RIJĀL
AN-NAJĀSHĪ

TITLE OF THE BOOK:

Fihrist-e Asmā-e Musannafī Ash-Shi'a (list of names
of Shi'a writers), popularly known as Rijāl Najāshī'

AUTHOR:

Abul-Husain, Ahmad son of Ali son of Ahmad Najāshī
(372- 450 H.)

SUBJECT:

It includes a name-list of outstanding Shi'a
writers and compilers, and is accounted as one of the primary sources of
Rijāl' (identification and criticism of personages who have narrated Islamic
Hadīths, Narrations, etc.). It lists only the names of great Shi'a personages
who wrote a book or left behind a piece of work in Islamic science.

PAST HISTORY OF WRITING
RIJĀL':
Shi'a great Ulamā of the first Islamic century
onward up to now paid special attention to the field of Rijāl', since
credibility of all Rawāei' books (i.e. books comprising Islamic Traditions
& Narrations) depends on the reliability and trustworthiness of the
narrators and compilers themselves, and these qualities are verifiable only
through the science of Rijāl' in which biographies, backgrounds, along with
criticism of the chain of narrators are discussed.

The first significant attempt in writing Rijāl' was made
by Ubaidullāh son of Abī Rafi' who was a scribe of Amīr-ul-Mu'minīn Ali (A.S.).
He wrote down the names of companions and disciples of Imam Ali (A.S.) who took
part in battles commanded by his Holiness.

After him, Abdullah son of Jebellah Kan'ānī (died in 219
H.), Abū Fazzāl, and Ibn-e Mahbūb, of the second and third century, respectively
offered books in this regard. Unfortunately none of them reached us.

The earliest writings available to us, which constitute the sources of
Rijāl', belong to the fourth and fifth centuries Hegira onward. These
are:

(1) Rijāl-e Keshī
(2) Fihrist-e Najāshī'

(3) Rijāl-e Sheikh-e Tūsī'

(4) Fihrist-e Sheikh-e Tūsī'

(5) Rijāl-e Barqī'

After these five primary books, in the subsequent centuries, hundreds of
books on Rijāl' were written, most of which did make substantial use of the
aforementioned sources. (For further information on the history of Rijāl' refer
to the introduction in Najāshī's Rijāl', printed by Dār-ul-Adhwā, Beirut, 1408
H.)

AUTHOR'S

MOTIVATION:

Najāshī in the introduction of his book writes as follows:

"I heard what Sayyid Sharīf
(Sayyid Murtadhā Alam-ul-Hudā) had said that a group of opponents of Shi'a sect
had reproached Shi'a believers on not having any pioneer or religious scholar
who had composed or compiled a book in the field of Islamic knowledge

To refute such an allegation, I
was prompted to compile this book, in which I collected as many names of Shi'a
writers as I could."

This statement represents the highest religious zeal that an individual
may have.

AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOK:

This book is one of the original sources concerning
Rijāl'. It serves as an important reference book for identifying
trustworthiness and reliability of the ancient personages. According to Sheikh
Āqā Buzurg Tehrānī, Rijāl' is as important as the book Kāfī'
among Kutub-e Arba'ah (the four authoritative books of Shi'a). On any
controversial point, what Najāshi's book says is preferable, since what the
disputants argue is by no means comparable to the reasoning of Najāshī.

Najāshi's book is so important that everyone who writes about Rijāl' or
any book on the biographies of great Islamic scholars, would be compelled to
make use of Najāshī's work as well as that of Keshī and Sheikh-e Tūsī.

precedence over Sheikh-e
Tūsī

Najāshī's Rijāl' is given precedence over that of Sheikh-e Tūsī
for the reasons mentioned below:

1) Date of compilation of Najāshi's book is
chronically subsequent to Fihrist-e Sheikh-e Tūsī'. Furthermore, Najāshī wrote it at his old age, while
Sheikh-e Tūsī finished it at his youth.

