Revisiting the Hadith Personality of Ḥabbābah al-Wālibiyyah; Establishing Her Reliability and Role in Transmitting the Hadith legacy

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor, Department of Quran and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Research, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.

10.30512/kq.2024.21094.3818

Abstract

From the very beginning of the Prophet Muhammad's message, hadiths gained attention as the most important source of divine rulings after the Qur'an. A study of the history of hadiths in both Shia and Sunni traditions reveals that many companions and disciples of the Imams (peace be upon them) endeavored to record and preserve hadiths. Among them, women from the Muhajirun, Ansar, and others played various cultural-social roles and simultaneously transmitted hadiths and narrations. This role continued throughout the early Islam, and the history reports female narrators and hadith scholars whose presence in references to hadith is very prominent. One of these influential but little known women is "Ḥabbābah al-Wālibiyyah."
She was the daughter of Ja'far al-Asadi and a hadith scholar who, due to her exceptionally long life, lived during the time of eight Imams, from Imam Ali (pbuh) to Imam Reza (pbuh) and gained knowledge and narrated from them. Consequently, she is introduced as one of the female hadith narrators in Shi'a biographical reports hadith history books. This research aims to recognize the historical, biographical, and hadith personality of Ḥabbābah al-Wālibiyyah as well as identify the type of her narrations. Employing a descriptive-analytical method and utilizing library resources, the study first introduces Ḥabbābah and then re-examines her status as a hadith narrator and categorizes her narrations thematically. In this regard, the hadiths collected from her in each area are categorized under different titles, and then their content is explained. As the findings of this research indicate, firstly, her biographical reports are trustworthy in Shia sources. Secondly, her primary students and narrators are also considered reliable and of high standing. Thirdly, in terms of the themes, her hadiths, concern Imamate and Wilayah, virtues of Shi'as, and jurisprudence, which signifies her profound interest in and knowledge of the exalted status of the Shi'a Imams. Fourthly, in terms of reference, her hadiths are reliably marked; three hadiths are authentic, one is good, three are weak but have complete chain of narrators, three are weak with a missing initial narrator), and one is weak with a higher authority as one of its narrators.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

The Holy Qur’an. (2005). Translated by M.M. Fouladvand. Payam-e Edalat. [In Persian]
A Group of Scholars. (2002). Al-ʾUṣūl al-Sittah ʿAshar. Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Abbasi Zanjani, Musa. (2018). Al-Jāmiʿ fī al-Rijāl. Vali-ye Asr Foundation. [In Arabic]
Ahmadi Miyanaji, Ali. (1998). Makātīb al-Rasūl (PBUH). Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Allameh Hilli, Hassan bin Yousef. (1981). Al-Rijāl. Al-Sharif al-Razi. [In Arabic]
