Ascertaining the Validity of Islamic Hadíth:
A Personal Prospective
First presented at the Irfan Colloquia Session #15
Bahá'í National Center: Wilmette, Illinois, USA
August 9–10, 1997
(see list of papers from #15)
The validity of Islamic Hadíth is questioned, scrutinized, rejected by some scholars of theology, and admitted, recognized, accepted by others. The Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, have referred to some hadíths in their sacred writings.
In this paper we will reflect to ascertain the efficacy of Islamic hadíth through the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. The revelation is the point of reference for substantiating any non-Bahá'í writings including the hadíth. We will attempt to explore how to recognize some of the authentic traditions and distinguish them from the spurious ones.
In approaching this issue, we selected a few hadíths prognosticating the coming of the Mahdi and Christ. In our commentary on these hadíths we will discuss some connotations and allusions to both the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. Stemming from the conviction that our Central Figures are Points of Truth and reality, the validity of the content of these hadíths, and maybe their context as well, will be accepted, providing that they conform to the Point of Truth.
Nabíl Fares, born in Egypt into a family of long-time Bahá'ís, graduated with a double major in psychology and English literature from the University of Alexandria, Egypt. A doctoral candidate in Technology Management, he now lives in Sacramento, California, with his wife, Azadeh, and their two daughters. He works for the Department of Motor Vehicles and teaches at the University of California-Davis.
Azadeh Mohandessi-Fares, a Bahá'í from Iran, escaped that country two years after her father, a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Tehran, was executed. Azadeh holds a B.A. in Journalism and worked as a journalist in Iran for three years until the paper was closed down after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. She lives with her husband, Nabíl, and their two daughters in Sacramento where she works as a volunteer tutor with Native American children.
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