Mohammad Bāqer Behboudi: An analysis of his views on Islamic biographical evaluation (ilm al-rijāl)

Weakness of the narrators of ‘hadith’, ways of identifying such a weakness, and its relationship to the legitimacy or illegitimacy of attributing hadiths to the Infallible Ones are all among major concerns of the science of hadith and the science of biographical evaluation. In this paper, Behboudi’s views on how to identify weaknesses of narrators of hadith are examined. The examination is organized through exploring his views on the causes of emergence of the science of hadith, on the principle of biographical evaluation for Shi‘as, and the methodology employed by their authors, as well as on the terms ‘jarh’ (discrediting) and ‘zu‘afā’ (weak narrators). An analysis of his views on biographical evaluation and his ‘history of hadith’ reveals that in Behboudi’s view, the efforts of Shi‘a scholars did not successfully prevent penetration of exaggerated and pagan ideas into Shi‘a hadith heritage, resulting in much fabrications being recorded in Shi‘a hadith books and many weak narrators being included in Shi‘a hadith documents.