Dalāʾil al-Imāma: A Fabricated Shīʿī Text Attributed to Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī

By Hassan Ansari

Translator’s note:

This article consists of two posts published on Hassan Ansari’s academic blog, the first of which outlines a summary of his research on the book Dalā’il al-Imāma while the second discusses the topic in greater detail. They will be presented in the same order below.

Dalāʾil al-Imāma 

The main source of the book Dalā’il al-Imāma attributed to al-Ṭabarī is a text which was fabricated in the name of the [Sunnī] historian Muḥammad b. Jarīr b. al-Ṭabarī and we see numerous transmissions from it scattered across the book Dalā’il al-Imāma. This later led to the entirety of this book to be falsely attributed, at first, to the Shīʿī Muḥammad b. Jarīr b. al-Ṭabarī—the valuable scholar of the late third century AH and author of al-Mustarshid, erroneously termed al-Ṭabarī al-kabīr (the great). Then, given that the attribution of this work to the Shīʿī al-Ṭabarī was considered to be impossible, another Muḥammad b. Jarīr b. Rustam al-Ṭabarī was suddenly created as a fifth century AH scholar and termed Ibn Rustam al-Ṭabarī al-ṣaghīr (the small).

It is clear that this second person does not exist in external reality at all and that this distinction between al-kabīr and al-ṣaghīr is meaningless. The root of the issue goes back to the fact that throughout the text of the book Dalā’il al-Imāma, fabricated narrations attributed to the Sunnī al-Ṭabarī are transmitted with “Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr said…”. It is for this very reason that the whole book is attributed to al-Ṭabarī.

All the narrations that are transmitted from this fictitious al-Ṭabarī in this book are of the most shameless ḥadīth forgeries and its contents are completely false (bāṭil) and fabricated.

A Fabricated Shīʿī Text Attributed to Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī

For centuries in the Shīʿī ḥadīth tradition, the book Dalā’il al-Imāma was attributed to the Shīʿī Muḥammad b. Jarīr b. Rustam al-Ṭabarī^[1], the author of al-Mustarshid fī al-Imāma. Today, it is clear that this book is not written by him. Since it is not authored by him, some researchers supposed that it must belong to another Muḥammad b. Jarīr b. Rustam al-Ṭabarī of a later period than the author of al-Mustarshid. On this basis, they opined that there are two individuals of the same name, distinguishing them as al-Ṭabarī al-kabīr (the great) and al-Ṭabarī al-ṣaghīr (the small), and assumed the book to be authored by the latter. However, the attribution of this work to Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī is merely the result and consequence of a mistaken understanding of some of the narrations in the book which begin with the phrase “Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī said…”.

In reality, Dalā’il al-Imāma is not written by Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, whether al-kabīr or al-ṣaghīr. What is interesting is that, not only is this book attributed to al-Ṭabarī but there is another text attributed also which is just a summary of the former together with a small number of additions, gathered centuries later. This text is called Nawādir al-Muʿjizāt and has been published at least two times, referred to as a book by this same author. However, not only is this book not from the Shīʿī Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī but it is fundamentally not an independent book; it is only a non-technical selection from Dalā’il al-Imāma.^[2]

Now if the book Dalā’il al-Imāma is not from the Shīʿī Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, then who wrote it? We have answered this question in another paper but it must be said here that the author of this book is an unknown figure who was active in the first half of the fifth century AH and a contemporary of Shaykh Ṭūsī. It is highly likely that he lived in Baghdād but he was not paid attention to by the rijālists of that time such as Najāshī and Shaykh Ṭūsī given that he was contemporary to them. We mentioned the different possibilities in the aforementioned paper and said that the existing book Dalā’il al-Imāma consists of several parts; only one of which is written by this contemporary scholar of Shaykh Ṭūsī while the rest of the parts are insertions later added to the text of Dalā’il al-Imāma. In fact, it is one of these inserted sections that has caused the text of the book to be attributed to Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī.

To explain, in almost all the chapters of Dalā’il al-Imāma, and especially under the “miracles” of each Imām, there are a number of narrations transmitted from someone named “Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī” without any chain of narration to him, containing generally exaggerated contents (ghulūw) and tending to attribute unnatural abilities to the Imāms. From the chains of this group of narrations—meaning the chains provided by Muḥammad b. Jarīr—it is clear that the fabricators of this group of narrations wanted to falsely attribute these aḥādīth to the Sunnī Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, author of Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī and Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī. This is because some of his well-known teachers (shuyūkh) have been used in the construction and fabrication of some of these chains. The contents, as well as the structure of the texts (matn) and chains, of this group of aḥādīth do not leave any doubt that this text is not from the Sunnī al-Ṭabarī and that it has been fabricated in his name and placed and inserted in the text of the book Dalā’il al-Imāma in different chapters.

