The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Shi'ite Islam

5. Textual Authority and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Biographical Texts

c h a p t e r f i v e Textual Authority and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Biographical Texts We have encountered a community that has differentiated between the transmitters who report these traditions. They have authenticated those who are reliable among them and have deemed weak the unreliable ones. (Shaykh Tusi) B esides the modes of authority that I have discussed in the previous chapters, authority can also be constructed by and anchored in texts. In this chapter, I intend to examine the construction and animation of authority in biographical texts. My discussion of the literary construction and depiction of authority will be cast within the framework of Shi¡i biographical and hagiographical literature. More specifically, I will examine how these genres of literature employ various structures, features, and characteristics to portray and embellish images of their holy men, the imams. The chapter will also discuss the construction of the rijal’s authority in the biographical texts. I will argue that, by idealizing and embellishing the pro- files of the disciples, the biographical lexica impose certain preconceived typologies and images of the disciples of the imams. In the process, they bestow and, at times, even diminish the authority of the rijal, and posit a normative interpretation for subsequent readers. In the second section of this chapter, I will compare Sunni and Shi¡i profiles on two important Shi¡i disciples of the 146 The Heirs of the Prophet imams and will examine the tussle for authority and struggle for legitimacy that is evidenced in biographical texts. Structures and Features of Shi¡i Biographical Texts on the Imams The term biography designates both the written and oral accounts of persons deemed to be important. Historically, oral traditions preceded and even shaped the written form.1 Whether in written or oral form, biography is important as it informs us about important personages, the way their lives were formed, shaped, or enriched, and how they impacted their surroundings. Through the use of certain terminologies and hermeneutical constructs, biographical texts can sometimes embellish or even diminish a person’s character.2 As such, biographies mediate between the person who is profiled in the text and the reader. As Plutarch (n.d.) says: “Biography is revelatory discourse, aimed at disclosing a person’s inner self.”3 Biographical texts employ various structures and features in constructing and depicting the authority of the persons they profile. These traits include sources, types of characterizations, motifs, social impact, as well as the attitude and intention of the biographer.4 A discussion of these multivariate characteristics will take me beyond the purview of the present study. In my analysis of the biographical profiles of the imams, I will confine my discussion to the structures that Shi¡i biographical works employ in authority construction and examine how these texts accord authority to those who they profile.5 A salient feature of the biographies of the Shi¡i holy men, the imams, is that their profiles are a product of the fusion of diverse images. Shi¡i biographies synthesize the supernatural and historic elements so as to depict several ideal traits that constitute the holy man. They express the multifaceted reality of the imam by portraying him as a teacher, a philosopher, a charismatic, a sage, and even a politician at one time or another in his life. The manifestation of these different facets of the imam’s life is significant because they portray him as an exemplary charismatic figure who exercised comprehensive authority in the community. Biographies of the Shi¡i imams take the form of a literary enumeration of virtues and excellences, which are frequently portrayed through idealized traits. The imams are depicted as human beings par excellence, and as the intermediaries between the divine and the human. In addition, the biographies employ different prisms to characterize and synthesize the sanctity, holiness, virtues, and supernatural character of the imams. The biographies stress the imams’ hereditary charisma, divinely inspired knowledge, divine appointment, Textual Authority and the Struggle for Legitimacy in Biographical Texts 147 extraordinary feats, acts of extreme asceticism, and model character. These images collectively provide a prosaic indication of the authority, moral rectitude, and abilities of the imams. The diverse traits in the biographical presentation of the imams are expressed at the doctrinal level by the concepts of nass, ¡ilm, and¡isma, features that I have...