Ḥarīz b. ‘Abd Allāh Azadī Kūfī Sīstānī, one of the companions of Imam al-Bāqir (A.S.) and Imam al-Ṣādiq (A.S.), has had a leading role in the heritage of Ahl al-Bayt’s school of thought. His reported traditions in al-Kāfī, Man lā Yaḥḍirahu al-Faqīh, Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām, and al-Istibṣār according to my statistical survey amounts to 1800 in number. Najāshī has considered his nickname as Abū Muḥammad and it is implied from his statements that he is from among the genuine Arabs of Azad in Yemen. Quoting from Yūnus, he has regarded his narration from Imam al-Ṣādiq (A.S.) as restricted to one or two instances and has also asserted that because of his armed uprising, Ḥarīz was rejected and isolated by Imam al-Ṣādiq (A.S.), and that the Imam (A.S.) broke off his relation from him. Najāshī’s approach to him caused some later sources to employ such phrases as madhmūmun fī al-riwāya (reprehensible in transmission of traditions), madhmūmun dhamman mā (somehow reprehensible), and ram-yi bi al-dham (condemned to reprehension), which consist of invalidation, in relation to Ḥarīz.
In this article, according to Kashshī’s Rijāl, which Ṭūsī has edited and rewritten, his (Ḥarīz’s) nickname is considered to be Abū ‘Abd Allāh and it is pointed out that Ṭūsī has regarded him to be a wilā’ī and ilḥāqī Arab (both refer to a non-Arab becoming naturalized as an Arab) and “originally Persian”. It is also added that the Ḥarīz’s
recorded traditions (ma’thūrāt) quoted from Imam al-Ṣādiq (A.S.) in the four Shī‘a books of tradition (kutub-i ‘arba‘a) are over 230 and not just two; and according to other sources, this number amounts to a considerably greater number. Exploration and examination of sources reveal that Ḥarīz did not draw sword in person; rather, he stated the initial legal ruling and, besides, Imam al-Ṣādiq’s (A.S.) rejection does not necessitate invalidating and debilitating him and has taken place for guarding and preserving his and others’ life and property. On the other hand, Shaykh Ṭūsī and some others have considered him to be among the reliable Shī‘a jurists. |
