The following is a short criticism to the lengthy: Tradition of Mufaddal, which can be found on the al-islam.org website here.
The publisher describes the piece as follows:
This text is the English translation of the Tradition of Mufaddal, as narrated by his companion Mufaddal ibn `Umar. Recorded by by ‘Allamah Majlisi (d. 1110 AH) in Bihar al-‘Anwar, volume 3, page 57, chapter (bab) 4, tradition (riwayah) no. 29. It describes the amazing ingenuity the Almighty manifested in the universe, human beings, the animal kingdom, nature and natural disasters.
The tradition text was eventually published in 142 pages and can be bought in Amazon.
The publication of this book is another testament of the apathy of Shia scholars when it comes to the authenticity of their own texts.
Ayatollah Mohammad Asif Al-Muhsini describes the narration as weak in his Mashra’at Bihar Al-Anwar 1/105.
Al-Najashi in his Rijal (p. 416) writes: “(He is of a) rotten sect, confused in his reports, and is one that shouldn’t be given attention. It is also said that he was a Khattabi.”
Al-Kashshi in his Rijal (p. 230) comments on a report about Mufaddal, “This may have been narrated when Mufaddal was upon truth, before becoming a Khattabi.”
According to Al-Nawbakhti in his Firaq Al-Shia (p. 52-53), a Khattabi is a follower of Mohammad bin Abi Al-Ajda’ Al-Asadi, also known as Abu Al-Khattab. Abu Al-Khattab, used to be a false prophet that claimed that he would shape-shift into the image of Ja’afar Al-Sadiq. After claiming to be a prophet, he claimed to be a messenger, and finally worked his way up to supposedly being an angel.
We remind our readers that Mufaddal bin Omar was the follower of Abu Al-Khattab according to Al-Kashshi.
We beseech Shias, laymen and the educated, to take a stance against their scholars and websites like al-islam.org for their publication of books by non-Muslims.
May Allah guide us all.
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