Given that the Shī‘as believe that the Infallibles are immune from sin just as the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) is, they consider their sayings, actions, and lecture nots as auhtoritative just as they do for those of Prophet (S.A.W.). Thus, when one of the three is said to belong to an Imam,without a paricular problem in terms of chain of transmission (sanad) and text, they accept it withouthesitation. However, when we refer to traditions and investigate them, sometimes we encounter cases in which the Imams have attributed their sayings,and in some cases the tradition concerning their actions successively through their forefathers to Prophet (S.A.W.). Thus, it seems that they have considered themselves among the narrators of the Prophet’s traditions. At first, this process [successive narration] does not seem to conform with the absolute belief of Shī‘a about the scholarly and practical authority of the Imams. Therefore, the question comes into mind as to whether the Imams like other narrators of traditions, had to narrate them throughḥadīth masters? The following article tries to respond to the doubts in this respect as much as possible by analyzing some of the existing traditions and to mention the reasons behind this mysterious incident.
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