Following the science of men to correct the Islamic narrations in the Shiite school

Abstract

This research aims to study the impact of biographical evaluation (ilm al-rijal) on the authentication of Islamic hadiths within the Twelver Shi'a school of thought. It is considered one of the most important hadith sciences, contributing significantly to the development of the hadith corpus and the refinement of doctrinal and jurisprudential knowledge. Since its inception, biographical evaluation has served as a scientific method for investigating the reliability of narrators, distinguishing trustworthy from weak ones, and uncovering their social strata and connections. This has made it the cornerstone for evaluating the chain of transmission (isnad) and accepting hadiths. This study examines the development of this science within the Twelver Shi'a tradition, demonstrating how its foundational texts—such as al-Najashi's Rijal, al-Tusi's Fihrist, and Tanqih al-Maqal—contributed to formulating a precise critical methodology based on the principles of criticism and authentication (jarh wa ta'dil) and the analysis of the narrators' social strata.

The research also focuses on the direct role of biographical evaluation in authenticating hadiths, illustrating how prominent hadith scholars—such as al-Kulayni, al-Saduq, and al-Tusi—relied on its principles in selecting reliable hadiths and rejecting weak or disconnected ones. The research also examines the epistemological and methodological challenges this field has faced in modern studies, such as the issue of ancient testimonies, exaggeration, ignorance, and calls to prioritize textual criticism over chain of transmission (isnad). It clarifies that these challenges, despite their importance, do not invalidate the value of biographical evaluation (ilm al-rijal) but rather call for its development through an integrated methodology that combines both chain of transmission and textual criticism.The research concludes that biographical evaluation has been and remains one of the pillars upon which Imami doctrine is based, because many of its fundamental principles—such as Imamate, infallibility, and occultation—rest on narrations whose authenticity has been established according to the criteria of this field. Furthermore, biographical evaluation has profoundly influenced the development of Imami jurisprudence (fiqh) by classifying narrations, prioritizing the strongest chain of transmission when they conflict, and determining the validity of narrations for legal argumentation. Thus, the research demonstrates that biographical evaluation is not a static historical discipline but rather a dynamic and evolving methodological system that has preserved the purity of the hadith tradition and contributed to the construction of a coherent religious body of knowledge.