Review on Abu Turab Hadiths, a critique on Ethan Kohlberg's Theory

Etan Kohlberg, the Shi‘a study researcher in Hebru University has an article titled “Abu Turab” in which he studies the title of Imam Ali (A.S.) given by prophet (A.S). He in this article argues that the title Abu Turab was given to Imam Ali (A.S.) not out of honoring him rather, prophet wanted to diminish Ali. Nevertheless, Shi‘a scholars during the history have changed the origin of issuing this title from blame to admiration. Therefore, they have forged many hadith regarding this title. The present Article first present a Persian translation of Kohlberg’s paper then critically studies the main points of the writer. This article argues that first of all Kohlberg has not present the complete origins of this title and secondly the admiration origins are not restricted in Shi‘a sources. The methodology of this article is historical and analytical. We have referred in this article to abundant historical and hadith sources.