Hadith of Golden Chain Hadith of Golden Chain Hadith al-Silsilah al-Dhahab () (Hadith of the Golden Chain) is a hadith narrated from Ali al-Ridha, the eighth Imam of the Shia. The "chain" is a reference to the continuity of spiritual authority which is passed down from Muhammad to Ali ibn Abi Talib, through each of the Imams, to Imam Ridha. As transmitters of Hadith, the Imams link subsequent generations to the teachings of Mohammad. This transmission makes the Hadith of the Golden Chain valued as among the most truthful and accurate of all Hadiths for the Shi'ite. The hadith is important to shia because
Introduction to the Science of Hadith well known as of late as: "Muqaddimah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ fi `Ulūm al-Ḥadīth", "Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ's Introduction to the Sciences of Hadith". Nūr al-Dīn `Itr, in the introduction to his edition of the "Introduction", concluded that its actual name is either "ʻUlūm al-Ḥadīth" ("The Sciences of Hadith") or "Ma`rifah Anwā`i `Ilm al-Ḥadīth" ("Familiarity with the Types of the Science of Hadith"). This is based upon the author's own usage in his own introduction in addition to the usage of other scholars in the centuries after the authoring of the book. Similar to Bint `Abd al-Raḥmān, he acknowledged that the book is most