2 - The Hermeneutics of al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā: The Interpretation of akhbār al-āḥād in Kitāb al-Amālī

Summary

Introduction

For Shīʿīs, hadiths (often rendered as ‘traditions’) and akhbār (sg. khabar, ‘reports’) that describe words, actions or habits of infallible figures, including the Prophet Muhammad and the Shīʿī Imams, are considered the most important sources on theological and legal issues because they are seen to hold divine knowledge. Therefore, it has long been an essential challenge for Shīʿī scholars to determine the authenticity of traditions and reports. A common criterion involves examining whether the tradition is a ‘concurrent report’ (khabar mutawātir or has been narrated by a limited number of transmitters, thus a ‘single, isolated tradition’ (khabar al-wāḥid, pl. akhbār al-āḥād). If it is a concurrent report, the tradition is well attested and thus considered authentic, but what about a single, isolated tradition? Among the leading scholars of the Būyid period, two distinct attitudes toward isolated traditions are discernible: A ‘traditionalist’ attitude and a ‘rationalist’ position. Proponents of the traditionalist view endorsed the authority of khabar al-wāḥid, while proponents of the rationalist view regarded it as inadmissible.

Al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā rejected the traditionalist attitude and adopted Muʿtazilī ideas regarding the fundamental place of reason (ʿaql) in the establishment of religious knowledge. He did not accept the authority of khabar al-wāḥid; in fact, he rejected them with both rational and scriptural arguments. Yet in his works he interpreted these kinds of reports and traditions. In this chapter I explore al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā's hermeneutical approach to akhbār al-āḥād to present his principles and methods of interpreting traditions. In order to address his theoretical principles, I first investigate al-Murtaḍā's views on the authority of khabar al-wāḥid and then discuss some examples of his interpretations of traditions.

The focus of this chapter is al-Murtaḍā's magnum opus, Ghurar al-fawāʾid wa-durar al-qalāʾid, known as Amālī al-Murtaḍā. This book belongs to the dictations (amālī) genre in Arabic literature; it contains eighty dictation sessions (majlis, pl. majālis) in addition to a sizeable appendix (takmila). In each session, al-Murtaḍā discusses the interpretation of a Qur’anic verse and/or a prophetic tradition that poses a challenge to his theology, explains a rare linguistic occurrence or presents a compelling stylistic case.