.+. National Libraryof CanadaBibliothque nationaledu CanadaAcquisitions and Direction des fOcquisitions etBibliographic Services Branch des services bibliographiques395 Wellington Street 395. rue W e l l j ~ l o nOttawa. Ontario Ottawa (Onlario)K1A ON4 K1A ON4NOTICE AVISThe qualiiy of this microform isheavily dependent upon thequality of the origil1al thesissubmitted for microfilming.Every effort has been made toensure the highest quality ofreproduction possible.If pages are missing, contact theuniversity which granted thedegree.Sorne pages may have indistinctprint especially if the originalpages were typed with a poortypewriter ribbon or if theuniversity sent us an inferiorphotocopy.Reproduction in full or in part ofthis microform is governed bythe Canadian Copyright Act,R.S.C. 1970, c. C-30, andsubsequent amendments.CanadaLa qualit de cette microformedpend grandement de la qualitde la thse soumise aumicrofilmage. Nous avons toutfait pour assurer une qualitsuprieure de reproduction.S'il manque des pages, veuillezcommuniquer avec l'universitqui a confr le grade.La qualit d'impression decertaines pages peut laisser .dsirer, surtout si les pagesoriginales ont tdactylographies l'aide d'unruban us ou si l'universit nousa fait parvenir une photocopie dequalit infrieure.La reproduction, mme partielle,de cette mlcroforme est soumise la Loi canadienne sur le droitd'auteur, SRC 1970, c. C-30, etses amendements subsquents.BARLY DOCTRINE OF THE SHIoAH, ACCORDING TO THE SHIoI SOURCESLynda G. ClarkeInstitute of Islamic StudiesMcGill University, MontrealJuly 1994A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studiesand Research in partial fulfillment of the requirementsof the degree of Ph.D.(c) L. Clarke, 19941+1 National Ubraryof CanadaBiblioth:Jque nationaledu CanadaAcquisitions and Direction des acquisitions etBibliographie services Branch des services bibliographiques395 Wellington SlreetOttawa,OntarioK1A0N4395, rue WellingtonOnawa (On'ano)K1AON4THE AUTHOR RAS GRANTED ANIRREVOCABLE NON-EXCLUSIVELICENCE ALLOWING THE NATIONALLffiRARY OF CANADA TOREPRODUCE, LOAN, DISTRIBUTE ORSELL COPIES OF mSIHER THESIS BYANY MEANS AND IN ANY FORM ORFORMAT, MAKING TffiS THESISAVAILABLE TO INTERESTEDPERSONS.THE AUTHOR RETAINS OWNERSffiPOF THE COPYRIGHT IN mSIHERTHESIS. NEITHER THE THESIS NORSUBSTANTIAL EXTRACTS FROM ITMAY BE PRINTED OR OTHERWISEREPRODUCED WITHOUT mS/BERPERMISSION.L'AUTEUR A ACCORDE UNE LICENCEIRREVOCABLE ET NON EXCLUSIVEPERMETTANT A LA BffiLIOTHEQUENATIONALE DU CANADA DEREPRODUIRE, PRETER, DISTRIBUEROU VENDRE DES COPIES DE SATHESE DE QUELQUE MANIERE ETSOUS QUELQUE FORME QUE CE SOITPOUR METTRE DES EXEMPLAIRES DECETTE THESE A LA DISPOSITION DESPERSONNE INTERESSEES.L'AUTEUR CONSERVE LA PROPRIETEDU DROIT D'AUTEUR QUI PROTEGESA THESE. NI LA THESE NI DESEXTRAITS SUBSTANTIELS DE CELLE-CI NE DOIVENT ETRE IMPRIMES OUAUTREMENT REPRODUITS SANS SONAUTORISATION.ISBN 0-612-05688-0CanadaABSTRACTWeIl before the Occultation of the Twelfth imam in330/942 and before the time of the great Shotheologians such as al-Shaykh al-Mufd (d. 413/1022),the Shoah had constructed their own integral andelaborate system of thought. This thought is expressedi ~ the sayings of the Sho imams, recorded in hadthcollections gathered in the traditionist centres ofKufah and Qum. It is apparent when these narratives arepieced together that the Sho system as presented bythe Shoah themselves bears little resemblance to thedescriptions of the heresiographers. At the centre ofthe Sho worldview is the relation between the imamsand the community. The imams' constitution isaltogether supernatural, and they succeed to the wholeof the prophetie knowledge, while the Shoah, who werecreated of the same substance as the imams, are thebearers and beneficiaries of that knowledge. The imamscontinue to receive intelligence from Gad sa that theyknow every thing and are able ta address themselves taevery circumstance, while the Shoah must resort ta noone else to guide them. Gad is known only through theimams and they conduct their followers ta Paradisewhile others are left for the Fire. There is, however,evidence of revision of belief already in the time ofthe first traditionists. The definition of faith isemended sa as ta allow the non-Shoah a place inParadise and enable the Shoah ta integrate into thelarger community. The confinement of the imams by theAbbasids and the lesser Occultation lead tareconsideration of the question of authority: humanreason is given a greater raIe as the Shoah set aboutthinking how ta evaluate the words of the imams alreadyrecorded. Kalam, a field of enquiry formerlyforbidden ta the faithful Shoah due ta the necessityof absolute submission ta the statements of the imams,is sanctioned sa that dicta concerning theology areissued under their names. Tradition now moves awayfrom predestinarianism, and other features of post-Occultation Shiism are prefigured. Early ShOtradition presents the record of a community movingfrom exclusivism and rigid traditionalism towardgreater social and intellectual integration . RSUMBien avant l'Occultation du Douxime ~ m a m en 330/942 etavant la priode des grands thologiens shi' Is tels queal-Shaykh al-MufId (d. 413/1022), les shi' ahs avaientdvelopp leur propre systme intgral et labor depense. Cette pense s'exprime dans la parole des imamsshI'Is, rapporte dans les collections hadith qui sontregroupes dans les centres traditionistes de Kufah etQum. Lorsqu'oE ~ s s e m b l e ces narrations, il apparait quele systme shi' i, comme prsent par les Shi'ahs eux-mmes, offre peu de ressemblance avec les descriptionsdes hrsiographes. C'est la relation entre les imams etla communaut qui forme le centre de la vision du mondeshi' I. La constitution des imams est surnaturelle etceux-ci accdent la connaissance prophtique totalealors que les ShI'ahs, qui ont t cr partir de lamme substance que les imams, sont les porteurs et lesbnficiaires de cette connaissance. Les imams reoiventcontinuellement l'intelligence de Dieu, ainsi ils saventtout et peuvent s'exprimer propos de n'importe quellesituation qui leur est soumise. Les ShI'ahs, quant eux, ne peuvent consulter que les imams. On ne connaitDieu que par le biais des imams et ce sont eux quiconduisent leurs disciples au Paradis alors que tous lesautres sont condamns au Feu. On trouve cependant unervision de croyance ds la priode des premierstraditionistes. La dfinition de la foi est modifie demanire ce que les non-ShI'ahs puissent obtenir uneplace au Paradis et de facon permettre aux ShI'ahs des'intgrer dans une plus large communaut. L'isolementdes imams par les Abbasides et la moindre Occultationconduisent reconsidrer la question d' autori t: ondonne un plus grand rle la raison humaine alors queles ShI'ahs se mettent penser la manire d'valuerles paroles des imams dj rapportes. Kalam, un domainede recherche utrefois interdit aux fidles ShI'ahs enraison de la ncessit d'une soumission absolue auxaffirmations des imams, est ratifi pour que lesaffirmations relatives la thologie soient mises sousleurs noms. La tradition s'loigne dsormais duprdestinarianisme et on prfigure ci' autres traits duShiisme de post-Occultation. La tradition shI'Iprimitive tmoigne d'une communaut qui va del'exclusivisme et du traditionalisme rigide une plusgrande intgration sociale et intellectuelle.FOR: MAHMOUD, FIRAS, & SUMAYYAiTABLE OF CONTENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . i vChapterl INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1i. The nature of the system andof the texts............................. 3ii. The collections.......................... 11II. THE CREATION OF THE IMAMs ANDOF THE COMMUNITY.................................. 23i. The burden of faith and tbosewho accepted it.......................... 24ii. The trial by fire........................ 36iii. Creation fromthe two clays 37iv. nIts branches are in heaven" 50v. The hierarchy of spirits 55vi. The divine light......................... 60vii. Light becomes prophethood; purity andprotection from sin................. . . . .. 65viii. The births and miracles of the imams ..... 72III. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE IM1iMs:INHERlTED KNOWLEDGE ... 76i. The nature of the ilm 77ii. The inherited knowledge as charisma 84 iiiii. The Qur'n............................... 87iv. The books of the prophets 112v. The books of the imams .................. 120IV. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE lMMS: THE lUITHAT COMES BY NIGHT AND BY DAy 141i. "The knowledge that cornes by nightand by day" " 141ii. "A spirit greater than Michaeland Gabriel" " 155iii. "On Friday' sEve" 165iv. The "Night of Power" 166v. "We do not know that which ishidden" " 173V. THE GUIDANCE OF THE COMMUNITY 177i. Taslm: "Successful indeed arethose who submit"........................ 