Allameh Hilli, Hassan bin Yousef. (2002). Tartīb Khulāṣat al-ʾAqwāl fī Maʿrifat al-Rijāl. Astan Quds Razavi. [In Arabic]
Aliyari Tabrizi, Ali bin Abdullah. (1993). Bahjat al-ʾĀmāl fī Sharḥ Zubdat al-Maqāl. Kushanpur Islamic Culture Foundation. [In Arabic]
Ayyashi, Mohammad bin Mas’oud. (1981). Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī. Al-Matba’a al-Ilmiyya. [In Arabic]
Azizi, Hossein. (2009). Al-Ruwāt al-Mushtarikūn bayn al-Shīʿah wa al-Sunnah. The World Forum for Proximity. [In Arabic]
Bahrani, Sayyed Hashem. (1991). Ḥilyat al-ʾAbrār fī ʾAḥwāl Muḥammad wa ʾĀlih al-ʾAṭhār ʿalayhim al-Salām. Islamic Knowledge Foundation. [In Arabic]
Bahrani, Sayyed Hashem. (1994). Madīnat Maʿājiz al-ʾAʾimmah al-ʾIthnā ʿAshar wa Dalāʾil al-Ḥujaj ʿalá al-Bashar. Islamic Knowledge Foundation. [In Arabic]
Barqi, Ahmad bin Mohammad. (1992). Al-Maḥāsin. Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya. [In Arabic]
Barqi, Ahmad bin Mohammad. (n.d). Al-Rijāl. University of Tehran. [In Arabic]
Basri, Ahmad bin Abdolreza. (2001). Fāʾiq al-Maqāl fī al-Ḥadīth wa al-Rijāl. Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Davari, Muslim. (1997). ʾUṣūl ʿIlm al-Rijāl Bayn al-Naẓariyyah wa al-Taṭbīq. Author's Publications. [In Arabic]
Deilami, Hassan bin Mohammad. (2003). ʾIrshād al-Qulūb al-Munjī man ʿAmel Behī min ʾAlīm al-ʿIqāb (edited by H. Meylani). Dar al-Uswa. [In Arabic]
Deilami, Hassan bin Mohammad. (2006). Ghurar al-ʾAkhbār. Dalil-e Ma. [In Arabic]
Hafez Borsi, Rajab bin Mohammad. (2001). Mashāriq ʾAnwār al-Yaqīn fī ʾAsrār ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn ʿalayhi al-Salām. A’lami. [In Arabic]
Hilli, Ezzoddin Hassan bin Soleiman. (2003). Al-Muḥtaẓar. Al-Haydariyya Library. [In Arabic]
Hosseini Hilli, Hossein bin Kamal al-Din. (2007). Zubdat al-ʾAqwāl fī Khulāṣat al-Rijāl. Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Hurr Ameli, Mohammad bin Hassan. (2004). ʾIthbāt al-Hudāh bi-al-Nuṣūṣ wa-al-Muʿjizāt. Al-A’lami Publications Foundation. [In Arabic]
Hurr Ameli, Mohammad bin Hassan. (2006). Al-Rijāl. Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Hossein bin Abd al-Wahhab. (n.d). ʿUyūn al-Muʿjizāt. Davari Library. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babawayh, Mohammad bin Ali. (1983). Al-Khiṣāl. Islamic Publication Foundation of the Teachers' Seminary. [In Persian]
Ibn Babawayh, Mohammad bin Ali. (1983). Ṣifāt al-Shīʿah. A’lami. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babawayh, Mohammad bin Ali. (1984). Kamāl al-Dīn wa Tamām al-Niʿmah (edited by A.A. Ghaffari). Islamic Publication Foundation. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babawayh, Mohammad bin Ali. (1992). Man lā Yaḥḍuruhu al-Faqīh. Islamic Publication Foundation. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babawayh, Mohammad bin Ali. (n.d). Faḍāʾil al-Shīʿah. A’lami. [In Arabic]
Ibn Dawud Helli, Hassan bin Ali. (1963). Al-Rijāl. University of Tehran. [In Arabic]
Ibn Ghaza’eri, Ahmad bin Hossein. (2001). Al-Rijāl. Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Ibn Hajar Asqalani, Ahmad bin Ali. (1984). Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb. Dar al-Fekr. [In Arabic]
