Hadith of Referring to Narrators of Hadith

The Tawqi' of Ishaq ibn Ya'qub: "As for the occurring events, refer therein to the narrators of our hadith, for they are my proof (hujjah) upon you, and I am God's proof upon them." ^[1]

This tawqi' (written reply) is narrated from Imam al-Mahdi (p). Again, note that there is no mention of taqlid, and its indication for taqlid is very weak. First, no one calls the secondary practical rulings "occurring events" — for example, prayer, ablution, khums, hajj, etc. are not "occurring events." Second, it says "refer to" (irja'u) and does not say "imitate" (qallidu). In the anti-taqlid approach — i.e., "tafaqquh to the extent of one's ability" — people also refer to scholars but try to learn the evidence for the ruling, not just the scholar's opinion. So they too act upon this hadith. Third, it says refer to "narrators of hadith," not to "those who deduce rulings." It is clear that one refers to a narrator of hadith to narrate the hadith, not to give his personal opinion without reference to hadith!

As for the second sentence — that the narrators of hadith are "proof" (hujjah) upon the people — it is clear this is in the matter of narrating hadith. That is, someone who does not have direct access to the Imam refers to the narrator, and the narrator recounts the hadith. Just as if one referred to the Imam and the Imam, as a proof, told him a hadith, now he takes that same hadith from the narrator, and it is authoritative in that sense. It does not mean the narrator expresses his own deduction and, relying on this hadith, claims his opinion is authoritative. Even in the case of hadith — whether heard from the Infallible (p) himself or even from God Himself, or from a narrator — one cannot accept and act upon it blindly, as will be explained in Imitation of God Is Not Permitted Either.

Examining the reliability of the chain of transmission also reveals interesting points. Wikishia writes:

"Ishaq ibn Ya'qub has not been explicitly authenticated in biographical evaluation sources, but certain indications — such as its narration by major traditionists like Kulayni, Shaykh Saduq, and Shaykh Tusi, the content of the tawqi', and the special greeting of Imam Mahdi to Ishaq within it — indicate his trustworthiness... The silence of some jurists and scholars of principles like Shaykh Ansari, Muhaqqiq Isfahani, and Mirza Na'ini regarding his trustworthiness, and Ayatollah Khu'i's description of him as 'among the great scholars,' are considered indications and corroborating evidence for the narrator's credibility." ^[2]

However, as previously noted, in hadiths that grant special authority to narrators and scholars, relying on the authority of the scholar himself to prove the chain of transmission is a kind of circular reasoning and invalid. If a righteous scholar comes to our door with a permit to enter, but the permit's seal and signature are from someone who has no external existence or is not known, the fact that the scholar is silent about it or says "I, as a righteous and pure person, am conveying this permit, or the text of the permit greets me" — none of these authenticate the document. We may invite him into our home because of his righteousness and our affection for him, but the document has not been authenticated by such justifications.

Regarding the general application of this tawqi', it should also be noted that this very narration is cited as one of the most important evidences for wilayat al-faqih (guardianship of the jurist) ^[3]. That is, the Imam (p) gave a single recommendation to refer to narrators in events, with the chain of transmission as reviewed, and from this, some derive that "events" means governance and administration of the Islamic world, while others derive that it means secondary practical rulings. This itself shows how general this hadith is and that it has no direct and explicit connection to taqlid.

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Parent page: We Have No Narration for Taqlid

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