In *Kāmil al-Ziyārāt* (ch. 107, p. 324), Ibn Qūlawayh narrates with his chain from ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā ibn Bābawayh, from Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-ʿAṭṭār al-Qummī, that a man from Rey said:
“I entered upon Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī (Imām Hādī, peace be upon them both). He asked me, ‘Where have you been?’
I replied, ‘I have been to visit Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ (upon him be peace).’
He said:
‘Know well: had you visited the grave of ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm that is with you (in Rey), it would have been as though you had visited Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (upon him be peace).’”
The same ḥadīth is recorded by the Chief of the Ḥadīth Scholars, Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, in *Thawāb al-Aʿmāl* (p. 95) with his chain from ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad, from Ḥamzah ibn Qāsim al-ʿAlawī, from Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-ʿAṭṭār, and so on to the end of the narration. It also appears in the treatise of Ṣāḥib ibn ʿAbbād (may God have mercy on him), which we quoted earlier.
At first glance, some have regarded this report as *majhūl* (containing an unknown narrator) and therefore unreliable. However, before drawing any conclusion, the chain must be carefully examined. Although the fuqahāʾ of the Shīʿah (may God be pleased with them) treat such narrations with the well-known principle of *tasāmuḥ fī adillat al-sunan* (leniency in evidence for recommended acts and etiquettes), the ḥadīth has nevertheless caused surprise and even doubt in the minds of those unfamiliar with the lofty station and life of His Holiness ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm (upon him be peace).
Such people say:
“How can the visitation of ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Ḥasanī — who reaches Imām Ḥasan al-Mujtabā (upon him be peace) through four intermediaries and who never endured great calamity in his life — be equal in reward to visiting Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ (upon him be peace), the Imām whose obedience is obligatory, the son of Fāṭimah and ʿAlī (peace be upon them), who suffered unimaginable afflictions, who revived the Qurʾān and Islam, and sacrificed his pure life for the sake of God?”
Yet His Holiness ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm (upon him be peace) endured great hardship and danger throughout his life. Because of his propagation of the true madhhab and his close connection to the Imāms — especially Imām Hādī (upon him be peace) — he was constantly threatened by the usurping Abbasid regime and its tyrannical agents. He lived in concealment, eventually migrating from city to city until he took refuge in Rey and passed away there in hiding.
Let us now return to the ḥadīth itself and briefly examine its chain and content.
Visiting this great muḥaddith has been emphasised since the time of the Imāms (upon them be peace). All major books of ziyārāt dedicate a special chapter to him. The earliest extant work is *Kāmil al-Ziyārāt* of Ibn Qūlawayh, followed by *Thawāb al-Aʿmāl* of Shaykh al-Ṣadūq. Later authors have taken the narration from these two sources. The chain contains the following five narrators, each of whom we shall discuss:
1. **Abū al-Qāsim Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Qūlawayh** (author of *Kāmil al-Ziyārāt*)
The late ʿAllāmah Majlisī (may God have mercy on him) states in the introduction to *Biḥār al-Anwār* that *Kāmil al-Ziyārāt* is counted among the established foundational works (*uṣūl*). Shaykh al-Ṭūsī quotes from it in *Tahdhib al-Aḥkām*, and other muḥaddithūn have likewise transmitted from it.
Shaykh Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī regarded it as one of the reliable sources and transmitted from it extensively. The scholarly community unanimously acknowledges the authenticity of the book and the trustworthiness of its author. Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Najāshī, and ʿAllāmah Ḥillī all declared him *thiqqah* (trustworthy). He was the teacher of Shaykh al-Mufīd and authored numerous works listed in the bibliographies of Imāmī literature. In short, both the book and its noble author have been trusted and honoured by the fuqahāʾ and muḥaddithūn from the era of Shaykh al-Ṭūsī and even earlier.
Most importantly, Ibn Qūlawayh himself states in the introduction to *Kāmil al-Ziyārāt*:
“I have recorded in this book only what I heard only from trustworthy (*thiqqah*) narrators, and everything in it has reached us from the Imāms (upon them be peace).”
2. **ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā ibn Bābawayh**, the noble father of Shaykh al-Ṣadūq
He is unanimously praised by the authors of rijāl works. Shaykh al-Ṭāʾifah al-Ṭūsī counts him among the fuqahāʾ and describes him as *thiqqah* and among the most eminent scholars. Najāshī says:
“Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn was the Shaykh of the scholars of Qum in his time, their leader and most prominent figure, trustworthy among the muḥaddithūn and fuqahāʾ of the city, living among them with utmost respect and dignity.”
