The Words of the Imam beyond Philosophy and Tradition: Shīʿī Hadith Commentaries in the Ṣafavid Period

Even though the classical compilations of Twelver ShiÊ¿i hadith were compiled in the tenth and eleventh centuries CE, it was not until the Safavid period (1501–1722) that the revival of interest in hadith led to the composition of commentaries. The neo-classicism of the Safavid period emphasised the importance of the early hadith traditions, and new compilations were produced during this period. This came alongside the first commentaries that arose in conflict with each other struggling over the very nature of the ShiÊ¿i traditions: the akhbÄrÄ« commentaries with their return to scripture opposed legal and theological reasoning, while philosophers and mystics deployed hadith to confirm and corroborate their intellectual insights. After a survey of ShiÊ¿i hadith commentaries, this chapter examines the different ways in which the notion of Ê¿aql (reason) in hadith was understood by Muḥammad BÄqir MajlisÄ« (d. 1111/1699), Muḥammad á¹¢Äliḥ MÄzandarÄnÄ« (d. 1080/1669), MullÄ á¹¢adrÄ (d. 1045/1636), and QÄá¸Ä« SaÊ¿Ä«d QummÄ« (d. 1107/1696).