Hadith rejection & ijma’


  • Zurara’s rejection of strange / supernatural ahadith


  • (Basa’ir al-Darajat, page 260)


Zurara told us, he said, Abu Jaafar [al-Baqir], peace be upon him, said, “Narrate the ahadith of Children of Israel, O Zurara - there is no harm in it.”


He (Zurara) said: ‘May I be sacrificed for you, the Shi’a have stranger ahadith than them!’


He (the Imam) said: Such as what, O Zurara?


He (Zurara) told me (the narrator) said: 


So I kept it in my heart, and I stayed an hour not mentioning them (i.e, the ahadith). 


He [the Imam] said, "Perhaps are acting in taqiyya [by not mentioning the ahadith]." 


He [Zurara] said, "Yes." 


He [the Imam] said, "Believe in them (i.e, strange ahadith), for they are true."


حدثنا يعقوب بن يزيد عن الحسن بن علي الوشا عن محمد بن حمران قال حدثنا زرارة قال قال أبو جعفر عليه السلام حدث عن بني إسرائيليا زرارة ولا حرج فقلت جعلت فداك ان في حديث الشيعة ما هو أعجب من أحاديثهم قال فأي شئ هو يا زرارة قال فاختلس في قلبي فمكثتساعة لا أذكره ما أريد قال لعلك تريد التقية قال نعم قال صدق بها فإنها حق.


  • (Basa’ir al-Darajat, page 256)


Zurara said: 


I entered upon Abi Ja’far [al-Baqir] and he asked me: ‘What do you have from the ahadith of the Shi’a?’


I said: ‘I have many of them, which I strived to pour fire on and burn them.


The Imam said: ‘And why is that? Show me what you have rejected from among them.’


[Zurara said]: ‘The ahadith of the Adamites [i.e, that there were 1000 Adams before Adam] came to my mind’ 


The Imam said: [They are true], why else would the angels tell Allah “Do you place on Earth those who cause corruption in it and shed blood.” 


(i.e, how would angels know of the nature of mankind if Adam never shed blood nor caused corruption. There has to be human civilizations, different Adams before Adam, for the angels to know this). 


حدثنا أحمد بن محمد عن أحمد بن محمد بن أبي نصر عن الحسن بن موسى عن زرارة قال دخلت على أبى جعفر عليه السلام فسئلنيماعندك من أحاديث الشيعة قلت إن عندي منها شيئا كثيرا قد هممت ان أوقد لها نارا ثم أحرقها قال ولم هات ما أنكرت منها فخطر علىبالىالادمون (2) فقال لي ما كان على الملائكة حيث قال أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء.


  • Ijma’ - the cure to Zurara’s doubts 


(Amali al-Tusi)


Amir al-Mu’mineen narrates from Rasul Allah saying:


We, the genus of prophets, were ordered to speak to the people based on the levels of their minds.


23 - أمالي الطوسيجماعة، عن أبي المفضل الشيباني، عن محمد بن صالح بن فيض العجلي، عن أبيه، عن عبد العظيم الحسني، عنمحمد بن علي الرضا، عن آبائه، عن أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام قال:

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآلهإنا أمرنا معاشر الأنبياء أن نكلم الناس بقدر عقولهم، قالفقال النبي صلى الله عليه وآلهأمرني ربيبمداراة الناس كما أمرنا 

بإقامة الفرائض.


  • One way to propagate the deen to commoners by the level of their minds, is to make ijma a source of deriving the applicability of a hadith - if there are two contradictory reports. Our Imams companions lived in a time of a tremendous preponderance of ahadith, so ahadith of contradiction would be commonly found.

(Ghawali al-La’ali’)


“Zurara ibn A’yan said: 


I asked Al-Baqir, peace be upon him, and I said: May I be your ransom for you - two contradictory reports are narrated from you, so which of them should I take? 


