Chapter 6-RijÄlÄ«-Historical Books
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Chapter 6
RijÄlÄ«-Historical Books
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The Science of rijÄl is one of the important branches of Islamic history. The Shi‘ites have given much attention to this particular field by meticulously recording the names of the companions of the Prophet and the Imams (‘a), as well as the chains of narrations. Although most of the early Shi‘ite works of rijÄl have not survived, the most important of the extant works is the book al-IkhtiyÄr Ma‘irfah al-RijÄl or RijÄl al-KashshÄ« as it is also known. It should be considered important from every aspect. Another important work is RijÄl al-NajÄshÄ«, which apart from its rijÄlÄ« details, is a mine of information on Shi‘ite books of the early centuries of Islam as well as Shi‘ite cultural history. During the later eras, such works were not compiled as much as before, but every work compiled in this regard is important from the historical point of view. Among them are such books as al-Fihrist and al-RijÄl by Shaykh TusÄ« and also the al-RijÄl by ‘AllÄmah Hilli. The valuable book al-Fihrist by Ibn NadÄ«m should also be considered a fully Shi‘ite work, something that has been duly proved. Ibn AbÄ« Tayy, the Shi‘ite scholar of the seventh century AH (d. 630) wrote a book entitled Tabaqat al-ImÄmiyyah which has unfortunately been lost. Ibn Hajar ‘AsqalÄnÄ« has quoted from it in his al-IsÄbah on Yaghus SahÄbÄ«. Ibn AbÄ« Tayy also wrote a history which was in chronological order. This work has also been given up for lost. A few quotations from it are found in SafdÄ«’s Nukat al-HamiyÄn on prominent blind figures.[31]
We should not overlook the books of ansab or geneology which are also in a way related to history. This science was prevalent among the Shi‘ite and two of the earliest books in this field are al-MujdÄ« and Sirr al-Silsilah. This branch in the history of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) cannot be overlooked. A list of the scholars related to the late AyatullÄh Sayyid ShihÄb al-DÄ«n Mar‘ashÄ« NajafÄ« has been mentioned in the introduction to LubÄb al-AnsÄb. In addition to elaborating on the geneologies these books also mention historical issues.
During the Safawid and Qajarid eras several encyclopaedic rijÄlÄ« works such as RiyÄz al-‘UlamÄ’ and RawzÄt al-JannÄt were written, giving us more detailed historical information especially in the field of the history of culture.
Notes:
[31] Refer to al-DharÄ«‘ah, vol. 3, page 219.