Imamate in al-Dhari’a ila Tasanif al-Shi’a: A Content Analysis

This field study aims to conduct a content analysis of al-Dhari’a ila Tasanif al-Shi’a as regards the books on imamate. It observes the sources using a checklist on which the required information is registered.

Research method and community: 

The books on the subject of imamate were selected using such keywords as imīmat, al-īmāma, amīr al-mu’mīnīn, khilāfat, and al-khīlapha. Two tools were utilized to collect, organize, and assess the data. First, a researcher-made checklist consisting of 11 indexes: place, century, language, volume of explanations, shape and form of the work, being primary or secondary, citation, references, format (printed, scribed and printed, scribed and lost), the author’s denomination, and footnotes. Second, providing a table for definitions, and coding and categorizing the 11 indexes.  The statistical population of the study included all the 724 works on imamate in al-Dhari’a ila Tasanif al-Shi’a.

The research findings showed that most of the sources (397 works out of 724) introduced by Sheikh Aqa Buzurg Tehrani had been observed by himself. Most of the works (545 titles) were in Arabic. The most compositions (121 titles) were scribed/printed and maintained in different towns of Iraq. The most works (169 titles) that were examined belonged to the twentieth century. 684 works were in prose. The most works (307 titles) were manuscripts. Provided for 333 works, the medium volume of explanations on the works was most frequent. 705 works were primary sources and without references. Imamate Shiites have produced most of the works (703 titles). 12 works have footnotes. 313 works have cited other works.