Sharh al-akhbar fi fada'il al-A'imma al-Athar (book): Difference between revisions

'''Sharḥ al-akhbār fī faḍā’il al-A’imma al-Aṭhār (a)''' (Arabic: شرحُ ألأخبار فی فَضائل ألأئمّة ألأطهار(ع)) is a book written by [[Qadi Nu’man al-Maghribi]] (d. 363 A.H./ 973), the prominent [[Isma’ili]] scholar. Despite what the title of the book suggests, it is not restricted to the virtues of the [[Imams (a)]]; rather it is a history of Imams (a) from [[Imam ‘Ali (a)]] to the life of [[Imam Sadiq (a)]].

Abu Hanifa Nu’man b. Muhammad b. Mansur b. Ahmad b. Hayun al-Tamimi al-Maghribi was a prominent Isma’ili scholar at the beginning of the formation of [[Isma’iliyya]]. He was born in 259 A.H. (872) in [[Morocco]] in a family of scholars. His father was a well-known Sunni scholar and a follower of the [[Maliki]] school and a narrator of many [[hadiths]]. Nu’man learned about hadiths and Islamic disciplines since he was a child.

Nu’man was a follower of the Maliki school, but he later converted to Isma’ili [[Shiism]]—the sect that takes [[Isma’il b. Ja’far al-Sadiq (a)]] to be the occluded Imam. Some Shiite scholars, such as [[‘Allama Majlisi]] and [[Muhaddith al-Nuri]], take him to be a Twelve-Imami Shiite, maintaining that he pretended to be an Isma’ili Shiite to protect himself from Isma’ili kings.

Since the author of the book was an Isma’ili scholar, the book is restricted to the first six Imams (a). Instead of the rest of the Imams (a), he talked about [[Mahdi al-Maghribi]], Isma’iliyya and the Fatimids. However, the book counts as an old book regarding the lives of Shiite Imams (a), particularly [[Imam ‘Ali (a)]]. Since the author agrees with the Twelve-Imami Shiites about the first six Imams (a), this part of the book agrees with the Imamiyya account of their lives.  The first and the second volumes of the book are devoted to the life and virtues of Imam ‘Ali (a). The third volume is devoted to the rest of [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]] and other issues. The book is a main source of Shiite [[hadith]] and history cited by old and more recent scholars. The book cites the [[Event of Ghadir]] from the book, ''al-Wilaya'', by Tabari which is not available today. And this adds to the value of the book.

[[Qadi Nu’man]]’s method in this book is hadith-based. Narrators of hadiths in the book are Imamiyya narrators, just as the contents of the hadiths—virtues of Ahl al-Bayt (a)—are like Imamiyya hadiths. Even the last part of the book, regarding [[Imam Mahdi (a)]], cites Imamiyya hadiths concerning Imam Mahdi (a). The book has no repeated hadiths, it shortens chains of narrations, it cites only reliable and well-known hadiths, it is classified in 16 parts, and it cites hadiths from well-known chains of narrations.

The book consists of 16 parts. There is some confusion in the order of these parts; for example, one issue is sometimes mentioned in different parts. For example, there are hadiths from [[the Prophet (s)]] about the virtues of Imam ‘Ali (a) in the first part, but it cited [[Hadith of Sadd al-Abwab]] in the 7th part as well. The author cited hadiths without any classification, and the titles and classifications are given by the editor of the book.

11 parts of the book, constituting the present two volumes, are concerned with the virtues and the biography of Imam ‘Ali (a). The other parts concern the general virtues of [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]], [[Khadija (a)]], [[Fatima al-Zahra (a)]], [[Imam Hasan (a)]] and [[Imam Husayn (a)]], and the history of [[Karbala]]. He also devoted part 13 of the book to the household of [[Abu Talib]] and the martyrs of Karbala. He then cited the virtues of Imam Sadiq (a) and discussed Shiite sects formed after Imam Sadiq (a).

* Part 1: [[Hadith Madina al-‘Ilm]]

* Part 2: Imam ‘Ali (a)’s superiority in faith

* Part 3: [[Jihad]] of Imam ‘Ali (a).

* Part 6: [[Amir al-Mu’minin (a)]]’s argument with Qasitun

* Part 7: on the virtues of Amir al-Mu’minin (a) and the rejection of [[Hashawiyya]]

* Part 8: hadiths regarding the obediance of Imam ‘Ali (a)

* Part 9: on what is revealed in the [[Quran]] about Imam ‘Ali (a)

* Part 10: about [[Mu’awiya b. Abi Sufyan]]

* Part 16: features of Imam ‘Ali (a)’s Shiites

 

Since Qadi Nu’man lived in the place of [[Fatimid]] [[caliphs]] and used their facilities such as large libraries, he had many sources in his disposal. However, he did not mention many of his sources.

* The manuscript of the Isma’iliyya Library in [[Mumbai]]  

The book is published by the Publications of Jami’a Mudarrisin in [[Qom]], edited by Sayyid Muhammad Husayni Jalali.