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A
Shi'ite Anthology
by Sayyid Hosein Nasr
(Excerpt from the Introduction to Allamah Sayyid Tabatabai's book,
" Shi'ite Islam " )
Despite the vast amount of scholarship carried out by Western orient lists
since the nineteenth century and the analyses and translations made of
various Islamic sources, very little attention has been paid thus far to
the collection of religious sayings, sermons, prayers, proverbs and
didactic expositions which comprises the corpus of Hadith as understood
by Twelve Imam Shi'ite Muslims. It is of course true that much of the
substance of the Shi'ite hadith collection resembles the Sunni
collection, [1] and to the extent that the latter has been studied the
former has also been dealt with in an indirect manner. But in as much as
Shi'ite hadiths possess a form, style and "perfume" of their
own, no indirect treatment of their substance and content can replace
the direct
translation and analysis of this collection itself.
It is in fact rather amazing that despite the extreme importance of
Shi'ite Hadith for the development of Shi'ite law and theology as well
as many fields of the "intellectual sciences" (al-'ulum al-'aqliyyah),
not to speak of its role in piety and the spiritual life, the sayings of
the Imams of Shi'ism have not been rendered into English until now. Nor
have they been studied as a whole and as a distinct body of religious
writings of an inspired nature within the general context of Islam
itself. The present volume represents, therefore, a pioneering effort to
present a sample of this extensive body of writings to the English
speaking world.
The Shi'ite hadith literature includes all the sayings of the Prophet of
Islam accepted by Shi'ites as well as the traditions of the twelve Imams
from 'Ali ibn Abi talib to the Mahdi. This collection is thus considered
to be, after the Holy Quran, the most important body of religious texts
for Shi'ites. As in Sunni Islam, so in this case: the Hadith forms along
with the Revealed Book the basis of all the religious sciences,
including of course the Shari'ah as well as religious life in both its
intellectual and devotional aspects. No aspect of the life and history
of the Shi'ite community would be comprehensible without a consideration
of this body of inspired writings.
What is particular to this collection, however, is that although it is a
part of the foundation of Islam as seen by Shi'ism, its
"composition" stretches over a period of more than two
centuries. In Sunni Islam, Hadith is limited to the sayings of the
Blessed Prophet. In fact to use the term "hadith" in Sunnism
is to refer to his sayings and not to anyone else's. In the case of
Shi'ism, however, although a clear distinction is made between prophetic
Hadith
(al-hadith al-nabawi) and the sayings of the Imams (al-hadith al-walawi),
the two are
included in a single collection. This means that from a certain point of
view the apostolic age of Islam is seen by Shi'ism to stretch way beyond
the relatively short period usually associated with apostles in various
religions.
The reason for this perspective lies of course in the Shi'ite conception
of the Imam. [2] The term imam as used in a technical sense in Shi'ism
differs from the general usage of the term in Arabic, where it means
"leader", or in Sunni political theory where it means the
caliph himself. As used technically in Shi'ism the term refers to the
person who contains within himself the "Muhammadan Light" (al-nur
al-mahammadi) which was handed down through Fatimah, the daughter of the
Blessed Prophet, and 'Ali, the first Imam, to the others, terminating
with the Hidden Imam who is to appear again one day as the Mahdi. [3] As
a result of the presence of this light, the Imam is considered to be
"sinless" (ma'sum) and to possess perfect knowledge of the
esoteric as well as the exoteric order.
The Imams are like a chain of light issuing forth from the "Sun of
Prophecy" which is their origin, and yet they are never separated
from that Sun. Whatever is said by them emanates from the same
inviolable treasury of inspired wisdom. Since they are an extension of
the inner reality of the Blessed Prophet, their words really go back to
him. That is why their sayings are seen in the Shi'ite perspective as an
extension of the prophetic Hadith, just as the light of their being is
seen as a continuation of the prophetic light. In Shi'ite eyes, the
temporal separation of the Imams from the Blessed Prophet does not at
all affect their essential and inner bond with him or the continuity of
the "prophetic light" which is the source of his as well as
their inspired knowledge.
