Some Notes on the History of the Categorization of Imāmī Ḥadīth

The formative period of Imāmī law is generally placed in Buwayhid Baghdad. However, by the end of the Buwayhid era, Imāmī law had not yet developed all of the features that would enable future scholars to elaborate the law along particular methodological lines. In particular, it was not until the 7^th/13^th century that Imāmī scholars invented a typology to systematize the use of ḥadīth as an independent source of law. Because the bulk of substantive law rests on the Sunnah, and because the main source of Muslims’ knowledge of the Sunnah is ḥadīth, it is argued that the moment when ḥadīth come to be regarded as an independent source of law is a strong indication of its formative period. While some scholars have tried to locate this development in an earlier stage of the development of Imāmī law, a careful examination of key passages in the relevant texts demonstrate that their argument is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of early bio-bibliographical writing as well as a misunderstanding of the arguments of critics of the typology.