© 2003 by University of Manchester
HISH
M B. AL-IAKAM (D. 179/795) AND HIS DOCTRINE OF THE IMM'S KNOWLEDGE
London
This article aims to reconstruct the views of the Im
m
scholar Hishm b. al-Hakam on the subject of the imm's knowledge, which is relevant to the question of the nature of early Immism. This is done mainly on the basis of a textual analysis of key passages from a work of his preserved in the later work of al-Hasan al-Nawbakht. The analysis shows that Hishm's views were incompatible with esotericist conceptions of the immate and were significantly different from those found in the classical Imm sources where the imms appear as recipients of various forms of divinely imparted knowledge. Hishm conceived of the imms as no more than infallible transmitters of the Prophet's legacy and did not recognize the possibility of divine communication in the post-Prophetic era. His refutation of the messianic doctrine of the imm as a muhaddath and the Jr
d Zayd doctrine of ilhm reflected that position.
+ This article is based on chapter 2 of my Ph.D. thesis The Imm Shi'i conception of the knowledge of the imm and the sources of religious doctrine in the formative period: from Hisham b. al-Hakam to Kuln (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1996). Some of the arguments have been revised but the conclusions remain the same. I would like to thank Professors Wilferd Madelung, Patricia Crone and Gerald Hawting for useful suggestions and comments made at various stages.