Dirayat al-hadith: Difference between revisions

Diraya al-hadith is, in general, a discipline concerned with issues that contribute to a more reliable narration, a more accurate understanding, and a more precise evaluation of hadiths. However, Shiite and Sunni scholars have provided different definitions or conceptions for the discipline.

In his classification of sciences and disciplines, Ibn Kafani has, for the first time, divided the discipline of hadith into two branches concerning riwaya (narration) and diraya (comprehension) of hadiths, giving definitions for each. He takes the discipline of riwaya al-hadith to study quotations of [[the Prophet (s)]]'s words and acts, an accurate report thereof, and a correction of words in hadiths. Diraya al-hadith, he says, is a discipline concerning the nature of narrating a hadith, conditions and types of such narration and the verdicts concerning them, the condition of the narrator of hadiths, and everything related to this.

Ibn Jamaʾa has summarized the issues discussed in diraya al-hadith, taking it to be a discipline concerned with the laws and regulations of the condition, the chains of narrators and the text of hadiths.

However, Tashkupri Zada has provided a totally different definition of the disciplines of riwaya al-hadith and diraya al-hadith. He admits that a major part of diraya al-hadith is concerned with the narrative chains of hadiths, but he takes it to discuss the status of narrators with respect to their honesty and reliability and the way hadiths are connected to the Prophet (s), given that some hadiths may be disconnected from the Prophet (s) in their chains of narrators (e.g. at least one person in the chain of narrators is dropped).

He takes riwaya al-hadith to be a discipline that considers the meanings of the words appearing in [[hadith]]s, in accordance with the grammar of the Arabic language, evaluating hadiths with respect to the status of the Prophet (s).

The definitions provided by Shiite scholars of diraya al-hadith may be classified into three main ones:

[[Al-Shaykh al-Baha'i]]'s definition: with some changes into al-Shahid al-Thani's definition, he takes diraya al-hadith to be a discipline in which the narrative chain (sanad) of hadiths, its text, the manners of receiving and narrating a hadith are discussed.

[[Aqa Buzurg Tihrani]]'s definition: he has modified al-Shahid al-Thani's definition, restricting diraya al-hadith to the narrative chain of hadiths, taking it to discuss the attributes of the narrative chains of hadiths, in ways related to their reliability and unreliability.

There is no history of classifying the discipline of hadith into riwaya al-hadith and diraya al-hadith among Shiite scholars of hadith. However, some contemporary Shiite scholars have made similar distinctions, which is an adaptation of the classification made by Sunni scholars of hadith.