradition) has come. These narrations are rare and even Sunni scholars didn’t considered them; because the hadith with the word “sunna” didn’t come in the original reliable sources.

===Who are ‘Itra?===

In most of the narrations the phrase “ahl al-bayt” has come as a description for the word “’itra”, but in some narrations only “’itra”, and in some other only “ahl al-bayt” has come, and in some cases the order about the obedience of ahl al-bayt is repeated.

In some of Shi’a sources, twelve imams are mentioned as the explanation of “ahl al-bayt”.

Shi’a scholars narrated the hadith of thaqalayn in their books and referred to it as a proof for some of the Shi’a beliefs. [[Mir Hamid Husayn]] (d. 1306) dedicated a chapter of his book ‘’[[‘Abaqat al-anwar]]’’ to the hadith of thaqalayn and its chains of narrators, using Shi’a and Sunni sources. In the discussion of [[Imamate]], he had mentioned the hadith foremost.

Some of the beliefs of Shi’a could be proved using hadith of thaqalayn:

In the hadith of thaqalayn, ahl al-bayt are put next to Qur’an, and this is stated that they will not separate each other; therefore, as the obedience of Qur’an is necessary for Muslims, so is the obedience of ahl al-bayt.

* Putting stress on that if you obey Qur’an and ahl al-bayt, you will never astray. This clearly shows that there’s no error in the teachings of ahl al-bayt.

* The companionship of ahl al-bayt with Qur’an shows that as Qur’an is free from any error –according to the consensus (ijma’) of Muslims- so the other side (ahl al-bayt) must also be free from errors.

In addition to Shi’a scholars some Sunni scholars have also accepted the indication of the hadith to the infallibility of ahl al-bayt.

* The companionship of ahl al-bayt with Qur’an shows that as Qur’an is the source of guidance in Islam, so there always must be someone from ahl al-bayt to whom people refer in religious issues.

* The Prophet (a) emphasizes that Qur’an and ahl al-bayt will never separate each other.

Al-Zurqani al-Maliki, one of the Sunni scholars in his commentary on ‘’al-Mawahib’’, narrates from al-‘Allama al-Samhudi: it’s is realized from the hadith of thaqalayn that there’s always a person from ahl al-bayt who deserves to be followed, till the judgment day; so he is meant by the persuasion in the hadith, as the book (Qur’an) is like this [which is and will be always available].

Because Qur’an is the main source of beliefs and practical rulings of all Muslims and according to hadith of thaqalayn ahl al-bayt are the inseparable accompany of Qur’an, it is clear that ahl al-bayt are the infallible scientific authority in all of Islamic sciences.

Sayyid ‘Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din in his discussion with Shaykh Sulaym al-Bushri –the discussion is quoted in ‘’[[al-Muraji’at]]’’- proved the scientific authority of ahl al-bayt and the necessity of their obedience.

==Hadith of Thaqalayn and the Approach of Islamic Sects==

As mentioned above, the hadith of thaqalayn is accepted by both Shi’a and Sunni scholars. There have been many discussions about the hadith which resulted in the approach of Islamic sects; including the discussion of Sayyid ‘Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din with al-Shyakh Sulaym al-Bushri, one of the Sunni scholars; the discussion formed the book ‘’[[al-Muraji’at]]’’.