A Critical Study of the Chain of Transmission (Sanad) and Text (Matn) of the Hadiths of “Ṣaḥīfat ʿAlī (ʿa)” as Found in “Kitāb ʿAlī (ʿa)”

Abstract

The “ṢaḥīfatʿAlī (ʿa)” (The Scroll of ʿAlī) is one of the earliest written documents attributed to the Ahl al-Bayt (alayhim al-salām). It is mentioned in both Shiʿi and Sunni hadith sources under various names such as “Ṣaḥīfat ʿAlī,” “Kitāb ʿAlī,” and “al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Jāmiʿa.” Numerous narrations state that it was kept in the scabbard (or hilt) of the sword of the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib(ʿalayhi al-salām). This study adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology and employs critical examination of both chain of transmission(sanad) and text(matn) to evaluate the hadiths attributed to this scroll. The primary sources examined are two independent compilations:  - Ṣaḥīfat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ʿan Rasūlillāh by Rifaʿat Fawzī ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, and  - Kitāb ʿAlī (ʿa) by Mahdī Mahrīzī. 

The findings reveal that a significant portion of these hadiths possess authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) or good (ḥasan) chains of transmission. Their contents can be classified into three main thematic axes: 

1. Legal rulings (fiqhī): blood money (diyāt), wounds and injuries, ransoming captives, and the prohibition of killing a Muslim in retaliation for a non-Muslim. 

2. Principles of social and political order: the inviolability of Madīnah, the unity of the Muslim community’s covenant (dhimma), the divine curse upon innovators in religion (al-muḥdith) and those who shelter them, and the obligation to honor covenants. 

3. Doctrinal and wilāya-related warnings: negation of polytheism (shirk), preservation of legitimate lineage, and adherence to the wilāya of the Ahl al-Bayt (ʿalayhim al-salām).

These hadiths are fully consistent with the Noble Qurʾān, the mutawātir Sunnah, and rational principles; no explicit contradiction was found. Thus, the “Ṣaḥīfat ʿAlī (ʿa)” is not merely a historical document proving Imām ʿAlī’s pioneering role in recording hadith during the earliest period of Islam, but also a practical model of political, social, and doctrinal jurisprudence grounded in justice, unity, and wilāya. This study can serve as a methodological model for the critical examination of other written texts attributed to the Ahl al-Bayt (ʿalayhim al-salām), such as al-Jafr, al-Jāmiʿa, and the Muṣḥaf of Fāṭima (ʿalayhā al-salām).