179ii. Taqiyah: "Our ~ a d t h is difficult" 201iii. olIm: "The pursuit of knowledge isa religious duty" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 219iv. Aql: "You are the best of mycreation" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 226v. Interpretation of the traditions in thepresence and absence of the imams 238VI. FAITH AND SALVATION.............................. 256i. On the necessity of knowing the imam:"the death of the Jahilyah" 256ii.iii.iv.v.vi.vii.iiiFaith and works: "Gaod works shallnot avail"............................... 264Iman and Islam; Faith and Works:"Faith is all of it works" 269The station between belief and unbelief;the kafir................................ 278Increase and decrease of faith; thedegrees of f,aith 287The status of the sinner 293Loss of faith: "the borrowers" 302viii. The final judgement;the intercession 306VII. THEOLOGY , 318i. The issue of kalam 320ii. Bada': that which "appears" to Gad 324iii. Predestination and free will 336iv. The Sustenance (rizq) andTerm of Life (ajal) 355v. The vision of Gad (ru'yah) 358vi. The nature of Gad 363VIII. SUMMARY 370BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 384 ivACKNOWLEDGEMENTSl am indebted to many, only a few of whom can be named here. lshould like first to thank my chief advisor at the Institute ofIslamic Studies, Prof. Hermann Landolt, for support and guidancethroughout. Prof. Mehdi Mohaghegh of the Uni-"ersity of Tehranlent valuable aid, especially in the earlier stages, and Prof.Ahmad Mahdavi-Damghani of Harvard University spent many hoursreading texts with me and offering patient explanation. Duringthe writing of my thesis l found a pleasant home at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, both in the Department of orientalStudies and the Middle East Center. The company of my studentsand colleagues there has helped to sustain me; l offer gratitudeespecially to Profs. Brian Spooner and Wm. Hanaway. The name ofProf. Mahmoud Ayoub of Temple University appears last in thislist only because that is the customary place of a spouse inacknowledgements; for his constant assistance, in every way andon every occasion, he must be first. 11. INTRODUCTIONThe present work describes a part of the system of ImamShO thought contained in collections of Sho hadth in,circulation before the 'Greater Occultation' (al-ghaybah al-kubra), that is before the final disappearance of the Twelfthimar.l from the eyes of humankind in 330/942. The narrativesexpress the emerging orthodoxy of Twelver Shiism, framed in thewords of the imams and the Prophet. This 'orthodoxy' provided afoundation for later developments in Sho belief and still hassorne hold on the imagination on Shos today .. Nevertheless, scholars of Islam referring to points of Shodoctrine have tended to rely on reports of the heresiographers orrivaIs of the ShC school, which place undue emphasis on themul tiple 'sects' and do not d ~ justice to the coherence anddetail of mainstream Sho views.1 The thesis argues that the1 The non-Sho heresiographer who gives us the mostinformation about the Shoah is Ashoar. Ashoar died in324/935; the Sh traditionist Kulayn (Kuln) who compiledthe first of the four canonical book of Sho hadth died atabout the same time, in 328 or 329/939 or 940. Yet the systemoutlined in the present work cannot be recognized in Ashoar' saccount. His several lines' preface to the discourse on the'Rawafid' is approximately correct - but this is cut short as helaunches into an enumeration of sects, understood as the groupswho followed various pretenders to the imamate. Sorne of the mostimportant discussions of the hadth are not touched on by Ashoarat aIl. Occasionally beliefs attributed by Ashoar to other sectsfind an echo in the hadith; these are discussed in the notes . 2Shi i communi ty had already by the tenth century - perhaps asearly as the eighth century - constructed for itself an elaborateand integral wQrld view, which becomes apparent when the narratives are assembled. l also demonstrate that there are, atthe same time, different layers or streams of thought in theearly tradition; these differences produce tensions which areaccommodated in varying degrees.The ghaybah occurred in the lifetime of Ibn Babawayh al-Qummi, known as 'The Truthful Master:' al-Shaykh (d.381/991-92 in the eighth decade of his life). Ibn Babawayh is thegreat systematizer of the legacy of the imams and their circle.With him begins a direction in Shi i thought. He is nolonger content to collect and arrange the traditions, but chooseshis positions on various issues .and selects hadiths to supportthese (although his opinions are generally those alreadyfavoured by the hadith). After Ibn Babawayh another stream ofShi i thought begins to predominate: one which concentrates onreasoned argument rather than citation of texts to establishtheological premises. This development is described by Fr. M.McDermott in his Theology of AI-Shaykh AI-Mufid;2 the authorrelates how the traditionism of Ibn Babawayh was eclipsed in thework of his student al-Mufid (d. 413/1022) by MuOtazili-influenced rationalism - which allowed Mufid to take his own2 (Beirut: Dar EI-Machreq, 1986.) 3theological positions - and further how that trend was continuedby al-Sharif al-Murta9a, (d. 436/1044), the next intellectualleader of the Shioah. The ghaybah is thus an appropriateterminus for the data used in this work, since the disappearanceof the imam marks a new stage of intellectual growth in Shiism(albeit one which is, as l shall also demonstrate, presaged inthe hadith itself). l propose for now that the hadth record lhave begun to assemble here be considered as roughly the firstperiod of Shioi thought (until we are able to divide it further),Ibn Babawayh as the second, and Shaykh Mufid and his successorsas the third, and that studies of shioi themes take account ofeach of these stages in turn.i. The nature of the system and of the texts.The hadth collections surveyed for this work are not allalike. Their emphases, the opinions they relate, and even theliterary forms in which they are presented differ. Nevertheless,l have found that all the collections agree on - or at least areconcerned with - a certain set of basic tenets, and that theyconnect these tenets in similar ways. There is, moreover, agroup of belief-statements that is repeated many times in all thecollections. These seem to make up the logical 'core' of thesystem. Other less frequently repeated and less centralstatements tend to fit around the core in different ways, eitherby elaborating on sorne of the common assertions or in presentinga variant belief of sorne kind. (Here l remark that, while l 4speak of an 'integral' system, the pronouncements of the hadithsare not entirely consistent; in sorne cases they are totallycontradictory. A few seem to be qui te beyond the pale oforthodoxy. Obviously the texts were orchestrated by severalhands, whether we prefer to think of these as the imams, theirfollowers, or later compilers - or sorne combinat ion of these. Itis fortunate that the muhaddithn, following in their honourabletradition as faithful transmitters, have not entirely 'smoothed,out' aIl these difficulties, sa that we are able to trace certaindevelopments and controversies in the texts.)l have not noted aIl the elaborations and variations of thesystem. That is too large a task, and l expect, in any case,that others will now be moved to focus on whichever aspect theyfind interesting and 'work it through' in greater detail, andthen perhaps also into later texts. 3By the same token, l havenot considered it necessary (apart from the fact that it isimpossible!) to search out aIl narratives belonging to thetargeted time-period regardless of the time of redaction, or totry to determine, either by applying the science of the rijal orother, internaI criteria, which ~ a d t h s are likely to be'authentic, , that is attributable to the imam quoted. The double3Another task for the future will be to define theuniqueness of each of the collections relied on here - or, to putit another way, the personalities and beliefs 'of individualcompilers. Sorne of these features are mentioned in the survey ofliterature below, but my approach here, as suits the purpose, hasbeen to merge the different works. 