['Aalim Network QR] Authenticity of al-Saheefa al-Sajjadiyyah

[Abbas Jaffer <abbas@dircon.co.uk>]

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|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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Salamun Alaykum,

The following question was kindly answered by Shaykh Hasnain Kassamali.

Regards

Abbas Jaffer
Acting Moderator - 'Aalim Network


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Question

In a recent answer, "Al-Saheefa al-Sajjadiyyah" was listed as one of the
sources of Shi'a tradition, and later it was stated that "...none of our
books is considered by our scholars as sahih (authentic) in its entirety." 
As far as my meagre knowledge goes, this statement is not true for
Al-Saheefa al-Sajjadiyyah, as this books "is" considered sahih by Shia
scholars. I would be grateful if this point can be clarified by the learned
'Aalim.

Answer

In His name, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The authenticity of a hadith is usually established by throroughly verifying
all its chain of narrators (sanad) and the text (matn). As far as my reading
goes there is no study/ies which has established the veracity of the entire
contents of Al-Saheefa al-Sajjadiyya as well as the truthfulness and
reliability of the narrators going back to Imam al-Sajjad (a). However, it
should be noted that our scholars believe that Al-Saheefa al-Sajjadiyyah is
"mutwatir", i.e. so many people have narrated the contents that the large
number of reports on Al-Saheefa are enough to convince us of its
genuineness. Furthermore, the Saheefa has also been authenticated through a
"special" way. Those interested may refer to the dream of `Allmah Muhammad
Taqi Majlisi (d.1070 AH) mentioned in the "Introducton" of The Psalms of
Islam (1988) by William Chittick.

God knows the best.

Hasnain Kassamali
Humble servant of the Ahlul Bayt (a).