The Early Shi'i Kufan Traditionists' Perspective on the Rightly Guided Caliphs

This article revisits a widely accepted yet unsubstantiated trajectory of early Kufan Zaydi history, namely, that with 'Ali recognized as the fourth rightly guided caliph by the proto-Sunni traditionists, represented by Ahmad b.Hanbal (d. 241/855), the Batri traditionists were Sunnified. Analysis of Safina's hadith transmission and the transmitters of the first four caliphs' virtues suggests that the four-caliphs thesis was likely circulated in Kufa by the late eighth century and that Kufan traditionists of various sectarian persuasions played an important role in its formation. This paper argues that the Kufan Shi'i traditionists came to identify with their traditionist townspeople as a result of shared qualities and mutual enemies. By revisiting a narrative that is often taken for granted, this study proffers new insights into the formation of a defining Sunni doctrine-the four-caliphs thesis-as well as the transformation of the Kufan Shi'is.