5knot of sources and authenticity is cut by limiting the survey,as l have stated above, to collections already circulating beforethe Occultation. On the question of sources, the pattern ofendless variant reports and somewhat variant views clusteredaround a 'core' structure of belief easily justifies exclusion ofmaterial appearing in later collections - as well as reasonablelimitation of sources within the designated time-period. On thequestion of authenticity, l do not claim anything more for thehadiths on which this work is based other than that they,represent the views of soma central group existing sorne timebefore the Occultation. If this group is the imams themselves,then the largest part of the narratives belongs approximately tothe beginning of the second to mid-second century A.H./mid-eighthto late eighth century C. E. (the time of the imamates of thefifth and sixth imams). If the narratives, or a part of them, iscontrived by the Companions of the imams or by others outsidetheir circle, sorne or all of the material may be of a later date- but l will- still have surveyed the opinions of the TwelverShioi community or its scholars in a formative period of theirhistory, which is my more modest intention.The Shioi 'system' l describe is neither spare nor neat; itis rather like a web with countless interconnections. By relyingon the words of the imams (which have the quality, at times, ofpointing in several different directions at once) l have tried tocommunicate that aspect. l have also tried to convey sorne of the 6colour, variety, and even drama of the texts; for this reasonalso l quote often and sometimes at length. Finally, l ask thereader to keep in mind that what follows is put together fromonly hundreds of pieces out of thousands. Although l havemanaged in sorne places to fit these together so that the seamshardly show, each text originally stood alone.It will be useful at this point to remark how the Shi ihadith literature came to enclose a doctrinal system, and howthe system is expressed.Sunni hadith traditions are referred to the Prophet, and,thus to a time before doctrinal entanglements and before therational discussion of religious questions. Tendentious reportshad to be injected into the corpus somewhat discreetly; theopportunity for open and extended theological and sectarianargument in the Sunni hadith is limited. Sunni hadiths aretherefore mostly concerned with devotions and the practice ofdaily life: in short, with orthopraxy. The living authority ofthe Shioi imams, on the other hand, extended through the greatpolitical and theological controversies stirring from the firstthrough the fourth centuries of Islam. The Shi ah (or theirimams) we:re therefore able to use the hadith openly to shore up,their own positions and attack the various political andtheological parties ranged about them. It might also be fair tosay that the Shioah, whose existence as a separate school was7predicated on such beliefs, would have been especially compelledto use their traditions to expose their beliefs in any case.All this resulted in a considerable proportion of hadithsaddressed, openly and at length, to doctrinal issues. Thetendency is evident beginning with the earliest, 'notebook' [ ~ ;pl. ~ l collections, dating for the most part from thelifetimes of the fifth and sixth imms. Several volumes ofKulayni's (d. 329/841) al-Kfi, the most comprehensive hadithcollection of this period, are devoted exclusively to doctrinalmatters. The other surviving works of the second and thirdcenturies also contain these kinds of reports, in varyingdegrees.In general, the number of doctrinal or 'theological'traditions (in contrast to hadiths having to do with, forinstance, issues of purity, or simply legal matters) increases inlater compilation.s, along with complexity of argument. This isprima facie evidence that the hadith corpus is composed ofdifferent layers and that not as much of it is attributable tothe fifth and sixth imms as claimed.The form of the Shioi hadiths is consequently also quitedifferent from that of the hadiths found in the standard Sunnicollections. Many reports are very long; a few run in theprinted edit ions to fifty lines or more. The majority of these 8are extended responsa: the answers of the imam to a question orseries of questions on a doctrinal issue posed by one of hisfollowers. Others present the debates of the imams with theiropponents or, in a few cases, even a debate between a Companionof the imam and a non-Shioi, related in the presence of the imamand therefore presumed to have his approval.4 Much detailedexposition of Shioi doctrine is to be found in these reports-even though the pronouncements of the imam tend to be impreciseor somewhat mysterious, befitting his position, no doubt, as acommunicator of esoteric knowledge.In other cases narratives take the form of long historicalrelations or hagiographical anecdotes justifying Imami positionsand vilifying the enemies of the Alid line. Most of these typesof hadiths concern either the third imam Husayn ibn Ali or theo later imams from the eighth imam Ali al-Rida onward. In thecase of such reports apparently compensate for a lack oforal tradition linked to that most important figure. Beginningwith the confinement of al-Rida at the court of the Abbasid al-Ma'mn (leading ultimately to his in 203/818) the imamscould no longer freely communicate with their followers. Theembellished tales connected with the later imams are obviously4Eg. in Ab Jaofar Muhammad ibn YaOqb ibn Ishaq al-Kulayni al-Razi, al-Usl al-kafi, ed. Jawad Mustafawi, 4 vols.(Tehran: Daftar-.i Nashr-i Farhang-i Ahl-i-Bayt," n.d.), vol. l, 238-240 {Il:. al-hujjah, Bab idtirar na al-hujjah, hadith #31. (As there are several edit ions of this important work, thebook, chapter, and hadith number are also given for eachcitation.) 0 9designed to fill the gap in tradition that resulted.Many Shi i traditions are phantastJ.c, in which, with theexception of the Sunni eschatological (fitan) traditions, theyare also rather different from Sunni hadith. This is the result,of the hagiographical bent of the literature; Shioi tradition infact breathes and exudes that spirit. Examples of all these typesof traditions are found in the text below.The majority of hadiths in the Shioi corpus are attachedto either the fifth imam Mu!:lammad al-Baqir (d. 114/733) or thesixth imam Jaofar al-Sadiq (d. 148/765). These figures appear asthe foremost expositors of ShiO i doctrine, and their epithetsconfirm this role: 'al-baqir' is a shortened form of 'baqir al-ilm,' meaning 'one who penetrates or delves into knowledge' and' a l - ~ a d i q ' means 'one who speaks or confirms the truth.'Tradition reports that before his death the Prophet was given abook fastened with a number of seals; each imam was to expect hisinstructions from God under the seal bearing his name. Theinstructions to the fifth imam were: "Relate (haddith) to the,people and make them understand; and fear none but God, for noone can do you harm." The sixth imam found the same words, butwas further commanded to "publish the wisdom of the Family ofMuhammad and reiterate the words of your forbears." 5 Apart from5rbid., vol. 2, pp. 29-30 {K. al-hujjah, Bab 'anna al-a' immah lam yafOal shay' an ... illa bi-o'ahd min Allah, hadith#2); see also hadith #1 in the same chapter. ' 10the fifth and sixth imams, sorne hadiths are attributed to Ali,,although not nearly so many as one would have expected from sucha venerated figure. Very few traditions are related from Hasanson of Ali, and not many more from the fourth imam Ali son ofI;!usayn. After Jaofar al-9adiq, his son the seventh imam speakson several important issues in the hadith;, less, however, isheard from tp.e eighth and the ninth imams, and almost nothingdirectly from the tenth and eleventh imams.The ideological personalities of the imams are, for the mostpart, indistinguishable. An opinion attributed to, for example,the fifth imam, is likely to appear also under the name of thesixth or seventh imams, or the first imam Ali, or any other. lhave found that it is not possible, on the basis of our texts, tospeak of a distinctive thought Qf Jaofar al-9adiq, or Muhammadal-Baqir, or any other imam. What is asserted by one is assertedby all; we are presented with the thought of a period, a group,or a literary genre, not the progressive thought of a series ofindividual minds. (Two exceptions to this rule are discussed inthe text: a group of traditions which suggests a new opinionfrom the sixth imam on the question of the destiny of theunbeliever [non-Shioil, and the distinctive opinion of theeighth imam al-Rida on the question of free will andpredestination.)11ii. The collections.Following is a description, in chronological order, of thecollections of Immi hadiths on which this work is based .The earliest book of the Shioah, according to the Fihristof Ibn Nadim and other authors,6 is the Kitb al-AsI of Sulaymibn Qays al-Hilli al-Kfi, also called Kitb Sulaym. Ibn Qaysal-Hilli died during the rule of the Umayyad governor of Iraqal-Hajjj ibn Ysuf between 75/694 and 95/714: thus in thelifetime of the fourth imm Ali ibn Kitb Sulaym is,supposedly, one of the few books of hadith collected before theimmate of Jaofar al-9diq. Sorne Shioi authors praise it highly;it is even said to have been verified after its compilation bybeing