A Comparative Study of Monotheistic Teachings in Sermons of Nahj Al-Balaghah and Narrations of Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha

One way to verify the authenticity of narrations is to discover pieces of evidence in hadiths that confirm the content of a narration. Meanwhile, the narrations that indicate a common theme are more valid than other narrations. Investigating the content of the monotheistic sermons of Nahj al-Balaghah and comparing them with the monotheistic narrations of Imam Reza (A.S.) recorded in Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha, indicates many similarities regarding monotheistic themes. Some of these themes include rejecting God and creatures' likeness, denying the illusion of God, rejecting the physicality, locality, and visibility of God and emphasizing the invisibility, eternity, and simplicity of God. These common themes become more important when one pays attention to the time interval between the period of Amir al-Mo'menin Ali (A.S.) and Imam Reza (A.S.), approaches in the hadith and theological school of Qom by the author of Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha, and hadith school of Baghdad where Sayyid Razi, the author of Nahj al-Balaghah, lived there.