This metaphysical conception is the reason that Shi'ites incorporate
traditions stretching over two centuries into a single whole with those
of the Blessed Prophet himself. It also distingiushes the Shi'ite
conception of Hadith from that held in Sunnism. Otherwise, the actual
content of Hadith in Sunni and Shi'ite collections is very close. After
all, both kinds concern the same spiritual reality. Of course the chain
of transmission accepted by the two schools is not the same. But despite
this difference in the authorities who have handed
down the prophetic sayings, the actual hadiths recorded by Sunni and
Shi'ite sources have overwhelming similarities. The major difference is
the Shi'ites' consideration of the extension of an aspect of the being
of the Blessed Prophet in the Imams and therefore their addition of the
sayings of the Imams to the strictly "prophetic" Hadith.
The sayings of the Imams are in many ways not only a continuation but
also a kind of commentary and elucidation of the prophetic Hadith, often
with the aim of bringing out the esoteric teachings of Islam. Many of
these hadiths deal, like those of the Blessed Prophet, with the
practical aspects of life and the Shari'ah. Others deal with pure
metaphysics, as do certain prophetic hadiths, especially the
"sacred hadiths" (hadith qudsi). Still other sayings of the
Imams deal with the devotional aspects of life and contain some of the
most
famous prayers which have been recited over the ages by both Sunnis and
Shi'ites. Finally some of the sayings deal with the various esoteric
sciences. They thus cover a vast spectrum ranging from the
"mundane" problems of daily life to the question of the
meaning of truth itself. Because of their innate nature and also the
fact that like Sufism they issue from the esoteric dimension of Islam,
they have intermingled over the ages with certain types of Sufi
writings. [4] They have also been considered as sources of Islamic
esotericism by the Sufis, because the Imams of Shi'ism are seen in the
Sufi perspective as the spiritual poles of their age. They appear in the
spiritual chain (silsilah) of various Sufi orders, even those which have
spread almost exclusively among Sunnis. [5]
Because of the nature of their contents, these sayings have influenced
nearly every branch of Shi'ite learning as well as the daily life of the
community. Shi'ite jurisprudence (fiqh) bases itself directly upon this
corpus in addition to the Holy Quran. Shi'ite theology (kalam) would be
incomprehensible without a knowledge of these sayings. Shi'ite Qur'anic
commentaries draw heavily upon them. Even sciences of nature such as
natural history or alchemy were developed with reference to them. And
finally these sayings have surfaced as sources for meditation of the
most sublime metaphysical themes over the centuries, and
some of the most elaborate metaphysical and philosophical schools of
Islam have issued to a large extent from them. Later Islamic philosophy
as associated with the name of Sadr al-Din Shirazi, would in fact be
inconceivable without recourse to the Shi'ite hadith collection.
[6]
One of Sadr al-Din's
greatest metaphysical works is his unfinished commentary upon a portion
of the most important of the four basic Shi'ite collections of Hadith,
the al-Kafi of al-Kulayni. [7]
Within the collection of Shi'ite hadiths are certain works which need to
be mentioned separately. There is first of all the celebrated Nahj al-balaghah
(The Path of Eloquence) of 'Ali ibn Abi talib assembled and systematized
by the fourth/tenth century Shi'ite scholar Sayyid Sharif al-Radi.
Considering the enormous importance of this work in Shi'ite Islam as
well as for all lovers of the Arabic language, it is remarkable how
little attention has been paid to it in European languages. [8] After
all, many of the leading writers of Arabic
such as Taha Husayn and Kurd 'Ali claim in their autobiographies to have
perfected their style of writing Arabic through the study of the Nahj
al-balaghah, while generation after generation of Shi'ite thinkers have
meditated and commented upon its meaning. Moreover, the shorter prayers
and proverbs of this work have spread very widely among the populace and
have entered both the classical and folk literature of not only Arabic
but also Persian, and through the influence of Persian, several other
languages of the Islamic peoples, such as Urdu.
The Nahj al-balaghah contains, besides spiritual advice, moral maxims
and political directives, several remarkable discourses on metaphysics,
especially concerning the question of Unity (al tawhid). It possesses
both its own method of exposition and a very distinct technical
vocabulary which distinguish it from the various Islamic schools which
have dealt with metaphysics.