read back to the fourth imm. 7There are, however, several problems with the 'Kitb Sulaym'in our hands. The manuscripts preserve different recensions, andthere is variance and weakness of isnds and sorne anachronous6Ibn Nadim, Kitb al-fihrist, ed. C. Fluegel (Leipzig, 1872;reprint ed., Beirut: Khayyt, n.d.l, p. 219/ The Fihrist of lbnNadim, ed. & tr. Bayard Dodge, 2 vols. (New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1970), vol. l, p. 535. For sorne of the otherauthors see Agh Buzurg 'Fihrni, al-Dharioah il ta?nif al-Shioah, 26 vols. (Tehran: Kitbkhnah-yi Islmiyah, 1387-1405/1968-1985), vol. 2, pp. 153-154. (Publisher and edit ion varies.)7This is related in many places; for a 6ummary see Ab al-Qsim al-Msawi al-Kh'i, MuOjam rijl al-hadith wa-tafsiltabagt al-ruwt, 23 vols. (Qum: Manshrt Madinat al-oIim,i978/1398), s.v. "Sulaym bin Qays." 12hadiths. This has caused other Shiois to reject its authenticityand forbid their co-religionists to rely on it.8On internal evidence, Kitab Sulaym appears to be anelaboration of a smaller amount of material from an original ~ .The hadiths are very different in form from those of the otherusl, that is the earliest 'notebooks' (on these see below). The~edition listed in the bibliography consists principally of aseries of lengthy, detailed narratives (including dialogues)recounting how Ali was prevented, chiefly through themachinations of the caliph Umar , from taking his rightfulposition as successor to the prophet. 9This theme is not at allprominent in the other collections. In addition, there are a fewmore sophisticated hadiths dealing with theology that are notparalleled in the other u9l and earlier collections and whichseem to belong rather to the stratum of the Kafi. The K. Sulaymas it has come down to us appears to have been fathered onSulaym as the Companion of the first four imams with theintention of verifying a highly partisan version of events inearly Islamic history. This impression i.s strengthened by thenearly miraculous story of its preservation: Sulaym, it is said,gave it to Aban ibn Abi Ayyash while he was in hiding from the8For a summary of these arguments against the Kitab Sulaym,see ibid., vol. 8, pp. 216-228.9Thus the book is sometimes known as 'Kitab al-Saqifah,'Saqifah referring to the day on which Ab Bakr was elected to thecaliphate instead of Ali, the Prophet's designated heir. 13Umayyad governor al-J:iaj jj, while Ahn in turn, prompted by avision of Sulaym in his dream, transferred it just before hisdeath in written form to another muhaddith, Umar ibn Adhinah(himself a companion of the sixth and seventh imms) .10Ayat Allh Kh'i in a detailed exposition attempts to dispelthe doubts surrounding Kitb Sulaym. Kh'i argues that, while asmall amount of anachronous material may have been introducedinto the material attributed to Sulaym, the book is in generalsound; he points out that the early texts in general have beendoctored to sorne small extent, not excluding al-Kfi!ll In anycase, a manuscript of the work we presently know as Kitb Sulaymdates from the early 4th/10th century12 and is thus within therange assigned for our sources. 13ShiOi scholars speak of a group of hadith notebooks called~ (s. ~ ) : 'sources.' The number of these is fixed at four10Sul aym ibn Qays al-Kfi al-Hilli, Kitb Sulaym ibn Qmm(Najaf: al-MatbaOah al-Haydariyah, n.d.), p. 57 (told in therelation of the chain). .11Kh'i, MuOjam, vol. 8, p. 225 (s.v. "Sulaym ibn Qays").12Agh Buzurg, Dharioah, vol. 2, p. 157. Madelung alsoassigns the work to the "early fourth/tenth century", perhaps onthe basis of this manuscript; see "Die Sia - Die Immiya," inGrundriss der Arabischen Philologie. Band LL.Literaturwissenschaft, ed. Helmut Gaetje (Wiesbaden: Dr. LudwigReichert Verlag, 1987), p. 263.13See also GAL l, p. 199; GAS II, pp. 525-526; and for anaccount of the other ~ see Agh Buzurg, Dharioah, s.v. " ~ . " hundred; thus they refer to al-usl al-arbaomi' ah,, , the14fourhundred sources.' A few of these sources have reached us inthe form of a collection of sixteen an early manuscript ofwhich is extant from the early fifth/eleventh century, based on acopy from 314/984.14 It is suggested that the differencebetween an asl

and an ordinary kitab or 'book' is that thetraditions in the former are related on the ultimate authority ofa single person and committed to writing for the first time,while the latter is a compilation from earlier sources.15An having been redacted close to the original utterance,should be more reliable than a 'book.' According to anotheropinion, an may be more exactly defined as a collection ofhadiths "heard from [the sixth imam] Jaofar for themost part from persons relating directly from him. ,,16$ Sorne ofthe characteristics of the usl

can be determined from thesixteen surviving collections. Approximately seventy-five percentof the traditions do indeed originate with Jaofar 14Details in Muhammad Husayn al-Husayni Jalali, Dirasah hawl o. al-us1 al-arbaomi'ah. Tehran: Markaz Intisharat al-Aolami,1394/1974, p. 29. Sezgin lists thirteen u!jll: GAS II, pp. 531-533.15Etan Kohlberg, "Shioi I;ladith, " in The Cambridge History ofArabie Literature. Arabie Literature to the End of the UmavvadPeriod. Edited by A.F.L. Beeston et al. Cambridge UniversityPress, 1983, p. 300.16Jalal, Dirasah, p. 11 (and see pp. 7-12). This writerinforms us also that 'four hundred' is only a formula to indicatethe vastness of the sources; the references to different usl

total only about one hundred. Agha Buzurg, Dharioah, collectsreferences to 116 (s.v. "AsI").

15Twenty percent are from Mul).ammad al-Baqir, while the remainingfifteen percent go back to Ali and the seventh imam 'Ab al- Msa, with a few attributed to the fourth imam Ali ibn In approximately one-fifth of the traditions theauthor of the provides a first-hand report of the words oractions of the imam; most of the remaining hadiths show thereporter at one remove from the imam. The authors of the usl

were thus men in the circles of the imams, for the most part ofMul).ammad al-Baqir and Jaofar who undertook to note downthe reports of other'close companions along with their own. Thehadiths are for the most part short dicta, rather of the kindfound in the Sunni hadiths of the Prophet. All the authors ofthe sixteen are Kfans, Kfa being the first centre of Shioitraditionist activity.The Kitab Mahasin is the sole survivor of many works of AbJaofar Al).mad ibn Mul).ammad ibn Khalid al-Barqi (d. 274/887). Barqiwas a companion of the eighth imam al-Ri9a; although hisgrandfather hailed from Kfa he was himself a Qummi. The is primarily a book of adab - of instructions on the minuteetiquette of Islamic life - although it also includes sorne legalmaterial.17Ab Saffar al-AOraj al-Saffar al-Qumm, the author of the17See: GAS II, p. 538; Muhammad Muhsin Agha Buzurg al-Tihran, al-Dharoah ila tasanif al-Shioah, 28 vols. (Najaf: al-Qa9, 1936 -:r; voi. 20, p. 124. 16Basa'ir al-daraiat fi ulm Al Muhammad, was a companion of the, -- .eleventh imam al-oAskar. He died in 290/903. AI-Saffar wasknown as a jurisprudent; this book however concerns the imamate,as the title suggests ('Levels of insight into knowledge of theFamily of Muhammad ... '). In the the whole doctrine of theimamate is expressed through a fairly $ystematic arrangement ofthe traditions; in this it is quite different from the earlierwritings described above which lack such purposive organization.The creation and the knowledge of the imams are the specialsubjects of Saffar' s Basa' ir,. , with many .adiths cited on bothsubjects. The influence of this work is shown by the fact thatKulayni reproduces whole sections of it in his Kafi, sometimeswith hadiths given in the same order. The book is sometimescalled al-Basa'ir al-kubra, as recensions found in variousmanuscripts suggest that the author reworked and expanded on anearlier, smaller work. 18Contemporary with al-9affar al-Qummi is the Kfan Ab al-Abbas Abd Allah ibn Jaofar (d. 290/903). The term'qurb al-isnad' ('proximity of the chain of authorities') denotesa collection of traditions at only one or at the most two removes18Ab Jaofar Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Saffar,. Kitab basa'iral-darajat 'al-kubra', fi fada'il 'AI Muhammad, ed. Mirza HasanKchah-baghi (Tabriz: Mat;.baOt Shirkat-i 'Chap-i Kitab, 138011960), pp. 4-5 (introduction). See also: ibid., pp. 1-18; GAL l, p.199 & SI, p. 319; GAS II, p. 538; Agha Buzurg, Dharioah, vol. 3,pp. 124-125. 17from the imam; Qurb was only one of many such works. 19 is said to have devoted a part of the original Ourb al-isnad to each imam, but only the relations from the sixth,seventh, and eighth imams have come down to us. 20 Ourb al-isnadconsists for the most part of short statements pertaining topractical and legal matters; in form it is very much like theusl.