He said, peace be upon him: O Zurara, take what is popular among your companions and leave the rare, unique”


غوالي اللئاليروى العلامة قدست نفسه مرفوعا إلى زرارة بن أعين قالسألت الباقر عليه السلام فقلتجعلت فداك يأتي عنكم الخبران أوالحديثان المتعارضان فبأيهما آخذ؟ فقال عليه السلاميا زرارة خذ بما اشتهر بين أصحابك ودع الشاذ النادر


(Wasa’il al-Shi’a, vol 27, page 122)


“It was narrated from them (peace be upon them) that they said: 


If our ahadith to you differ, take upon what our Shi’a have ijma’ on - there is no doubt in it


33376) 43 - قالوروي عنهم (عليهم السلامأنهم قالواإذا اختلفت أحاديثنا عليكم فخذوا بما اجتمعت عليه شيعتنا، فإنه لا ريب فيه.


  • What the Imam’s companions did not have ijma’ on was not necessarily a lie or falsehood


(Rijal al-Kashi, vol 2, page 521)


Abi Abdilah [al-Sadiq] said to me: 


O Jamil, do not inform our companions what they do not have ijma’ (consensus) on - lest they call you a liar


468 - محمد بن مسعود، قالحدثني علي بن محمد، قالحدثني أحمد ابن محمد بن عيسى، عن عمر بن عبد العزيز، عن جميل بن دراج،عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال، قال لييا جميل لا تحدث أصحابنا بما لم يجمعوا عليه فيكذبوك.


  • Yunus ibn Abd al-Rahman being insulted and backbiten by the Shi’a for going against ijma’


(Rijal al-Kashi)


We were with Abu al-Hasan al-Ridha, peace be upon him, and with him was

Yunus ibn Abd al-Rahman, when a group of people from Basra sought permission to enter [upon the Imam]


So Abu al-Hasan, peace be upon him, gestured to Yunus: Enter the house (to be away from the crowd) - and his (the Imam’s) house is covered by a curtain - and do not move until permission is given to you. 


The Basrans entered and increased in their backbite and insults against Yunus until they got up, said their farewells to the Imam and left. Then Yunus was given permission to exit the house out he came out crying.


He said:


May God make me your ransom - I defending this faith, yet this is my condition among my companions (i.e, backbiting and insult). 


Abu al-Hasan, peace be upon him, said to him: O Yunus, what do you have to do with what they say if your imam is satisfied with you? 


O Yunus, tell the people what they recognize, and avoid them with what they do not recognize. It is as if you want God to be lied against in His throne.


Oh Yunus, what do you have to do if you had a pearl in your right hand - and the people said that’s a ‘camel’ (and not a pearl). And then the people agree it is a pearl, does anything benefit you?” 


I said: No. 


He said: This is how you are, Yunus. If you were right and your imam was satisfied with you, what the people said would not harm you.


رجال الكشيآدم بن محمد، عن علي بن محمد الدقاق، عن محمد بن موسى السمان، عن محمد بن عيسى بن عبيد، عن أخيه جعفر، قالكنا عند أبي الحسن الرضا عليه السلام وعنده

يونس بن عبد الرحمن إذ استأذن عليه قوم من أهل البصرة، فأومأ أبو الحسن عليه السلام إلى يونسادخل البيت، فإذا بيت مسبل عليهستر، وإياك أن تتحرك حتى يؤذن لك، فدخل البصريون فأكثروا من الوقيعة والقول في يونس (1)، وأبو الحسن عليه السلام مطرق حتى لماأكثروا، فقاموا وودعوا وخرجوا، فأذن يونس بالخروج فخرج باكيا، فقال:

جعلني الله فداك إني أحامي عن هذه المقالة، وهذه حالي عند أصحابي، فقال له أبو الحسن عليه السلاميا يونس فما عليك مما يقولون إذاكان إمامك عنك راضيا؟ يا يونس حدث الناس بما يعرفون، واتركهم مما، لا يعرفون كأنك تريد أن تكذب على الله في عرشه، يا يونس و ماعليك أن لو كان في يدك اليمنى درة ثم قال الناسبعرة، أو بعرة وقال الناسدرة، هل ينفعك شيئا؟ فقلتلا، فقالهكذا أنت يا يونس، إذاكنت على الصواب وكان إمامك عنك راضيا لم يضرك ما قال الناس.


Wa Allahu A’lam