(1) Maturity as regards age i.e. sixteen lunar years.
(2) Soundness of reason.
(3) To be a male.
(4) Born of wedlock.
(5) To be a follower of the twelve Imams (a.s.).
(6) To be a just one in his dealings.
(7) To be a living person.
The Ahadith of the Imams (a.s)
Dealing with the intellectual or spiritual aspects of the Imam's Ahadith or the narrators and their quantity is beyond what can be explained here. In brief the following is a mention of the situations which were surrounding the Ahadith of the Imams (a.s.). The Ahadith, our heritage and the back ground of our ideology, are subject to criticism; we do not want to afflict ourselves with ignorance. No doubt, a great number of the Ahadith are falsely ascribed to the Prophet, and it is not possible for an ordinary Muslim, a non specialist, to discern a genuine hadith from a forged one for a practical purpose. The significance of Ahadith in general is beyond question. They contain the fundamentals of our beliefs and the teachings of religion.
Muslims have always been careful to safeguard this invaluable treasure against falsehood. With the expansion of the Islamic community many factors came into being which made the Muslims worry about foreign ideas getting into the Islamic teachings. Of those who became part of the Islamic community were people who accepted Islam just for worldly gains, and joined those who accepted Islam on the basis of understanding and under the influence of the spiritual power of the holy Prophet.
As a result, forgery and false reports began to emerge in the very life time of the Prophet who admonished and threatened the forgers with Hell fire and the punishment of God. Dealing with the phenomenon of forgery was not new to the holy Prophet. It was, in fact, to expose forgery that God sent Prophets from time to time. Muslims believe, and it is true that with the holy Quran God has put an end to forgery. The holy Prophet also had to take effective measures against this phenomenon by means of getting his teachings recorded and setting up standards for the narrators with respect to their dependability. After the death of the Prophet once again the market of forgery boomed.
People began to practice according to the forged Ahadith instead of the authentic ones. Trading with forged Ahadith became more popular, especially, during the time when the Muslims began to fight with each other for the leadership. Many Ahadith were forged in support of the power seekers who had no sympathy with Islam or interest in its teachings, like Muawia who brought the Islamic community under his sway by force and injustice. Under the influence of un lslamic political systems, forged Ahadith were accommodated in the Islamic Literature and with it new generations were brought up.
Muslims began losing ground, partly because of the political situation and also because of the way in which they had been brought up by the unjust leaders. The Islamic Literature got mixed with false Ahadith so much that without scholarly effort and extensive logical work it is almost impossible to discern the genuine Ahadith from the forged ones. The Imams (a.s.) had always been the patrons of the Islamic heritage. They were well aware of the situation and the dangers surrounding the purity of the Islamic teachings.
Whenever there appeared a chance, they did their best to educate the people and teach them the Divine guidance.
In order to discern a genuine hadith from a forged one, the Imams set up the following standards:1. None of the Ahadith must contradict a self evident fact that is proven to be true by reason. Any hadith that contradicts the self evident proof established by reason must not be accepted, for a Prophet or an infallible Imam never speaks against reason.
In fact, no statement in the holy Quran or genuine Ahadith contradicts reason in the logical sense of contradiction.
A logical contradiction only takes place when two statements state the same single matter each in the opposite sense; one affirmative and the other negative. Besides, the fact in both statements must be one and the same in all respect with regard to time, place, quality and conditions. For instance, something may happen and it might be true at one time and not true at another time. The same is true of the factors of place, condition and other aspects. A contradiction in the above sense does not and cannot exist between the holy Quran, Ahadith and the self evident proof established by reason. 2. A hadith can only be accepted when it is not contradicting the holy Quran and other genuine Ahadith, or is not contrary to them. Therefore, any hadith that is against the meaning of the holy Quran or genuine Ahadith is not acceptable.
3. The narrator of every hadith must hc a just, trustworthy or a person who possesses a high degree of truthfulness. Any hadith that does not meet any of the said conditions is not acceptable. 4. Another hadith of the same degree with regard to the required conditions must not be against it. If there is no way to reconcile their meanings, neither of them can be accepted.