But the large number of scholars of verification conceded...

But the large number of scholars of verification conceded that it could not have been said for sure that it was authored by Imam ar-Ridha’ (a.s.) because of the lack of sufficient evidence in addition to their doubt, or the lack of conviction, of the arguments brought forth by those who considered it one of the Imam's works.

The fact that it was not at all common knowledge that that book was authored by the Imam (a.s.) prior to the late time of the Majlisis, in addition to the lack of knowledge of scholars before their time of any information about such an authorship, all of that negates the belief that it was attributed to or personally authored by the Imam (a.s.).

There was no reason why that book would not have been famous during the life-time of the Imam (a.s.) especially since the knowledge of the Imam (a.s.) was very well known to everyone, so much so that when he narrated hadith to the scholars of Nishapur, more than twenty thousand scribes wrote it down there and then, besides others, as scholars of hadith tell us.

How the Book Appeared The story how this book appeared says that a group of the residents of Qum brought a copy with them to Mecca where the ruler-judge (qadi-amir) Sayyid Husain al-Isfahani saw it and testified to its being authored by ar-Ridha’ (a.s.) and made a copy of it for himself which he brought to Isfahan.

There he showed it to the first (senior) Majlisi who likewise was sure it was authored by the Imam (a.s.) and so was his son the second (junior) Majlisi, and he quoted the ahadith it contained in the volumes of his book Bihar al- Anwar , making the book one of his own book's references, and this is how its fame spread.

In his Introduction to Bihar al-Anwar , al-Majlisi writes, "I was told about the book Fiqh ar-Ridha’ by the virtuous traditionist the ruler-judge Husayn, may God be Gracious unto his soul, after coming to Isfahan.