2) Sheikh-e Tūsī has
compilations on different subjects; as a result, his scientific competence is
divided into several fields; therefore, many critics are against his works,
whereas Najāshī concentrated on the science of Rijāl' only.

3) Najāshī was quite
expert on Ilm-ul-Ansāb' or genealogy, and genealogy is a necessity for
understanding Rijāl.

4) Most of the
narrators have been from Kūfa and its surrounding area. Najāshī is also from
Kūfa and therefore more familiar with them.

5) Najāshī personally
has been in contact with Ibn-e Ghazāyeri, who was a master of the art of
Rijāl', and much benefited from his expertise.

6) Najāshī was
personally associated with many other Ulamā who were well-versed in Rijāl',
while Sheikh-e Tūsī has not met them.

DATE OF COMPILATION:

Najāshī must have written his Rijāl' between the
years 419 and 436 H., as indicated by the dates given in the book. One of the
given dates pertains to the death of Muhammad Ibn-e Abdul-Malik Tabān (died in
419 H), which is pointed out in the book.

Somewhere else in the book, Najāshī - when referring to the name of
Sayyid Murtadhā Alam-ul-Hudā - states a phrase in which he prays to Allāh to
prolong his life and maintain His blessings upon him. Taking into consideration
the date of demise of Sayyid Murtadhā Alam-ul-Hudā which has been 436 H., we can
conclude that the book has been written before 436 Hegira.

VOLUME OF THE BOOK:

The book contains the names and biographical
information concerning 1269 Shi'a personages (narrators & writers), ranging
in volume from just a few lines to one or more pages.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE
BOOK:
1- Personages are identified on the basis of their
religious convictions as well as their personal trustworthiness and reliability,
together with the list of their writings and books.
2- The book is the most
important source for evaluating
documentations, reliability of narrators, and rectification or verification of
information concerning them;
3- The book's aim, as stated before, has been to
identify the Shi'a writers and their books. So narrators, from whom there is no
compilation or piece of works left, are not mentioned in the book;
4- The book does not contain the whole writers of
Shi'a of that period and earlier. In contrast, some of the non-Shi'a writers who
had written about or for Shi'a sect are included or introduced in the
book.
5- While describing biographies of some individuals,
rectification of other narrators and chain of documentations pertaining to them
are also mentioned in this book; e.g. general trustworthiness of Halabiyūn'
(Serial No.229 in Najāshī's list).
6- Najāshī did not content himself just with a single
name or nickname of a specific person, but included all various titles, names,
and nicknames of that narrator;
7- In many cases dates of birth, death, authorization
for narration, etc. are given in the book.
8- In some cases the book highlights the confidence
expressed by great men in a book, or underlines presentation of a specific book
to an infallible Imam (A.S.) for approval.

Order of SUBJECTS:

Listing of writers in the book starts
from the contemporary writers with the Holy Prophet(S.A.), or those who lived in
a period of time nearer to His Holiness. Then, the subsequent writers are
alphabetically arranged, in which the first letters of the names have been taken
into consideration only.

Order of the succeeding letters and father's name is not
observed in the book. Mawlā Ināyatullāh Qahpāei improved the listing on these
bases too, to make the use of it easier. Unfortunately, however, his manuscript
or a copy of it is not available.

The present print follows the same original writer's
listing.

Available
Manuscripts
1- A manuscript,
with the handwriting of Sheikh Fadhl son of Muhammad Fadhl Abbāsī, belongs to
the year 1021 Hegira. This is transcribed from those manuscripts whose original
copy belongs to that of Ibn-e Idrīs Hillī, and further scripts of Sayyid
Abd-ul-Karīm Ibn-e Tāwūs and Sayyid Muhammad Ibn-e Sayyid Mūsawī can be noted on
it.
2- A manuscript in the library of Āstān-e Quds-e
Radhawī' (Holy Shrine of Hazrat-e Imām Redhā A.S.) dates back to 967 H.
3- And finally a manuscript is available in the Tabriz
Library, which is dated 981H. It has been transcribed from a manuscript that
belonged to the year 551 Hegira.