This could not have been the work of the original author of Dalā’il al-Imāma since the type of chains of this group of aḥādīth are not consistent with his style in the main sections of the book. However, on the other hand, it should be noted that the fabrication and suggestion of this group of aḥādīth is highly likely to be the work of one of the teachers of the author of Dalā’il al-Imāma. Namely, that teacher was Abū al-Mufaḍḍal al-Shaybānī, the prominent Imāmī muḥaddith of the second half of the fourth century AH, who was himself one of the narrators of the Sunnī al-Ṭabarī. It is not unlikely that Abū al-Mufaḍḍal constructed a notebook of aḥādīth with Shīʿī and severe exaggerated (ghulūw) contents and attributed them to the Sunnī al-Ṭabarī; and someone much later took the narrations of this notebook and placed them in a scattered manner in the text of Dalā’il al-Imāma which was written by one of Abū al-Mufaḍḍal’s students.

It is interesting to note that, in these narrations, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī himself is introduced as someone who met and conversed with Imām Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī (a). Abū al-Mufaḍḍal al-Shaybānī was famous for possessing notebooks of chains of transmission and notebooks of narrations (mutūn), and for mixing and matching different narrations with different chains, choosing any chain he desired for every text (matn)^[3]. In the chains for this group of aḥādīth, he has especially used the aḥādīth of ʿAbdallah b. Muḥammad al-Balawī al-Miṣrī narrating from ʿAmāra b. Zayd. Al-Balawī is well-known for fabricating the names of people, including ʿAmāra b. Zayd, and then transmitting all kinds of narrations from these fictitious people—constructions of his own storytelling mind^[4]. What is interesting about these narrations is that they portray ʿAmāra b. Zayd himself as one of the contemporaries, students and narrators of Imāms ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā (a) and ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Hādī (a); they also portray ʿAbdallah b. Muḥammad al-Balawī as one of the companions, narrators and interlocuters of Imām Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī (a).

Here are some examples of the fabricated chains attributed to al-Ṭabarī in Dalā’il al-Imāma:

دلائل الإمامة (ط – الحديثة)، ص: ۱۶۴
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ الطَّبَرِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْبَلَوِيُّ ثُمَّ الْأَنْصَارِيُّ، قَالَ: قَالَ عُمَارَةُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ…

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۱۶۵
وَ قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ سُفْيَانُ‏ ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا الْأَعْمَشُ، عَنْ كَثِيرِ بْنِ سَلَمَةَ ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۱۶۶
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سَلَمَةُ ابْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ الْجَاشِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَرُوبَةَ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ: …
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ مَرْوَانَ، عَنْ جَابِرٍ، قَالَ: …
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا عُمَارَةُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنِي ثَقِيفٌ الْبَكَّاءُ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۱۷۰
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ اللَّيْثُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ ابْنِ مُوسَى الشَّيْبَانِيُّ، قَالا: أَخْبَرَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ كَثِيرٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ جَبْرَئِيلَ، قَالَ:…
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ كَثِيرٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُحْرِزٍ بْنِ يَعْلَى، عَنْ أَبِي أَيُّوبَ الْوَاقِدِيِّ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ هَامَانَ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة ؛ ص۱۷۱
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ النَّصِيبِينِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا زِرُّ بْنُ كَامِلٍ، عَنْ أَبِي نَوْفَلٍ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ نَوْفَلٍ الْعَبْدِيِّ، قَالَ: ….

دلائل الإمامة ؛ ص۱۸۱
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحْرُوزُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، عَنْ أَبِي مِخْنَفٍ لُوطِ بْنِ يَحْيَى الْأَزْدِيِّ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبَّاسُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۱۸۴
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ مَسْرُوقٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مَكْحُولٍ، عَنِ الْأَوْزَاعِيِّ، قَالَ: …
– قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ‏ مَاهَانَ بْنِ مَعْدَانَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو جَابِرٍ كَيْسَانُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي النَّبَّاخِ‏ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يَعْلَى، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۱۹۹
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ سُفْيَانُ بْنُ وَكِيعٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ قُدَامَةَ بْنِ عَاصِمٍ، قَالَ: …
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنْ عُمَارَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ غُنْدَرٍ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة؛ ص۲۰۰
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ أَيُّوبَ الْهَاشِمِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ كَثِيرٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ عِيسَى، قَالَ: …
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدِ بْنِ نَاصِحٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِسْحَاقَ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة؛ ص۲۱۹
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: وَ حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَرَفَةَ الْعَبْدِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا الْعَلَاءُ بْنُ مُحْرِزٍ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۲۲۰
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: وَ حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ الرَّمَادِيُ‏ ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا شَاذَانُ بْنُ عُمَرَ ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا مُرَّةُ بْنِ قَبِيصَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْحَمِيدِ، قَالَ: قَالَ لِي: جَابِرُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ الْجُعْفِيُّ: …