Exegetical (tafsir) works may be considered together. Themethod of shi i tafsir is esoteric. The Shi i exegetes seek todiscover the hidden meanings of the Qur'an relating to theimamate and other articles of their creed. The early tafsirworks rely almost exclusively on presentation ofexplain the verses.hadiths toFurat ibn Ibrahim ibn Furat al-Kfi (d. 300/912) is theauthor of an early Shioi exegesis of the Qur' an; the works ofal-Nadr (or Ab al-Nac;J.r) Muhammad ibn Masod ibn Ayyash al-Sulami (al-Kfi al-Sarnarqandi), known as 'al-OAyyashi' (d. lastpart of the third/ninth century) and Ab al-Hasan Ali ibn19Ab al-oAbbas Abd Allah ibn Jaofar Ourb al-isnad, ed. Abd al-Mawla al-Turayhi (Najaf: al-MatbaOah al-Haydariyah, 1369/1950), pp.'dal/-'ha/;'and for an account of thether books of 'near relation' see Agha Buzurg, Dhari ah, vol.17, pp. 67ff.20See Ourb, pp. 'alif' to 'ha;' GAL SI, p. 272; GASII, p. 155; Agha Buzurg, Dharioah, vol. i7, p. 67. 18Ib::-ahim al-Qummi (d. early fourth/tenth century) are alsosurveyed here. Tafsir Furat al-Kfi is a short volume thatdiscusses only the verses relevant ta the Shioi thesis; theKitab al-tafsir of Ayyashi and Tafsir al-Oummi are much longerworks which present distinctively Shioi arguments but alsoinclude other material explaining verses of a more generalsignificance.21 Only the first half of the tafsir of Ayyashiis extant. Furat's Tafsir is accepted as a Twelver source; manytraditionists relate from Furat, including Ibn Babawayh andMajlisi, author of the Bihar. At the same time, this work seemsta be unusually sympathetic ta Zaydism or convictions; itmay point ta a milieu in which the Zaydi and Twelver traditionswere not yet entirely distinct. Evidence for this is cited atseveral points in the text below. 22 Bath Qummi and Ayyashi21 For further information on Tafsir al-Furat see: Furat ibnIbrahim ibn Furat al-Kfi, Tafsir Furat al-Kfi (Najaf: al-Matbaah al-Haydariyah, n. d. ), pp. 2-6; GAL l, p. 539; AghaBuzurg, Dharfoah, vol. 4, pp. 298-300. For Tafsir al-oAvvashisee: al-Nadr Muhammad ibn Masod ibn Ayyash al-Sulami al-Ayyashi, Kl.tab al-tafsir, ed. Hashim al-Mahallati, 2vols. (Tehran: al-Maktabah al-OIlmiyah al-Islamiyah, n:d.), vol.l, pp.'alif - 'dal;' GAS i, p. 42; Agha Buzurg, Dharioah, vol. 4,p. 295. For Tafsir al-Oummi, see: Ab Ali ibn Ibrahimal-Qummi, Tafsir al-Oummi, ed. Tayyib al-Msawi al-Jaza' iri, 2vols (Najaf: MatbaOat al-Najaf, i387/1967-8), vol. l, pp. 7-26;GAS l, pp. 45-46; Agha Buzurg, Dharioah, vol. 4, pp. 302 ff.22Too late ta be included in this work, there came ta myattention an unpublished Ph.D. thesis (likely in Hebrew) thatuncovers traces of Zaydism also in the tafsir of Qummi: Meir M.Bar-Asher, Etudes l'exegese imamite ancienne du Coran (III-IV/ IX-Xeme s.H.) (Hebrew University, no date given): cited in:Bar-Asher, "Deux traditions heterodoxes dans les ancienscommentaires imamites du Coran," Arabica 37 (1990): 291-314. Theevidence presented by the article is a translated excerpt 19occasionally cite their own opinions, apart from the hadiths .The Basa'ir al-darajat of Ab al-Qasim Saod ibn Abd Allahal-Khalaf al-Ashoari al-Qummi (d. 301/914) survives in theabridgement of a l - ~ a s a n ibn Sulayrnan al-Hilli (&. early 10th/15thcentury); this book, called Mukhtasar basa'ir al-darajat, alsoi relates a small nurnber of hadiths gathered by al-Hilli from other. .early sources. Like the Basa'ir of al-Saffar al-Qummi (to whichhowever it bears no apparent relation), the Mukhtasar is aselection of traditions bearing directly on the imamate. 23Kulayni's (d. 329/941) Kafi is the most comprehensivecollection of Shioi hadiths of this period. Approximately one-quarter of Kulayni's collection concerns Shioi ideology; this isthe usl min al-kafi:~the 'complete religious principles orbeliefs. ' The rest is devoted to legal questions; this is thefuro min al-kafi: the 'complete subsidiary or legal material.'In the introduction to the Kafi Kulayni explains his reason forgathering aIl the traditions of the imams in one book:The people of our time no longer struggle againstignorance (jahl); indeed they cooperate in tracing outthe paths of ignorance.... So perfectly content arethey to rely on j ahl that they are on the verge oflosing aIl contact with [truel knowledge (Oilm).from the thesis) is rather subtle; certainly the Zaydism/Hasanismof Furat's Tafsir is much more striking. .182.23 See. GAS II , p. 538; al-Dharioah II, p. 124, & XX, p. 20By '0 ilm' Kulayni means the knowledge communicated through theJ;1adith; by jahl he means (as he explains) not only 'applyingone's own discretion' (istihsn), in religious and'uncritical adoption' (taglid) of the ways of one's ancestors butalso "relying on intellect (Oagl) in matters both subtle andgreat. ,,24 Kulayni thus intended by composing the Kfi to securethe place of J;1adith against kalm (theological) speculation. Tothis end he arranges his material, in systematic fashion, into anumber of books and many constituent chapters. 25Kulayniintroduces many traditions addressed to theology proper'which arenot seen in the other collections mentioned here. ibn Ibrhim ibn Jaofar al-Nuomni was born in thebeginning of the lesser occulation, when the twelfth imm was nolonger seen by his followers but communicated through hisappointed agents. His Kitb al-ghaybah selects hadiths relevantto the subject of occulation and establishes Immi views on thissubject. Al-Nuomni was a student of al-Kulayni (d. 328/939) andis said to have helped him in writing out the Kfi. Al-Nuomnimigrated from his native NuOmniyah to Baghdad; his residencethere reflects the shift of Shi i intellectual activi ty in thelast part of the fourth century to Baghdad after it had been24Kulayni, al-Kfi, vol. l, p. 4.25More will be said about this in Chapter VI. 21nurtured by the traditionists first in Kfah and then in Qumm. 26In the pages following l have arranged the hadths in the,way l judge best presents an outline of traditional Shiothought. The presentation does not follow any formaI arrangementsuggested by the collections. My linking of the traditions israther determined by a reading of the internaI logic of thisapparently fragmented material; l do not deny that it could havebeen shaped in a different, perhaps equally descriptive, form.In order to cut the project down to size l have not devotedseparate chapters to 'political' matters: the relations of theimams and community with the temporal authority and problems ofsuccession in the line of the imams. l have concentrated insteadon the relations of the imams and community with each other andthe destiny of the Shoah as determined by their loyalty to theimams. This, l believe, is the heart of the tradition.Within these bounds, the order of the chapters follows thereasonable order of the premisses: the creation of the imams(Chapter II) establishes the background to the central issue ofthe imams' special knowledge (Chapters III & IV); the benefits ofthat knowledge are then conferred on the community (Chapter V),culminating in a soteriology (Chapter VI) which is linked again26See: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Jaofar al-Nuoman, Kitab al-ghaybah (Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Aolam, 1403/1983), pp. 5-8; GALSI, p. 321; GAS II, p. 543; Agha Buzurg, Dharoah, vol. 16, p.79. 22to the primordial creation. Theology proper, as being knowledgeof God Himself, is rather a side-issue for the Sho"traditionists, and so that brief chapter is placed at the last(VII). A summary of the system distinguishing earlier and latertrends concludes the study. 