Examining the Fate of the Collection of the Holy Quran and the Manner of Writing the Prophetic Sunnah
According to Mobalegh’s Think and Culture website, Abdolali Movahedi, author of the book ‘Ahl al-Bayt’s Report on the Conflict in Managing the Prophetic Heritage,’ elaborated on this book at a ceremony held at the Imamate Cultural Foundation. Stating that the Hadith of Thaqalayn and the reference to the Book and Sunnah have been God’s strategy for the continuation of divine guidance, he said: ‘Two types of management are observable after the passing of the Prophet (PBUH): one, the management of the caliphs who took charge of affairs, and the other, the management of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). This conflict began from that point. The book refers to ten actions by the caliphs and ten measures by the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).’
According to Mehr, he added: ‘The main goal of the caliphate movement was to marginalize the scientific and political authority of the Ahl al-Bayt; therefore, during the collection of the Quran, they rejected the Mushaf of Ali (AS), despite the Prophet’s recommendation for its compilation. They also pursued a program to prohibit the writing down of Hadith, and the groundwork for this was laid by the events of the pen and inkwell, and the prohibition of recording the Prophet’s (PBUH) will.’
Movahedi stated: ‘By adhering to the Quran, they blocked the Prophetic Sunnah and God’s messenger, and achieved certain results. In other words, although it outwardly appeared to be an accreditation of the Quran, the main goal was to undermine the path of divine guidance.’
It is worth mentioning that Ayatollah Najm al-Din Tabasi, a member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, and Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Tabatabaei, a professor at the University of Quran and Hadith, were among the other speakers at this session.
The book ‘Conflict in Managing the Prophetic Heritage,’ authored by Abdolali Movahedi, is a deep and innovative historical-theological analysis of two fundamental crises in early Islamic history: the fate of the collection of the Holy Quran and the fate of the writing of the Prophetic Sunnah. The book’s unique approach goes beyond mere Shi’ite historiography, offering an analytical paradigm that examines these two events not as isolated incidents, but as the results of a fundamental ‘management conflict.’
This conflict emerged between two completely opposing programs: on one hand, the ‘management of the successor’ (represented by Amir al-Mu’minin Ali, peace be upon him, and the infallible Imams), who was tasked with preserving the integral and authentic Prophetic heritage; and on the other hand, the ‘management of the contemporary government,’ which pursued a different path with the aim of consolidating political power.
The book’s main hypothesis is based on the idea that the key decisions of the government after the Prophet (PBUH) – namely, the rejection of Imam Ali’s (AS) Mushaf and consequently the policy of prohibiting the writing of Hadith – were calculated reactive measures that served a larger, hidden goal: the rejection of the successor and the marginalization of the scientific and political authority of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). In contrast to this movement, the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), through divine foresight and a long-term plan, worked to neutralize this deviation and safeguard religion.
