The Ziyārat of Imām al-Ḥusayn as Liturgical Text in Early Shī‘ī Ḥadīth

Harvard Divinity School

Full Title: The Ziyārat of Imām al-Ḥusayn as Liturgical Text in Early Shī‘ī Ḥadīth and its Role in the Promulgation of Shī‘ī Piety The intention of this lecture and study is to investigate the intricacies and substance of a genre of devotional literature and liturgical practice in Twelver Shī‘īsm, namely the Ziyārat (visitational eulogy) of Imam al-Ḥusayn. In doing so, this talk presented a historical and close philological-thematic study of this ziyāra, a text that is consistently found throughout classical and contemporary Shi‘ī prayer manuals and formative hadith works such as al-Kāfī. The ziyāra has been ascribed by Twelver Shī‘īs to the sixth Imām, Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765). Unlike most studies dealing with the topic of Shī‘ī devotion, this lecture shall focus on the textual history, Qur’ānic, and mystical-theological themes which imbue this liturgy. The speakers were Vinay Khetia, Academic Director, Shia Research Institute, Toronto Furthermore, the numerous statements of esoteric or gnostic provenance found throughout this text sheds further light upon the development and promulgation of the non-rationalist stream of Shī‘īsm by authorities such as al-Kulaynī, Ibn Qawlawayh, and Ibn Babawayh al-Qummī who place the ontological function of Imāms knowledge and walāya (charismatic persona and authority) at the very centre of any notion of acceptable religiosity. It is the author's contention that this ziyāra text is part and parcel of the broader venture of early esoteric Shī‘īsm thus, a text of this genre would be most appropriately analyzed within this context. Sponsored by the Jaffer Family Foundation of NY. This event took place on September 15, 2023. Find more information for this event here: https://shiism.hds.harvard.edu/ Transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2023/09/15/video-ziyarat-imam-al-husayn-liturgical-text-early-shii-hadeth-and-its-role-promulgation?admin_panel=1