Abstract:
The Great Islamic Encyclopedia, which joined the country's cultural arena after the revolution, contains points such as doubt regarding the direct hearing of 'Fadl ibn Shadhan Nishapuri' (d. 260 AH/ 874 AD) from Imam Reza (as), the inclusion of some reproachful reports from Imam Hasan al-Askari (as) in connection with him, his corporeality and the close proximity of his views to the beliefs of Sunni Salafis, doubt in the authenticity of the chains of transmission of the book Al-Idah to him, and other topics of a similar nature. These beliefs and approaches are criticized and emphasized by this article as unstable; for instance, the signature attributed to Imam Askari (as) in rebuking 'Fadl', which is cited as the source of his corporeality, is considered invalid and forged by all biographical scholars. Furthermore, his narration from Imam Reza (as) and the authenticity of the chains of transmission of Al-Idah to him have been confirmed. Recognizing the true positions of this jurist, theologian, hadith scholar, and high-ranking companion of the Imams (as)—who was preoccupied with advancing religious knowledge and whose radiant thought, extensive investigations, and writing of one hundred and eighty books in the third century provided for the scientific and intellectual life of his community—undoubtedly plays a fundamental role in the excellence of our generation. It is fitting, and indeed a duty, that the approaches of such individuals be disseminated so that no disruption occurs in the continuity of their awakenings and righteous positions.
Machine summary:
At the same time, from the perspective of the writer of these lines, some semantic deficiencies, both minor and major, are not far off; including the belief in his Azdi lineage, doubt regarding his being from Nishapur, his lack of maturity in the period after the death of Harun, the Waqifi status of "Saif ibn Umayrah" among his teachers, the inclusion of a group of narrations regarding his reprimand by Imam al-Askari(a), the proximity of his views to Salafi beliefs in anthropomorphism, doubt in the chains of narration for the book Al-Idah attributed to him, and creating doubt regarding his direct hearing from Imam al-Rida(a).
Kashshi, a contemporary of Kulayni, who authored the first comprehensive remaining Shia Rijal book and addressed the dimensions of Ibn Shadhan's life exhaustively (Kashshi, Nos. 1023-1029) and reported Fadl's hadith from Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Qutaybah, Abu Abd Allah Shadhani, and others (Kashshi, Nos. 56, 104, 154, 279, 367, 380, 453, 558, 657, 775, 788, 902, 904, 910, 911, 912, 920, 925, 926, 929, 952, 980, 1033, etc.
106, Chapter 35), met with his family, and some of them, such as Abu Muhammad Ja'far ibn Nu'aym ibn Shadhan, served as the medium for transferring Fadl's legacy to him and his teacher; and moreover, in his various books, including Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih, he quoted narrations from him (Vol. 1, Hadiths 914, 919, 926, 1510; Vol. 4, Hadith 5915) and also mentioned him in Al-Mashyakha (ibid.
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