MUHAMMAD IBN SINĀN AL-ZĀHIRĪ CREDIBILIZATION AND ASPERSION IN TERMS OF ILM AL-RIJĀL

Abstract

Muhammad ibn Sinān al-Zāhirī remains one of the most controversial figures in the science of biographical evaluation (Ilm al-Rijāl), as scholars have sharply disagreed on his credibility; some considering him credible, others casting aspersions on him. This dichotomy makes his study essential to understanding evaluative mechanisms, especially within the Twelver Imami framework. This research meticulously investigates points of credibility and aspersion by surveying and analyzing biographical evaluative rijālī texts through the critical methodology adopted by both the Usūlīs and Akhbārīs. The findings reveal that Ibn Sinān was a prolific hadith narrator, frequently narrating from the Imams, which earned him scholarly standing in certain sources. However, the abundance of his uncommon narrations and explicit cast-aspersion on him by notable scholars such as al-Najāshī and Ibn al-Ghaḍā’irī led to his classification as an aspersion-cast narrator by a group of specialists in Ilm al-Rijāl. Nevertheless, his narrations were still utilized in hadith compilations, raising profound questions about the nature of credibilization and the influence of historical and doctrinal contexts on evaluative judgments. The study concludes that scholarly perspectives on Muhammad ibn Sinān reflect a methodological divide — between those accepting probabilistic credibility derived from frequent transmission through trustworthy figures, and those insisting on stringent conditions of textual precision and manifest integrity. Thus, Ibn Sinān stands at a critical intersection between credibility and aspersion, serving as a vivid example of the complexity of objective evaluation in Ilm al-Rijāl.