Western scholars refused for a long time to accept the authenticity of
the authorship of this work and attributed it to Sayyid Sharif al-Radi,
although the style of al-Radi's own works is very different from that of
the Nahj al-balaghah. In any case as far as the traditional Shi'ite
perspective is concerned, the position of the Nahj al-balaghah and its
authorship can best be explained by repeating a conversation which took
place some eighteen or nineteen years ago between 'Allamah Tabatabai,
the celebrated contemporary Shi'ite scholar who
is responsible for the selection of the present anthology, and Henry
Corbin, the foremost Western student of Shi'ism. Corbin, who himself was
as far removed from "historicism" as possible, once said to 'Allamah
Tabataba'i during the regular discussions they had together in Tehran
(in which the present writer usually acted as translator), "Western
scholars claim that 'Ali is not the author of the Nahj al-balaghah. What
is your view and whom do you consider to be the author of this work
?" 'Allamah Tabataba'i raised his head and answered in his usual
gentle and calm manner, "For us whoever wrote the Nahj al-balaghah
is 'Ali, even if he lived a century ago."
The second notable work in the Shi'ite collection of Hadith is the al-Sahifat
al-sajjadiyyah (The Scroll of al-Sajjad of the fourth Imam Zayn al-'Abidin),
also called al-Sajjad. A witness to the tragedy of Karbala-which must
have left an indelible impression upon his soul-the fourth Imam poured
forth his inner life in a symphony of beautiful prayers which have
caused the Sahifah to be called the "Psalms of the Family of the
Holy Prophet". These prayers form a part of the daily religious
life of not only Shi'ites but also Sunnis, who find
them in many of the prayer manuals most popular in the Sunni world. [9]
Also notable in the Shi'ite collection of Hadith are the sayings of the
fifth, sixth and seventh Imams, from whom the largest number of
traditions have been recorded. These Imams lived at the end of the
Umayyad and beginning of the Abbasid dynasties when, as a result of the
changes in the caliphate, central authority had weakened and the Imams
were able to speak more openly and also train more students. The number
of students, both Shi'ite and Sunni, trained by the sixth Imam Ja'far
al-Sadiq has been estimated at four thousand. He left behind a vast body
of sayings which range from the field of law to the esoteric
sciences.
The sayings of the Holy Prophet and the Imams have been of course a
constant source of meditation and discussion by Shi'ite men of learning
throughout the ages. But it is especially in the later period of Shi'ite
history beginning with Sayyid Haydar Amuli, leading to the great masters
of the Safavid period such as Mir Damad and Mulla Sadra and continuing
to the present day that these sayings have served as a distinct source
for metaphysics and philosophy as well as the juridical and Quranic
sciences. The commentaries of Mulla Sadra, Qadi Sa'id al-Qummi and many
others on these collections of Shi'ite Hadith are among the great
masterpieces of Islamic thought. [10] Later Islamic philosophy and
theosophy in fact could not be understood without them. [11]
The present volume represents the second in a series of three which was
planned many years ago with the help and support of Professor Kenneth
Morgan, then of Colgate University, with the aim of presenting Shi'ism
to the Western world from the point of view of Shi'ism itself. The first
volume in the series appeared in English as Shi'ite Islam by 'Allamah
Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai edited and translated by the author of
these lines. [12]
The second volume,
called The Quran in Islam (Qur'an dar islam), was also written by 'Allamah
Tabataba'i and its Persian version printed in Tehrarn. Most of it was
also translated by us into English, but the translation was not
completed. The events of the last year in Iran have made the manuscript
of what we have already translated inaccessible to us so that there is
no possibility at the present moment to produce the English translation
as planned.
The present volume is the third and final one in the series. After a
long period of study and deliberation, 'Allamah Tabataba'i made the
present selection from the vast collection of Hadith, a task which would
have been bewildering for anyone not possessing his knowledge of this
inspired literature. Once this selection was made, Dr. William Chittick,
who was then residing in Tehran and working with us on various scholarly
projects, undertook the arduous task of translating the very compact and
difficult Arabic texts into English. Because of the lack of precedence
for rendering these writings into European languages and the nature of
the texts themselves, Dr. Chittick was faced with a formidable task. It
was only his intimate knowledge of Arabic, Persian and the subject
matter combined with great patience and meticulous scholarship that made
it possible for him to succeed in such a laborious and exacting
undertaking. He should be congratulated in every way for having
successfully concluded this colossal task.