He met Ḥusayn ibn Rūḥ (the third deputy of the Hidden Imām) in Baghdad and, through ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Aswad, sent a letter requesting the Imām of the Age (may God hasten his return) to pray for him to be granted pious children. The Imām replied: “We have asked Allāh for you, and soon you will be granted two blessed sons.”
He authored many works and passed away in 329 AH; his grave in Qum remains well-known and honoured to this day.
3. **Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-ʿAṭṭār al-Qummī**
The great muḥaddith Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī (author of *al-Kāfī*) narrates abundantly from him. Anyone familiar with *al-Kāfī* knows that the majority of its reports pass through this noble personality — a clear sign of al-Kulaynī’s complete trust in him.
Najāshī, Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, ʿAllāmah Ḥillī, and the First and Second Martyrs all declare him *thiqqah*. He is regarded as one of the authors of the early *uṣūl*.
4. **Shaykh al-Ṣadūq Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn** (d. 381 AH)
Born through the prayer of the Imām of the Age (upon him be peace), he is the sun of the muḥaddithūn of the Imāmī school. His works are famous, universally accepted, and trusted by every generation of Shīʿī scholars. He is known as “al-Ṣadūq” (the Truthful) and is unanimously declared *thiqqah*.
5–6. **ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Mūsā al-Daqqāq** and **Ḥamzah ibn Qāsim al-ʿAlawī al-ʿAbbāsī**
Both are trusted teachers of Shaykh al-Ṣadūq. Ḥamzah ibn Qāsim in particular is described by Najāshī as “*thiqqah*, eminent, prolific in ḥadīth” and the author of many works including books on tawḥīd, ziyārāt, and manāsik. ʿAllāmah Ḥillī places him among the most reliable authorities.
Thus the chain in both *Kāmil al-Ziyārāt* and *Thawāb al-Aʿmāl* consists entirely of trustworthy (*thiqqah*) narrators of the highest rank.
As for the **unknown man from Rey** at the beginning of the chain — the one who actually heard the statement from Imām Hādī (upon him be peace) — the text itself proves his sincerity and devotion:
- He travelled from Rey to Karbalā in the terrifying era of al-Mutawakkil, when visiting Imām Ḥusayn (upon him be peace) was punishable by death or imprisonment.
- After enduring that perilous journey, he proceeded immediately to Sāmarrāʾ, where Imām Hādī’s place of forced residence under strict surveillance, and succeeded in meeting the Imām personally.
Such courage and love indicate that he was among the elite and most sincere Shīʿah, even if his name has not reached us.
ʿAllāmah Amīnī (author of *al-Ghadīr*) remarks:
“This ḥadīth was directed specifically to that man from Rey because he had shown indifference toward ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm and was unaware of his true station. Imām Hādī (upon him be peace) thereby taught him — and all of us — the immense merit of visiting ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm.”
Some object simply out of *istibʿād* (finding it unlikely) that the reward could be equal. Yet we have a clear precedent:
Al-Kulaynī, Ibn Qūlawayh, and Shaykh al-Ṣadūq all narrate from Imām Muḥammad al-Jawād (upon him be peace) that he was asked:
“Which is greater in reward: visiting your father (Imām Riḍā) or visiting your grandfather Ḥusayn (upon him be peace)?”
He replied:
“Visiting my father is greater, because all people visit Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, but only a select few of the elite Shīʿah visit my father.”
No one disputes that Imām Ḥusayn (upon him be peace) is superior to Imām Riḍā (upon him be peace), yet because the journey to the latter was far more difficult and undertaken only by the most devoted, its reward was declared greater. The same principle may apply here: in that era, visiting the hidden grave of ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm in Rey — while living under Abbasid terror — may have been spiritually equivalent in difficulty and sincerity to visiting Karbalā.
Another narration sometimes quoted — that Imām Riḍā (upon him be peace) said, “Whoever visits ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm will enter Paradise” — is known only through the later scholar al-Shahīd al-Awwal and is not found in any earlier ziyārāt collection. Scholars have suggested a possible scribal error between “Abū al-Ḥasan al-Hādī” and “Abū al-Ḥasan al-Riḍā,” but the narration we possess with the established chains is the one from Imām Hādī (upon him be peace).
In conclusion, the chains are ṣaḥīḥ or at the very least ḥasan and muwaththaq, composed entirely of the most eminent and trustworthy authorities of the Imāmī school. The merit is therefore established with certainty, and the wisdom behind the immense reward is known to Allāh and His Awliyāʾ.
May the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon Muḥammad and his pure Progeny, and may He grant us the grace to visit the shrine of His noble servant ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Ḥasanī with knowledge, love, and acceptance.