Ibn Hamza Tousi, Mohammad bin Ali. (1998). Al-Thāqib fī al-Manāqib. Ansariyan. [In Arabic]
Ibn Shahid Thani, Mohammad bin Hassan. (1998). ʾIstiqṣāʾ al-ʾIʿtibār fī Sharḥ al-ʾIstibṣār. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Ibn Shahr Ashub, Mohammad bin Ali. (2000). Manāqib ʾĀl Abī Ṭālib ʿalayhim al-Salām. Allameh. [In Arabic]
Ibn Shahr Ashub, Mohammad bin Ali. (2007). Ma’alem al-Ulama fi Fehrest-e Kotob-e Shi’a. Al-Matba’a al-Haydariyya. [In Arabic]
Ibna Bustam, Abdullah and Hossein. (1991). Ṭibb al-ʾAʾimmah. Dar al-Sharif al-Razi. [In Arabic]
Kalbasi, Mohammad bin Mohammad Ibrahim. (2001). Al-Rasāʾel al-Rijāliyyah. Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Kashshi, Mohammad bin Omar. (1984). Ikhtiyār Maʿrifat al-Rijāl. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Khaghani, Ali bin Hossein. (1983). Al-Rijāl. Islamic Information Office. [In Arabic]
Khoe’i, Sayyed Abolqasem. (1963). Mu’jam Rijāl al-Ḥadīth wa Tafṣīl Ṭabaqāt al-Ruwāt. [n.p.] [In Arabic]
Khoe’i, Sayyed Abolqasem. (2001). Miṣbāḥ al-ʾUṣūl. Imam Al-Khoei Foundation for the Revival of His Works. [In Arabic]. [In Arabic]
Khuṣaybī, Hossein bin Hamdan. (1998). Al-Hidāyat al-Kubrā. Al-Balagh. [In Arabic]
Kufi, Furat bin Ibrahim. (1990). Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī. Ministry of Islamic Guidance. [In Arabic]
Kulayni, Mohammad bin Ya’qub. (2008). Al-Kāfī. Dar al-Hadith. [In Arabic]
Kurani Ameli, Ali. (2010). Silsilat al-Qabāʾil al-ʿArabiyyah fī al-ʿIrāq; Qabīlat Banū ʾAsad bin Khuzaymah. [n.p.] [In Arabic]
Mahallati, Zabihullah. (n.d). Rayahin al-Shi’a dar Tarjomeh Daneshmandan-e Banovan-e Shi’a. Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya. [In Persian]
Majlisi, Mohammad Baqer. (1983). Biḥār al-ʾAnwār. Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-Arabi. [In Arabic]
Majlisi, Mohammad Baqer. (1984). Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ ʾAkhbār ʾĀl al-Rasūl. [n.p.] [In Arabic]
Majlisi, Mohammad Baqer. (2001). Al-Wajīzah fī al-Rijāl. Allameh Majlesi Commemoration Conference. [In Arabic]
Mamaqani, Abdullah. (2010). Tanqīḥ al-Maqāl fī ʿIlm al-Rijāl. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Mamaqani, Abdullah. (n.d). Tanqīḥ al-Maqāl fī ʿIlm al-Rijāl. [n.p.] [In Arabic]
Manavi, Mohammad Abd al-Ra’uf. (1995). Fayḍ al-Qadīr Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr min ʾAḥādīth al-Bashīr al-Nadhīr. Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya. [In Arabic]
Mazandarani Ha’eri, Mohammad bin Isma’il. (1995). Muntahá al-Maqāl fī ʾAḥwāl al-Rijāl. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Mazhari, Hossein. (2007). Al-Thiqāt al-ʾAkhyār min Ruwāt al-ʾAkhbār. Al-Zahra Foundation. [In Arabic]
Mizzī, Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf. (1988). Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī ʾAsmāʾ al-Rijāl. Al-Resalah. [In Arabic]
Mofid, Mohammad bin Mohammad. (1994). Al-ʾIkhtiṣāṣ. The International Conference on the Thousandth Anniversary of Sheikh Mufid. [In Arabic]
Mofid, Mohammad bin Mohammad. (1994). Al-ʾIrshād fī Maʿrifat Ḥujaj Allāh ʿalá al-ʿIbād. The Sheikh Mofid Congress. [In Arabic]
