Quranic Sciences and Tradition

Quranic Sciences and Tradition

Assessing the Possibility of Dispensing with Isnād Evaluation in al-Kāfī A Critique of Ayatollah Shubayrī Zanjānī’s View on the Necessity of Isnād Evaluation of the Traditions in al-Kāfī

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Muhammad Kazem Tavakkoli Eslami 1
Seyyed Mahmoud Hal Ata’ee 2
1 Ph.D student in Jurisprudence and Principles of Law, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jqst.2026.414826.670645
Abstract
It is reasonable to maintain that the numerous commendations of al-Kulaynī's al-Kāfī, the lengthy period of its compilation, or the claim that the work was presented to the Imam of the Age (Imām al-ʿAṣr) do not, in themselves, constitute sufficiently strong evidence to establish the authenticity of every individual tradition contained in al-Kāfī. Nevertheless, al-Kulaynī's explicit testimony to the authenticity of the traditions and his insistence on recording their chains of transmission (asānīd) deserve careful consideration. In the preface to his work, al-Kulaynī attests to the soundness of the traditions in al-Kāfī and regards acting upon the traditions contained therein as acting upon authentic reports (āthār ṣaḥīḥa). Despite this, specialists in ʿilm al-rijāl (the science of hadith transmitters), including Ayatollah Shubayrī Zanjānī, have questioned the evidentiary force of al-Kulaynī's testimony with respect to both its semantic scope and its probative authority. In an article published under the title “The Necessity of Isnād Evaluation of the Traditions of al-Kāfī,” he presents several objections and argues for the necessity of evaluating the chains of transmission. The present study critically and analytically examines these objections. The findings indicate that accepting the objections raised by specialists in rijāl is difficult. First, the apparent scope of al-Kulaynī's testimony encompasses all the traditions of the work, and there is no qualifying evidence sufficient to restrict this general implication. Furthermore, the weakening of some of al-Kulaynī's transmitters by later specialists in rijāl does not invalidate his general testimony concerning the authenticity of the traditions. This is because such evaluations may be based on conjectural reasoning, may entail the simultaneous attribution of reliability and weakness to the transmitter or transmitters from whom the criticized narrator transmitted, and may suffer from an unknown chain underlying the judgment of weakness. Conversely, the objection that al-Kulaynī's testimony is based on conjecture and that its probative force is restricted to al-Kulaynī himself also appears unfounded. First, the objection based on conjectural knowledge would, by the same reasoning, undermine the probative value of the evaluations made by specialists in rijāl. Second, the alleged conjectural indicators can ultimately be reduced to sensory or directly ascertainable evidence. Third, al-Kulaynī's consistent insistence on recording chains of transmission throughout al-Kāfī indicates a selection process based on the directly established reliability of transmitters. Even assuming that al-Kulaynī relied on conjectural indicators, his testimony would generate a stronger probability than the conjectural indicators employed by specialists in rijāl. Finally, it should be emphasized that the conclusion of this study is limited to the dispensability of al-Kāfī from systematic isnād evaluation and does not imply permission to rely indiscriminately on all traditions contained in the work. Rather, the traditions should be evaluated against the standards of rational and ethical self-evidence.
Keywords
al-Kāfī
al-Kulaynī's testimony concerning authenticity
rijāl
isnād evaluation
Shubayrī Zanjānī
Subjects
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Quranic Sciences and Tradition
Volume 59, Issue 1
Spring & Summer 2026
September 2026
Pages 51-82