23II. THE CREATION OF THE IMAMs AND OF THE COMMUNITYIt is the belief of the Shioah that the ranks of good andevil, of righteousness and unrighteousness and faith and unfaithwere drawn up long before the existence of this world. Believerand unbeliever, those destined for Heaven and those destined forthe Fire, the prophets in their various stations and thesupernatural beings of the imams were aIl created, tested, andset on their course in a series of events orchestrated by God ina primordial time. Human life on earth temporarily obscures thetrue order and the true qualities of those who enter into it-but with the return of the disappeared twelfth imam and the greatJudgement at the end of time all,shall again become as clear asit was in the beginning.The Shioi doctrine of creation as founded on this basisserves several purposes. One is to designate the Shioah as anexclusive community, set apart from the rest of the Muslims notmerely by religious conviction but by actual constitution.Another is to mark the imams as superhuman beings, possessed ofsemi-divine qualities. A third use is to link the origin of theimams with that of the Prophet M u ~ a m m a d and the line of prophetsand awsiya' (vicegerentsl throughout history. The story ofcreation, or pre-creation, also fixes an extremely important 24element of the Shioi world view: the idea that the imams and thecommunity are inextricably joined one to the other (in this caseby the very substance from which they are made) .The hadith supports these principles in the course ofseveral different narratives, which are laid out in the chapterfollowing: the story of the bvrden of faith offered to mankindas-yet-uncreated; the story of the mixing of materials by theHand of God to fashion the bodies of mankind and the test ofthese new beings by Fire; the parable of the 'heavenly tree,'symbolizing the essential unity of the imams and their followers;the doctrine of the hierarchy of 'spirits' (s. rh)~and thenotion of the infusion of divine light into the favoured beingsof the imams and the Shioah; and the history of the transfer ofthe prophetic essence from womb to immaculate womb, culminatingin miraculous birth.i. The burden of faith and those who accepted it. ,The story of the acceptance of faith by the Shioah in thetime before creation is based on the incident described inQur' an 7: 172. "Your Lord," says the revelation, "brought forthfrom the Children of Adam, from their loins, their progeny, andmade them test ify of themselves [saying): 'Am l not your Lord?'And they said: 'Yes, we test ify (7:172) .'" The Sunnis haveunderstood this verse to refer to a primordial event in whichmankind assented to a covenant (mithag) offered by God, agreeing to His Lordship and their duty to worship Him.25The Sf s havetaken this verse and enlarged upon it from a mystical point ofview; the Shoah, similarly, have their own elaboration whichcentres around the articles of their creed, chiefly the imamate. 1The first element of the mthag, according to the Shoah,was belief in God. "God," reports the sixth imam, "took out fromthe loins of Adam his progeny until the Day of Creation [that isHe took out all of mankind that shall ever existl - and if itwere not for this, no one would know his Lord." 2 Those whopledged to the covenant largely forgot its terms as they enteredthis world (although they shall be reminded again on the Day ofJudgement);3 this explains why humankind is not endowed withcertainty but is left to find its way toward religious truthsonly vaguely perceived. Humans thus have a certain religious1The Sf version is close to that of the Shoah in that italso uses the covenant to explain election, in this case of themystics. For an early Sf formulation of the mthag see:Gerhard Boewering, The Mystical Vision of Existence in ClassicalIslam. The Our'anic Hermeneutics of the Sufi Sahl al-Tustari (d.283/896) (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1980).2Hasan ibn Sulayman al-Hill (from Saod ibn Abd Allah ibnAb Khalaf al-Ashoar al-Qumm, Ab al-Qasim), Mukhtasar Basa'iral-darajat (Najaf: al-MatbaOah al-Haydaryah, 1370/1950), p. '163;Saffar, Basa'ir, p. 71," hadth #'6 & p. 72, hadth #8; Furat,Tafsr, p. 49. According t a tradition of the fifth imam, God atthis point 'introduced Himself to them' and actually made them tosee Him, so that they would afterwards know their Lord (OAyyash,Tafsr, vol. 2, p. 40, hadth #110). On the Vision of God seeChapter VII. '3See Ab Ja0 far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khal id al- Barq ,Kitab al-mahasin, ed. Jalal al-Dn al-Husyan (Qum: Dar al-Kutubal-Islamyah, 1371/1951), p. 241, p a s s ~ m ; ibid., p. 281, hadth#410; Ashoar, Basa'ir, p. 168. ', 26instinct, derived from this initial knowledge (maOrifah). Inparticular, they are created with an inborn disposition tomonotheism (tawhid)., Commenting on the Qur' anic phrase. "thedisposition (fitrah) with which God endowed mankind (30:30)",Jaofar declared: "They were endowed (f-t-r)- withtawhid.,,4, The precedence of over aIl the otherprophets was established with this very first test, as heassented (n. igrar) to God before aIl the others.5God also secured from mankind in the time before creationtheir faith in His prophets, in Muhammad. "God,"4Barqi, Mahasin, p. 241, hadith # 222; Kulayni, al-Kaf,vol. 3, pp. 19':21 al-iman 'wa-al-kufr, Bab fitrat al-khalgcala al-tawhid}. This idea of fitrah seems to' include aIlMuslims; note the hadith in Himyari; Ourb, p. 214 in which theeighth imam_admits the testimony of two non-Shiois on the groundsthat 'testimony is allowed from anyone born in the fitrah.'According to at least one report, 'however, the wilayah of li isalso a necessary element of the fitrah (Saffar, Basa'ir, p. 78,hadith # 7), and thus natural religion is attributed to theShioah only. Cf. another declaration of Husayn: "We, by God, andour Shioah, are endowed with the religious instinct [inconfirmation of which] God sent Muhammad, while the rest ofmankind is completely devoid of it (al-Usl al-sitt ashar, ed.J:lasan [n.p., Chapkhanah-yi J:laydari, 1371], p. 41)."5Sa ffar, Basa'ir, p. 83, hadith #2 & p. 86, hadith #12;Ayyashi, Tafsir; vol. 2, p. 3'9, hadith #7; AshoarJ:, Basa' ir,pp. 165 & 170; Kulayni, al-Kaf, vol. 3, pp. 16-17 ai-imanwa-al-kufr, Bab Rasl Allah awwal illU ajaba wa-agarralillahi bi-al-rubbiyah, hadith #1}; see also ibid., pp. 23-25{Bab anna al-sibghah hiya 'al-islam & Bab fi al-sakinah hiyaal-islam}. This explains why Muhammad is the most excellent ofthe prophets, even though he is the last in sequence. The sixthimam adds that Muhammad was the first to assent because he was atthat time the closest creation to God, standing as he pronouncedthe word 'yes' in the same place he reached during his laterheavenly ascent (miOraj) (Qummi, Tafsir, vol. 1, pp. 246-247;Ashoari, Basa'ir, p. 167; Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 327 al-gujjah, Bab mawlid al-nabi ... , gadith #6}). 27says the fifth imam, "took the progeny of Adam from his loins inorder to take the covenant from them concerning His Lordship andprophethood of every prophet, the first of those for whoseprophethood he secured the covenant being Mu!}ammad. ,,6 The firstof all the community of Mu!}ammad to believe in him was Ali.Ali' s precedence in faith was thus already established beforetime; that he was also the first (according to the ShiOah) tobelieve in this world is but a reflexion of the pre-eternalorder established in the mithag. 7It is, however, confirmation of the wilayah of Ali and hisdescendants the imams that constitutes for the Shioah thecentral element of the covenant. Acceptance of the wilayah ofthe imams appears in the hadith as the crux of the proffered,faith and the criterion by which the believers are separated6Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 13 {K. al-iman wa-al-kufr, Babakhir min-hu [tinat al-mu'min wa-al-kafirl, hadith # 2}. See alsoal-Ashoari, p. 169. ', Tafsir, vol. 2, p. 41; Ashoari, p. 165(and see also p. 64). "My community was shawn ta me," says theProphet, "at the time of the Covenant, and the first ta believein me and test ify ta the truth [of my mission] (Saddaqa-ni) wasAli, and he was [alsol the first ta believe in me'and confirm mewhen l was sent [as a prophet ta the earthl; [thereforel he is'the most veracious [al-siddiq al-akbarl' (Saffar, Basa' ir, p.84, hadith # 3, from tne fifth imam)." "Al=Siddiq', is theepithet of Abu Bakr, and one of the points of the tradition is taappropriate it instead for Ali. Ali is also called 'al-Faruq'('he who distinguishes'), normally the epithet of Umar. He isal-Faruq because he is the one ta distinguish between good andevil and truth from untruth (Furat, Tafsir, p. 12) and al sabecause he divides those who shall go ta Paradise from those whoshall go ta the Fire (ibid., p. 61; see also K. Sulaym, pp. 138 &178-179 and Ashoari, Basa'ir, p. 30)., 28from the unbelievers. This is the main subj ect of the mithagtraditions.The wilayah was, according to the ltadi th, offered to theangels, sorne of whom accepted and sorne of whom rejected it. Godrecalled to M u ~ a m m a d when he was lifted to heaven on the miOraj:"I offered their wilayah [the wilayah of Fatimah, J:lasan, J:lusayn,and the imams] to the angels; and those who accepted it wereamong the mugarrabin (the favoured angels or angels closer toGod, = cherubim), and those who opposed it were among theunbelievers (kafirin)." 