Determining the Date of the Narration as to the “‘Aqaba” Incident in the Interpretation Ascribed to Imām ‘Askarī (a) (Based on the Implementation of Adam Story)

The plan of Hypocrites to murder the Revered Prophet, while returning from the war of Tabūk, is well known as the incident of “‘Aqaba” and various historical, narrative, and interpretive sources have attempted to reread it. In addition, in the interpretation ascribed to Imām ‘Askarī, there is a lengthy narration mixed with different occasions and themes –narrated from the Revered Prophet –which offers a unique reading of ‘Aqaba incident. In this narration, the story of angels’ prostration for Adam and his disobedience are pointed out. By implementing the method of determining the date based on an analysis of the text and source, the present article focuses on the micro-narrative of Adam story, examines the accuracy of its ascription to the Revered Prophet, and tries to figure out the approximate time of the issuance of this narration. Exploring the theories related to the Adam story shows their time to be after the Prophetic time. Moreover, analyzing the source of the narration indicates its layers wherein the first layer belongs to the second half of the third century as well as the fourth century, and the second layer to the sixth century. Indications suggesting the differentiation between the layers of the book as well as the text of the narration being mixed with Shī‘a distinctive themes (which are contemporary with the powerful era of Ṭabaristān Shī‘as) justify the probability that the narration of ‘Aqaba belongs to the sixth century and that its narrative milieu is Ṭabaristān.

Keywords:

Incident of ‘Aqaba , The interpretation ascribed to Imām ‘Askarī (a) , Date determination of the narration , Angels’ prostration for Adam , Ṭabaristān narrative milieu