A Souvenir from Amir al-Mu›minin›s Land (Rereading Seyyed Muhammad Reza Sīstāni›s Rijāli Thoughts in Qabasāt min Elm er-Rijāl)

Qabasāt min Ilm er-Rijāl, by Muhammad Reza Sīstāni, can be considered as one of the books on Rijāl studies (biographical evaluation). This book, compiled by Muhammad Boka›, contains Sīstāni›s jurisprudential writings, and his scattered papers. It has ten chapters in which the general points and rules of Ilm-e Rijāl (biographical evaluation) are presented. Some parts of the book are related to the recognition of the narrators, so they are dealing with the identification of the correct names of the narrators, the strategies which help address the damages of mispronunciation (tashif) and distortion (tahrif), the rules of discovering the identity of the narrators, and the basics of finding out about the trustworthiness of the narrators. Another part of the book is presenting some strategies of correcting the documents such as changing of document, book-based assessment, and the use of probability calculation. Some other parts of the book are also talking about the authentication of the hadith sources, and discuss the evidences of proving their attribution. The author of the following article is going to introduce the mentioned book in detail, and study the book writer›s rijāli principles and methods, and then present them coherently. Regarding this, he, first of all, review the chapters of the book, and afterwards examines the writer›s principles and methods.