People of Consensus: Difference between revisions

'''People of Consensus''' or '''Aṣḥāb al-Ijmāʿ''' (Arabic: {{iarabic|أصحاب الإجماع}}) is a term which refer to a certain group of transmitters of [[hadith]]s who are considered by scholars of [[rijal]] to be in a high ranking of reliability. According to the majority of scholars, they are 18 people from the companions of [[Imam al-Baqir (a)]] through those of [[Imam al-Rida (a)]]. They are considered as very reliable by all scholars. However, there are various views as to how reliable they are—from limiting the reliability to these people themselves to the reliability of everyone from whom they have transmitted hadiths.

 

In his ''[[Rijal al-Kashshi|Rijal]]'', [[al-Kashshi]] highlighted the names of a number of transmitters of hadiths in three cases (in [[companions of Imam al-Baqir (a)]] and Imam al-Sadiq (a); [[companions of Imam al-Sadiq (a)]]; and [[companions of Imam al-Rida (a)]]), claiming that [[Imami]] scholars have [[consensus]] over the accuracy of hadiths transmitted by these people. For example, he says about some companions of Imam al-Sadiq (a), “the [[Imamiyya]] have consensus over the accuracy of hadiths which accurately narrated by them as well as the truth of their sayings”. Since al-Kashshi used the word “consensus” (ijma') with regard to these people, they came to be known as “People of Consensus” (“Ashab al-Ijma').

 

 

* The reliability of all people from whom the People of Consensus have transmitted hadith: some people have claimed that any chain of transmission of hadiths in which one of the People of Consensus occurs implies the reliability of all other transmitters from whom they have transmitted hadith, supporting the idea with the saying that, “People of Consensus do not transmit hadiths from anyone except if that person is reliable”. However, [[Ayatollah al-Khoei]] has rejected the claim, because these people have sometimes transmitted hadiths from unreliable transmitters of hadiths.

* The reliability of all hadiths: some people have claimed that if People of Consensus occur in the chain of transmission of a hadith, then the hadith counts as reliable and acceptable, even if they have transmitted the hadith from a non-righteous person. [[Al-Hurr al-'Amili]] has subscribed to such a view early in the 7th point at the end of his ''[[Wasa'il al-Shi'a]]''. The view was also adopted by [[al-Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi Bahr al-'Ulum]] in his ''[[al-Durrat al-Najafiyya]]'' under [[Ibn Abi 'Umayr]].

* The reliability of the People of Consensus only: some scholars, including Ayatollah al-Kho'i, maintain that there was a consensus over the reliability of these people only, that is, they never lied and were highly honored, but it does not mean that all hadiths attributed to them are acceptable.

Historically speaking, the formation of the term "Ashab al-Ijma'" (People of Consensus) traces back to the transition decades from the third/ninth century to the fourth/tenth century; indeed it goes back to [[al-Kashshi]], the well-known [[Imami]] scholar of 'Ilm al-Rijal in parts of his book. The following words from [[al-Shaykh al-Tusi]] might point to People of Consensus:

For [[al-Shaykh al-Baha'i]], People of Consensus were very important: if a [[hadith]] was cited in a [[asl]] (hadith book) attributed to one of these people, he considered it as reliable. [[Mir Damad]] also considered hadiths involving these people to be reliable. On the basis of his understanding of [[al-Kashshi]]'s words, he believed that hadiths involving these people are reliable, even if they drop part of the narrators between them and the Imams (a).

[[Akhbari]] scholars, such as [[Muhammad Amin Istarabadi]], [[Fayd Kashani]], [[Husayn b. Shihab al-Din al-Karaki]], and [[al-Hurr al-'Amili]], insisted that there is such a consensus over the reliability of hadiths narrated by these people in order to argue that every hadith in the [[Four Books]] and other Shiite hadith collections are correct. In fact, this has led to the issue coming under more attention by later scholars. Among later scholars, [[al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Shafti|al-Shafti]] wrote an independent essay on this (published in 1314/1896).

===Among the Companions of  Imam al-Baqir (a)===

===Among the Companions of Imam al-Sadiq (a)===

===Among the Companions of Imam al-Kazilm (a) and Imam al-Rida (a)===

Al-Kashshi pointed out that some [[Imamiyya]] mentioned [[al-Hasan b. 'Ali b. Faddal]] and [[Faddala b. Ayyub]] instead of [[al-Hasan b. Mahbub]]; and some have mentioned [['Uthman b. 'Isa]] instead of [[Faddala b. Ayyub]].

 

 

 

Muhaddith Nuri takes People of Consensus to be 22 or 23 people. He says although al-Kashshi has mentioned 18 people, he did not mean to restrict People of Consensus to them. He only reported the consensus that he had a reason to believe. So, there might have been another consensus which he had no reason to believe. Other people have replaced [[Abu Basir al-Asadi]] and [[al-Hasan b. Mahbub]] with other people, but they do not mean to say that there is no consensus other than this. Thus, al-Kashshi has just reported one consensus, and others have reported another consensus. We can accept both consensuses, taking all these people to be People of Consensus. Thus, he adds disputed people ([[Layth b. al-Bakhtari]], [[al-Hasan b. Faddal]], [[Faddala b. Ayyub]], and [['Uthman b. 'Isa]]) to the list of People of Consensus.

 

Given the significance of People of Consensus, they have been discussed in many books of [[hadith]] and [[rijal]]. Moreover, some monographs have also been written in this regard.

* The material for this article is mainly taken from {{ia|[[:fa:اصحاب اجماع|اصحاب اجماع]]}} in Farsi WikiShia.

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