|
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
Iranian.
[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.
|