8 The cherubim are thus, according toJaofar al-!?adiq, "a group of our Shioah from the first creationwhom God has placed behind the Throne, and if He were to allotonly one of their lights to the people of the earth, it would beenough for them. ,,9 The heavens and earth were also invited toconfirm the wilayah of Ali but they, according to sornereports, refused it, unlike humankind who chose to bear thisheavy responsibility.108Nuomani, Ghaybah, p. 59; see also Furat, Tafsir, p. 5 andSaffar, Basa'ir, pp. 67-69. In the chain of this hadith the nameof the fifth imam Muhammad al-Baqir is separated 'from the wordsof the Prophet by several other authorities.68.9?affar, Basa'ir, p. 69, hadith #2. See also ibid., pp. 67-, :lOIbid., p. 76, hadith #2, and see also the traditionsci ted in the previous 'note. This tradition is apropos of thewords of the Qur' an: "We offered the trust (amanah) to theheavens and the earth and the mountains, and they refused to bearit and were afraid of it. But man accepted it; how iniquitous hewas, and how evil (33:72)!" 29The first among the prophets to believe in the wilyah ofAli and the imms (and also among the first to believe inM u ~ a m m a d ) were the 'ul al-oazm,' or 'those possessed of [firmlresolve.' By the ul al- azm is meant the chief prophets whocarried with them a sharioah or divine law, these being: Noah,Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and then Muhammad .11 Thus the Shi ahexplain the verse of the Qur' n "We made a covenant of old withAdam, but he forgot, and we found no resolution (Oazm) in him(20:115)" in the following way:God made a covenant with him concerning Muhammad andthe imms after him, but he abandoned it andcould notfirmly resolve that they were as he had been told;while the ul al-oazm received this name because whenhe made covenant with them concerning Muhammad and thevicegerents (that is the imms) after him, and theMahdi and his history, they gathered their resolve toaffirm that it was thus, and that assent was requiredto it.12Here the reluctance of humankind in historical time to testifyto the wilyah of Ali is prefigured in the initial reluctance of11See : Barqi, Mahsin, pp. 269-270, hadith #358 and Kulayni,al-Kfi, vol. 1, p. 247 {K. al-hujjah, Bb tabagt al-anbiy' ~al-rusul wa-al-a'immah, hadith #3}. The ul'al-oazm are mentionedin the Qur'n (46:35), bt the members are not identified.12Sa ffr, Bas' ir, p. 70, hadith #1, from the fifth imm(and see this chapter in general). See also Qummi, Tafsir, vol.l, pp. 246-246 & vol. 2, p. 300 and Ashoari, Bas'ir, p. 163. Onetradition asserts that Qur' n 21: 115 was actully sent with anadded phrase: "We made a covenant of old with Adam, with wordsconcerning Muhammad, Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and the imms amongtheir descendants, but he forgot.:. (Saffr, Bas' ir, p. 71,hadi th #4)." Refer to the discussion of Shi i 'views of theQur'n in the next chapter. 30Adam, the father of man. 13 AlI the other prophets of the agesthen also testified, and this was (similar to their recognitionof the prophethood of MuJ::ammad) only the confirmation of anessential part of their prophetie mission, for, as the sixth imamstates, "No prophet was ever made a prophet or any messenger sentexcept with [tidings ofl our wilayah and our pre-eminence overaIl others. ,,14 Therefore, as the Prophet says, "God sent noprophet without inviting him to your [OAli'sl wilayah, whether hewas willing or not; ,,15 "no prophet was completely a prophet ...until my wilayah and the wilayah of the Holy Family was offeredto him... and he accepted."16 In fact, Adam was only created forthe sake of acknowledging the prophethood of Muhammad thewilayah of the imams!17First among those to believe in the wilayah, and therefore13According to a tradition cited on the authority of Jaofara l - ~ a d i q , Adam was reluctant to testify because of his jealousyof the Holy Family as their forms were 'represented' to him,before their actual creation, in heaven. It is for this reasonthat he fell from God's grace, and his 'repentance' as mentionedin the Qur' an was in fact his final acceptance of the wilayah(OAyyashi, Tafsir, vol. l, p. 41, hadith #27) .,14Sa ffar, Basa'ir, p. 75, hadith #5; Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol.2, p. 320 (E. al-huj jah, Bab' fi-hi nutaf wa-jawami min al-riwayah fi al-wilayh, hadith #4); See also ibid., hadith #3.i i15Sa ffar, Basa'ir, p. 72, hadith #2 (and see this chapterin general). On the authority f the fifth imam. According toone tradition from Ali, Jonah refused the wilayah, causing Godto imprison him in the belly of the whale until he relented(ibid., pp. 75-76, hadith #1)!16Ibid., p. 73, hadith #7 .17E. Sulaym, p. 219, related from the Prophet. 31on a par with the very prophets and angels, were the Shioah ofAli. Their exalted status (though concealed in this world by aveil of oppression) was, like that of the imams, alreadyestablished before creation. The tale of the elevation of theShioah and the degradation of their enemies began with theirbeing 'brought out from the loins of Adam.' At this time, so thehadiths report, they were not yet contained in bodies, or indeedcreated at aIl. They were still in the form of 'atoms' or 'tinyparticles' (dharr) .18 The atoms were called by God and they came'creeping;' as related in one report, they came out from Adam "asants from their nest.,,19 Or, according to other Hadiths,. -humankind was in the form of 'shadows' s .. "God," says the fifth imam Muhammad al-Baqir, "took our covenant18The idea of dharr or atoms is suggested by the words ofthe Qur' an: "And [remember] when your Lord brought forth fromthe Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (dhurriyah)(Q. 7:172)."19oAyyashi, Tafsir, vol. 2, pp. 218-220, hadith #73. Inthis lengthy hadith related from the fifth imam the event of thedharr takes piace in an earthly setting, specifically in a valleybetween Ta'if and Makkah. This seems to contradict the view thatit took place before creation. The narration, in the form of adialogue between God and Adam, also mentions an earlier mithagtaken from mankind or from the atoms 'in heaven' (fi al-sama');thus the subject may in fact be a second covenant, which is notspoken of in other traditions. The sequence of events of thecreation is presented differently in different hadiths; this isone outstanding example. ' 32and the covenant of our Shoah while we and they were shadows.,,20The fifth imam, when asked about the shadows, replied: "Do younot see your shadow in the sun, how it is something, and [at thesame time] nothing [apparently, but not actually, existing] ?,,21As each being in this insubstantial condition assented or refusedto assent to the imams, its response was determined foreverafter: "Gad knew their faith (man) in our wilayah or theirrejection (kufr, = also 'unbelief') of it on the day He took fromthem the covenant in the loins of Adam, while they were in theform of atoms.,,22 AlI of the various degrees of faith werealready established with this event, so that humans are sowed inthe wombs of their mothers with the belief they obtained throughthe covenant. 23And so it shall remain even to the of theQa'im, at which time "none shall stand by him except those whosecovenant God had taken in the first dharr.,,2420Barq, Mahasin, p. 136, hadth #17. Ashoar, Basa'ir, p.16B: " ... at the'origin (fi: al-asl), at the time of th shadows(Oind al-azillah) (also from the 'fifth imam) .",21Kulayni, al-Kf, vol. 3, p. 16 al-man wa-al-kufr,Bab akhir min-hu [annex to Bab Rasl Allah awwal ffin ajabawa-agarra ... ], hadth #3); Saffar, Basa' ir, p. B1, hadth #1;ibid., p. 135, hadth #16. In this version (also from' the fifthimam) God's cratures are sent as 'shadows' after they arecreated from various clays; see also Ashoar, Basa'ir, p. 164.,22Ashoar, Basa'ir, p. 169. From the sixth imam. See alsoAyyash, Tafsr, vol. 2, p. 126, hadth #35; Furat, Tafsr, p.BB; Qumm, Tafsr, vol. 2, p. 271. '23Furat, Tafsr, p. 161. From the fifth imam.24Nuoman, Ghaybah, p. 125. From the sixth imam. See alsoibid., p. 99. 