Muntajib al-Din Razi, Ali bin Ubaydullah. (1987). Al-Fihrist. Ayatollah al-Mar’ashi al-Najafi Library. [In Arabic]
Murtaza, Sayyed Bassam. (2005). Zubdat al-Maqāl min Muʿjam al-Rijāl. Dar al -Mahajjat al-Bayza’. [In Arabic]
Najashi, Ahmad bin Ali. (1985). Rijāl al-Najāshī. Islamic Publication Foundation. [In Arabic]
Namazi Shahroudi, Ali. (1995). Mustadrakāt ʿIlm Rijāl al-Ḥadīth. Author's Child Publications. [In Arabic]
Namazi Shahroudi, Ali. (2001). Mustaṭrafāt al-Maʿālī. Naba’. [In Arabic]
Naraqi, Abolqasem bin Mohammad. (2001). Shuʿab al-Maqāl fī Darajāt al-Rijāl. The Commemoration Congress of Naraqi Researchers. [In Arabic]
Navavi, Mohyi al-Din bin Sharaf. (n.d). Al-Majmūʿ. Dar al-Fekr. [In Arabic]
Nili, Ali bin Abdolkarim. (2005). Surūr ʾAhl al-ʾĪmān fī ʿAlāmāt Ẓuhūr Ṣāḥib al-Zamān. Dalil-e Ma. [In Arabic]
Nouri Tabarsi, Hossein bin Mohammad Taqi. (1988). Mustadrak al-Wasāʾil wa Mustanbaṭ al-Masāʾil. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Qomi, (Sheikh) Abbas. (2011). Montaha al-Amaal fi Tarikh al-Nabi wa al-Aal. Mobin Andisheh. [In Persian]
Qomi, Ali bin Ibrahim. (1984). Tafsīr al-Qummī. Dar al-Kitab. [In Arabic]
Ravandi, Qutb al-Din Saeed bin Abdullah. (1987). Al-Daʿawāt. Imam Mahdi School. [In Arabic]
Ravandi, Qutb al-Din Saeed bin Abdullah. (1988). Al-Kharāʾij wa al-Jarāʾiḥ. Imam Mahdi Foundation. [In Arabic]
Saffar, Mohammad bin Hassan. (1984). Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt fī Faḍāʾil ʾĀl Muḥammad ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhim. Ayatollah al-Mar’ashi al-Najafi Library. [In Arabic]
Shabestari, Abdolhossein. (1999). Al-Fāʾiq fī Ruwāt wa ʾAṣḥāb al-ʾImām al-Ṣādiq. Islamic Publication Foundation. [In Arabic]
Shahid Awwal, Mohammad bin Makki. (1999). Dhikrā al-Shīʿah fī ʾAḥkām al-Sharīʿah. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Shushtari, Mohammad Taqi. (1991). Qāmūs al-Rijāl. Islamic Publication Foundation. [In Arabic]
Tabari Amoli, Mohammad bin Jarir. (1994). Dalāʾil al-ʾImāmah. Be’that. [In Arabic]
Tabarsi, Fazl bin Hassan. (1996). ʾIʿlām al-Warā bi-ʾAʿlām al-Hudā. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Tafreshi, Mostafa bin Hossein. (1998). Naqd al-Rejal. Aal al-Bayt Foundation. [In Arabic]
Toreihi, Fakhr al-Din bin Mohammad. (1996). Majmaʿ al-Baḥrayn (edited by A.H. Ashkavari). Mortazavi. [In Arabic]
Tousi, Mohammad bin Hassan. (1991). Al-Ghaybah (edited by A. Tehrani & A.A. Naseh). Dar al-Ma’aref al-Islamiyya. [In Arabic]
Tousi, Mohammad bin Hassan. (1994). Rijāl al-Ṭūsī. Islamic Publication Foundation. [In Arabic]
Tousi, Mohammad bin Hassan. (2001). Fehrest-e Kotob-e Shi’a wa Osul-e-hem wa Asma’-ol-Mosannefin wa Ashab-ol-Osul. Al-Mohaqqeq al-Tabataba’i Library. [In Arabic]
Vahid Behbahani, Mohammad Baqer. (n.d). Ta’liqah ʿalá Manhaj al-Maqāl. [n.p.] [In Arabic]
Ketab-E-Qayyem
Volume 15, Issue 2 - Serial Number 33
September 2025
Pages 247-270

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 08 January 2024
  • Revise Date: 17 April 2024
  • Accept Date: 27 April 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics