Hadith
The principle that
the hadith possesses validity, as attested by the Quran, is not
at all disputed among Shi'ites or in fact among all Muslims. But
because of the failure of some of the early rulers of Islam in
preserving and guarding the hadith, and the excesses of a group
among the companions and followers of the Prophet in propagating
hadith literature, the corpus of hadith came to face a certain
number of difficulties.
On the one hand the
caliphs of the time prevented the writing down and recording of
the hadith and ordered any pages containing texts of hadith to
be burned. Sometimes also any increase in activity in the transmission
and study of hadith was forbidden. In this way a certain number
of hadiths were forgotten or lost and a few were even transmitted
with a different or distorted meaning. On the other hand another
tendency also prevailed among another group of the companions
of the Holy Prophet who had had the honor of seeing his presence
and actually hearing his words. This group, which was respected
by the caliphs and the Muslim community, began an intense effort
to propagate the hadith. This was carried to such an extent that
sometimes hadith overruled the Quran and the injunction of a Quranic
verse was even considered abrogated by some people through a hadith.
Often the transmitters of hadith would travel many miles and bear
all the difficulties of traveling in order to hear a single saying.
A group of outsiders
who had worn the dress of Islam and also some of the enemies within
ranks of Islam began to change and distort some of the hadith
and thus diminished the reliability and validity of the hadith
that was then heard and known. For this very reason Islamic scholars
began to think of a solution. They created the sciences concerned
with the biography of learned men and chains of transmission of
hadith in order to be able to discriminate between true and false
hadith.
The Method of
Shi'ism in Authenticating the Hadith
Shi'ism, in addition
to seeking to authenticate the chain transmission of hadith, considers
the correlation of the text of the hadith with the Quran as a
necessary condition for its validity. In Shi'ite sources there
are many hadiths of the Prophet and the Imams with authentic chains
of transmission which themselves assert that a hadith contrary
to the Quran has no value. Only that hadith can be considered
valid which is in agreement with the Quran.
Basing itself on these
hadiths, Shi'ism does not act upon those hadiths which are contrary
to the text of the Quran. As for the hadiths whose agreement or
disagreement cannot be established, according to instructions
received from Imams they are passed by in silence without being
accepted or rejected. Needless to say there are also within Shi'ism
those who, like a group among the Sunnis, act on any hadith whatsoever
which they happen to find in different traditional sources.
The Method of
Shi'ism in Following the Hadith
A hadith heard directly
from the mouth of the Prophet or one of the Imams is accepted
as is the Quran. As for hadiths received through intermediaries,
the majority of Shi'ites act upon them if their chain of transmission
is established at every step or if there exists definite proof
concerning their truth, and, if they are concerned with principles
of doctrine which require knowledge and certainty, according to
the text of the Quran. Other than these two kinds of hadith, no
other hadith has any validity concerning principles of doctrine,
the invalid hadith being called "tradition with a single transmitter"
(khabar wahid). However, in establishing the injunctions of the
Shari'ah, because of reasons that have been given, Shi'ites act
also on a tradition which is generally accepted as reliable. Therefore
it can be said that for Shi'ism a certain and definitely established
hadith is absolutely binding and must be followed, while a hadith
which is not absolutely established but which is generally considered
as reliable is utilized only in the elaboration of the injunctions
of the Shari'ah.
