The following is a more-or-less complete translation (I have indicated the brief sections I have excluded) of the section on Imam Muhammad al-Baqir as it is found in the Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’ by the fourteenth-century Damascene historian and hadith expert Shams al-Dīn Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Dhahabī (d. 1348). While the portrait of Muhammad al-Baqir in al-Dhahabī’s work differs in significant ways than his portrayal in other Sunni works, it does provide an insight into how this figure was viewed by (Sunni) scholarly circles in the Levant during the fourteenth century. It should certainly be understood that al-Dhahabī’s representation is only one Sunni perspective of Muhammad al-Bāqir and does not provide a comprehensive view of this illustrious scholar. For a more nuanced understanding of al-Bāqir, I would recommend reading this translation alongside relevant sections from Shaykh al-Mufid’s Kitāb al-Irshād or the following article: iranicaonline.org/articles/baqer-abu-jafar-mohammad. It will especially show how al-Dhahabī’s presentation contains a strongly Sunni polemical perspective, especially with the inclusion of the various traditions relating to the first two caliphs (in addition to the reference about the uncreatedness of the Qur’an). This is not to say any of these traditions are fabricated or untrue; only that their specific inclusion and organization in this biographical section were clearly intended to make a particular statement about al-Baqir’s doctrinal affiliation.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 18:53:51 +0000
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