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۳۶۲
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ الطَّبَرِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عُمَارَةُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ: رَأَيْتُ عَلِيَّ بْنَ مُوسَى الرِّضَا (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ) وَ قَدِ اجْتَمَعَ إِلَيْهِ وَ إِلَى الْمَأْمُونِ وُلْدُ الْعَبَّاسِ لِيُزِيلُوهُ عَنْ وَلَايَةِ الْعَهْدِ، وَ رَأَيْتُهُ يُكَلِّمَ الْمَأْمُونَ وَ يَقُولُ: …

دلائل الإمامة؛ ص۳۹۷
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ الطَّبَرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عُمَارَةُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ سَعْدٍ، قَالَ: …

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۴۱۲
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ الطَّبَرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ: قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْبَلَوِيُّ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عُمَارَةُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِعَلِيِّ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ الْوَفِيِّ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ): هَلْ تَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ تُخْرِجَ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْأُسْطُوَانَةِ رُمَّاناً؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، وَ تَمْراً وَ عِنَباً وَ مَوْزاً. فَفَعَلَ ذَلِكَ وَ أَكَلْنَا وَ حَمَلْنَا.

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۴۱۳
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عُمَارَةُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي الْحَسَنِ عَلِيٍّ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ) أَ تَقْدِرُ أَنْ تَصْعَدَ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ حَتَّى تَأْتِيَ بِشَيْ‏ءٍ لَيْسَ فِي الْأَرْضِ لِنَعْلَمَ ذَلِكَ؟ فَارْتَفَعَ فِي الْهَوَاءِ وَ أَنَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ حَتَّى غَابَ، ثُمَّ رَجَعَ وَ مَعَهُ طَيْرٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ فِي أُذُنَيْهِ أَشْنِفَةٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، وَ فِي مِنْقَارِهِ دُرَّةٌ، وَ هُوَ يَقُولُ: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، عَلِيٌّ وَلِيُّ اللَّهِ، فَقَالَ: هَذَا طَيْرٌ مِنْ طُيُورِ الْجَنَّةِ. ثُمَّ سَيَّبَهُ فَرَجَعَ.

دلائل الإمامة، ص: ۴۲۶
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَرِيرٍ الطَّبَرِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ‏: رَأَيْتُ الْحَسَنَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ السِّرَاجُ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ) تَكَلَّمَ لِلذِّئْبِ فَكَلَّمَهُ، فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: أَيُّهَا الْإِمَامُ الصَّالِحُ، سَلْ هَذَا الذِّئْبَ عَنْ أَخٍ لِي بِطَبَرِسْتَانَ خَلَّفْتُهُ وَ أَشْتَهِي أَنْ أَرَاهُ. فَقَالَ لِي: إِذَا اشْتَهَيْتَ أَنْ تَرَاهُ فَانْظُرْ إِلَى شَجَرَةِ دَارِكَ بِسُرَّمَنْ‏رَأَى. وَ كَانَ قَدْ أَخْرَجَ فِي دَارِهِ عَيْناً تَنْبُعُ عَسَلًا وَ لَبَناً، فَكُنَّا نَشْرَبُ مِنْهُ وَ نَتَزَوَّدُ. (در اين روايت سازنده متن توجه نداشته که البلوي اهل طبرستان نبوده است؛ مگر آنکه نام او را در اين سند اشتباه کاتب فرض کنيم(.
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: رَأَيْتُ الْحَسَنَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ السِّرَاجُ‏ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ) يَمْشِي فِي أَسْوَاقِ سُرَّ مَنْ رَأَى وَ لَا ظِلَّ لَهُ، وَ رَأَيْتُهُ يَأْخُذُ الْآسَ فَيَجْعَلُهَا وَرِقاً ، وَ يَرْفَعُ طَرْفَهُ نَحْوَ السَّمَاءِ وَ يَدَهُ فَيَرُدُّهَا مَلْأَى لُؤْلُؤاً.
قَالَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ: قُلْتُ لِلْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ) أَرِنِي مُعْجِزَةً خُصُوصِيَةً أُحَدِّثُ بِهَا عَنْكَ. فَقَالَ: يَا ابْنَ جَرِيرٍ، لَعَلَّكَ تَرْتَدُّ. فَحَلَفْتُ لَهُ ثَلَاثاً، …

Footnotes

[1] Note that Ansari refers to the Shīʿī Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī to distinguish between the famous Sunnī scholar of the same name, the author of Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī and Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī.

[2] For more, see Ansari’s article on Nawādir al-Muʿjizāt: https://ansari.kateban.com/post/1193

[3] See Ibn al-Ghaḍāʾirī, Rijāl, pp. 98-99.

[4] I [Ansari] have written an independent article on him which will be published soon. For more, see Ibn al-Ghaḍāʾirī, Rijāl, pp. 77-78, p. 80; Najāshī, Rijāl, p. 303, p. 324.