33The fixity of belief established through the event of themithag is emphasized by the doctrine that the number of believersestablished in primordial times can never increase or decrease."God," says Zayd ibn Ali (the brother of the fifth imam andchief of the Zaydi sect25), "created that which He created, thenmade them 'shadows' ... and then He secured our covenant and thecovnant of our Shioah, and they shall not be reduced by a singlep(:Orson, and we shall not be increased by a single one. ,,26 Thismeans that love for the Holy Family and the imams is theprivilege of only a limited number of souls. Others may wish tolove them, try to love them, or pretend to love them, but if theyare among those who refused the covenant, that is who refused thewilayah before they were created, they cannet. Similarly, asmuch as those who are numbered among the believers may try todisbelieve, they cannot. One cannot 'become' a Shioi, and thetrue Shi i cannot become anything else; "if a Shi i tries toabandon the right opinion, God shall return him to it byforce! ,,27 The fifth imam Mu!}ammad al-Baqir, upon hearing thatal-1:Jaj j aj, the harsh Umayyad governor of Iraq, was engaged in25Hadiths related from Zayd are sometimes found in the booksof the Twelvers.26oAyyashi, Tafsir, vol. 2, p. 207, hadith # 24. Accordingto one hadith, the number of believers and of unbelievers isestablished by God in the permanent heavenly record, the lli!!!!! al-kitab ('mother of the book'), thus ensuring that it shall neverbe altered "until the Day of Judgement (Furat, Tafsir, p. 32;from the Prophet) ." p.the sixth imam.103; Barqi, Mahasin, p. 200, hadith #32. FromSee also ibid.; p. 280, #407 & 408., 34damning Ali ibn Abi from the pulpit, remarked:The enemies of God curse us - while if they couldbecome Shiois, they would! But they cannot, for Godsecured our covenant and that of our Shioah while weand they were as yet shadows. Even if they were todirect all their effort into increasing them [theShioahJ by one person, or reducing them by one, theywould not be able. 28As for the imams, they always know who are the believers andwho are the unbelievers, whatever their appearance may be. Froma general point of view, this is so because the imam knows alland has perfect knowledge of every thing. 29 More particularly,it is so because the imams viewed all of humanity before theywere created and are thus able to immediately recognize them inthis world. Sorne hadiths place this viewing at the time of thecovenant, while according to others humankind was displayed tothe imams after they had been made from clay, or when they werestill disembodied spirits. God secured the covenant of theShioah to Himself, MuJ:1ammad, and Ali, and then " ... He made your[OAli'sJ face to know their faces, and your spirit to know theirspirits, so that you shall recognize those who claim to love you,and recognize those who say they hate YOU. 1I3028Ibid., p. 203, hadith # 48. See also Ab Abbas AbdAllah ibn Jaofar al-Himyari, Ourb al-isnad (Najaf: al-Mal;-baoah 1369/1950), pp. 203 & 209.29This principle is explained in Chapter III, section i.30Furat, Tafsir, p. 40. These are the words of Satan,persuading Ali to release him as he wrestles him down with thepromise to give him these glad tidings! See also 9affar, p. 84, gadith #3. 35It is also said that God at this time taught Ali aIl thenames of his partisans and enemies31 and that each individual hadeither the word 'mu'min' (believer) or 'kafir' (unbeliever)inscribed between the eyes, which sign can be seen only by theimams. 32These are additional sources of the imams' knowledge ofhumanity.So intimate is the acquaintance of the imams with aIl themembers of the human race that they know just by looking at aman his 'essential qualities;,33 they can recognize theirfaithful Shioah only by their 'tone of voice.,34 The imams alsoknow without a doubt those who wish to follow them or pretend tofollow them but are of a substance and persuasion that preventsthem from ever being one of the elect. 35 Many hadiths picture83, hadith335,31Ashoari, Basa'ir, p. 164; Saffar, Basa'ir, p.#1 & pp. 83-86, passim; Furat, Tafsir, pp. 86 & 205.32Sa ffar, Basa'ir, pp. 354 ff; Ayyashi, Tafsir, vol. 2, p.hadith #53; Furat, Tafsir, pp. 81-82.33?affar, p. 361, #1.34Usl, p. 28. Jaofar al-Sadiq adds: "even if we hear himspeaking' from the other side of a wall ... " (?affar, ir, p.361, hadith #1; Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 2, pp. 322-323 (K. al-hujjah, Bab fi maorifati-him awliya'a-hum... , #3}. Seelso Saffar, Basa'ir, p. 89, hadith #1 & p. 387, hadith #13;Ayyashi , Tafsir, vol. l, pp.' 180-182, #74; Ashoari,Basa'ir, p. 166 .35Ashoari, Basa' ir, p. 166: "We know the love of one wholoves [us], even though he may say otherwise, and we know thehatred of those who hate [us], even though they may pretend tolove us .... " From the fifth imam. See also Saffar, Basa'ir, pp.. .288-290. 36the imams confronted by persons who profess their love for themand their adherence to the wilayah, whom they flatly reject onthe grounds that they did not 'recognize' them. 36ii. The trial by fire.The episode of the mthaq is paralleled in God's testof His uncreated beings by Fire. This legend also serves toconfirm the election of the Shoah. Jaofar a l - ~ a d i q gives thefollowing account of the 'trial by fire':God raised [for humanityl a fire, and said to them:'Enter it, by my command!' The first to enter wasMuhammad, followed by the ul al-oazm [the other fourchief prophetsl and their vicegerents. Then He said tothe 'Companions of the Left' [the first group being theCompanions of the Rightl: 'Enter it, by my command! '0Lord,' they said, 'have you created us in order to burnus?' Thus they disobeyed God. Then God told theCompanions of the Right: 'Come out, by my command, fromthe Fire!' And the fire did not wound them or leave anytrace on them. When the Companions of the Left sawthem, they said: 'We see, 0 Lord, that our companionsare unharmed; forgive us our offence and allow us toenter!' '1 forgive you.' said God. 'Enter the Fire!'As they approached and were confronted by the intenseheat, however, they drew back. '0 Lord,' they said, 'wecannot endure being burned.' And they disobeyed [onceagainl . Thus God ordered them three times [to enterthe Firel, and [each timel they disobeyed; and Heordered those [the 'Companions of the Right' 1 threetimes, and [each timel they obeyed, and emerged[unharmedl. Then He said to them: 'Be clay, by mycommandl' and He created Adam from it. And those whobelong to the first group shall never belong to thesecond, and those who belong to the second group shall36Eg : Saffar, Basa'ir, pp. 86-89 and ibid., pp. 361-362 (inwhich Jaofar al-Sadiq" pulls a man by the beard for his audacityin introducing himself, while the imam had already 'recognized'who he wasl) See also ibid., pp. 390-392. 37never belong to the first .... 37In the course of this ordeal, as in the mithag, precedenceof faith was also established. According to a report from Jaofar the first to enter the Fire was followed byAli, and the other imams, and finally by theirfollowers the Shioah. 38The tradition seems to have beeninspired by the 'story in the Qur' an of Abraham who was throwninto a great fire by the idolaters, which God however made forhim "coolness and peace (Q. 21:69l.,,39 Here i t serves as aparable for the trials and persecution the Shioah must accept inthis world as the price of their faith. The tradition alsohighlights the sorrows of the imams, who are cast by the Shioahin the role of ideal sufferers and martyrs.iii. Creation from the two clays ..In a lengthy tradition traced from the fifth imam Muhammadal-Baqir through the lire of imams to Ali, 'the Commander of the37Kulayni, al-Kaf, vol. 3, pp. 17-18 (K. al-iman wa-al-kufr, Bab Rasl Allah awwal msn ajaba ... , hadith #2). Forother versions see: ibid., 9-11 {Bab akhir min-hu [annex toTinat al-mu'min wa-al-kafir] J; Barqi, Mahasin, p. 242, hadith#4i2; Ayyashi, Tafsir, vol. 2, pp. 39-40, 'hadith #109. ',38Nuomani, Ghaybah, p. 57 (in this version of the traditionthe beings who entered the Fire had already been formed fromclay). See also Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 11 (K. al-iman al-kufr, Bab akhir min-hu [annex to Bab Tinat al-mu'min wa-al-kafir], hadith #3). ',39The tradition does not the trial of the faithfulto the trial of Abraham; but in a tradition from the sixth imamthe Qur'anic phrase 'coolness and peace' is used (ibid). 38Believers, , Ali recounts the story of the creation of humankind.His story is a Shioi-flavoured elaboration of t