It remained for the Muhammadi Trust to bring the project to fruition and
to make its publication possible. The credit for this volume and its
effect in making Shi'ism better known must be given to a large extent to
the Trust. As one who was responsible for this volume from its
inception, I want to thank the Trust especially Wg. Cdr. (ret'd.) Q.
Husayn, its very able secretary who with great love and devotion to the
true cause of Islam, enabled us to complete this project. Dr. Chittick,
also, has earned the gratitude of all students of Islam for his fine
scholarship and devotion to the completion of a very difficult
project.
This volume is particularly pertinent at the present moment, when
volcanic eruptions and powerful waves of a political nature associated
with the name of Islam in general and Shi'ism in particular have made an
authentic knowledge of things Islamic imperative, lest ignorance destroy
the very foundations of human society and the relations which make the
discourse between various nations and religious communities possible.
At the dawn of this fifteenth century of the terrestrial existence of
Islam, may this volume be an aid in bringing about an understanding of
one of the fundamental sources of inspiration and knowledge for not only
Shi'ism but Islam as such.
Wa'Llahu a'lam
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Cambridge, Massachussetts
Muharram 1400 November 1979
Notes:
[1] There are six canonical collections in Sunni Islam which have been
accepted by the whole community since they were first compiled in the
second and the third Islamic centuries. These collections, referred to
al-Sihah al-sittah, the Six Correct Collections, are associated with the
names of great scholars of Hadith such as Bukhari, Muslim, etc. Of
these, the most famous is that of Bukhari, which has been translated
into English (Sahih al-Bukhari: Arabic-English, by Muhammad Muhsin Khan,
Islamic University, Madina; second revised edition, Ankara, 1976). The
vast concordance of Hadith by Wensinck, Mensing et al. (Leiden, 1936-69)
is based on these six collections.
[2] See 'Allamah Tabatabai, Shi'ite Islam, London-Albany, 1975, pp.
173ff.
[3] As far as the continuity of the chain is concerned the Isma'ili
conception is of course different, since for the Isma'ilis the chain of
Imams continues un-interrupted to this day.
[4] On the relation between Shi'ism and Sufism See S. H. Nasr, Sufi
Essays,
London, 1972, pp. 104-20
[5] A most interesting example of such interpenetration is to be seen in
part of the famous prayer of the third Shi'ite Imam Husayn, also found
in Shadhili prayers manuals. See W. Chittick, "A Shadhili Presence
on Shi'ite Islam", Sophia Perennis, vol. I, 1975, pp. 97-100
[6] On this corpus as a source for the doctrines of Sadr al Din Shirazi
see S. H. Nasr, Sadr al Din Shirazi and His Transcendent Theosophy,
London-Boulder,
1978, chapter 4.
[7] This monumental work was translated into French by H. Corbin, who
taught it for many years in Paris, but it has never been published. See
Corbin, En Islam iranien, Paris, 1971.
[8] This work has been translated several times in part or wholly in the
Indo-Pakistani sub-continent and in Iran, but none of these translations
is completely adequate. A new translation as been prepared by S. H.
Jafri which is supposed to be published soon and which, we hope, will
fulfill the very difficult condition of doing justice to both the
meaning and the literary beauty of the text.
[9] Some of these prayers have been translated by C. Padwick in her
Muslim Devotions, London, 1961
[10] See H. Corbin, En islam iranien.
[11] Not only Mulla Sadra, but also his students were deeply influenced
by this collection. One of Mulla Sadra's most famous students, Mulla
Muhsin Fayd Kashani, who was at once theologian, gnostic and
philosopher, was also an outstanding authority on Shi'ite Hadith. His
al-Wafi is one of the most studied works on hadiths of the Shi'ite Imams
and their lines of transmission.
[12] In our introduction to that work we have dealt with the conditions
under which these works were conceived as well as a biography of 'Allammah
Tabatabai.
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