Hazara Islamicus (Dec 2014)
The Term " La Ba’sa Bih┘ " of Im┐ m Du╒ aim: its Meaning and Usage
Abstract
Had┘ th is the second major source of Islam after the Qur’an. Unlike Qur’an, Had┘ th Literature involves both weak narrations and authentically attributed narrations. Scholars of Had┘ th Sciences have developed complex system of methods to distinguish sound traditions from the weak ones. One of these Sciences is known as the science “al-Jar╒ wa al-Ta‘deel”. In this science, each transmitter is profoundly examined and his transmitted narrations are checked by the scholars to determine his degree of authenticity as Had┘ th transmitter. After this profound study, a certain transmitter is either classified as strong and acceptable or weak and unacceptable. One of the important topics of this science is to classify different terms of different scholars, so that the wrong interpretation of their terms may not affect the degrees of authenticity of a transmitter. This research study is about one of such early scholars, Im┐ m Abdul al-Ra╒ m┐ n Du╒ aim of Damascus. In it, it will be discussed what the Im┐ m means to say about the transmitters when utters his frequently used phrase "La Ba’sa Bih┘ ", which means “No objection as such”.
