Kitab al-Kafi
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Part of a series on Hadith collections v • d • e

Most famous

Sunni six major collections (Al-Sihah al-Sittah): Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih Muslim al-Sunan al-Sughra Sunan Abi Dawood Sunan al-Tirmidhi Sunan Ibn Maja/Al-Muwatta Shi'a Twelver collections: Nahj al-Balagha "The Four Books" (Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah) Kitab al-Kafi of Kulainy Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih of Shaikh Saduq Tahdhib al-Ahkam by Shaikh Tusi al-Istibsar by Shaykh Tusi Ibadi collections: al-Jami' as-Sahih by al-Rabi' ibn Habib Tartib al-Musnad by al-Warijlani

Sunni collections

Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal — 780-855 Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah — 923 Sahih Ibn Hibbaan — 965 Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain — 1014 Mawdu'at al-Kubra— 1128-1217 Riyadh as-Saaliheen — 1233 - 1278 Mishkat al-Masabih - 1340 Talkhis al-Mustadrak — 1274-1348 Majma al-Zawa'id — 1335-1405 Bulugh al-Maram — 1372-1449 Kanz al-Ummal — 1500th Zujajat al-Masabih — 1960 Minhaj us Sawi — 2003

Shi'a Twelver collections

The book of Sulaym ibn Qays — 600th Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya — 678-713 Wasael ush-Shia — 1600s Bihar al-Anwar — 1600s Haqq al-Yaqeen — 1600s Ain Al-Hayat — 1600s Sharh Usul al-Kafi — ?-1081

Mu'tazili collections

Nahj with comments — ?-1258

The Kitab al-Kafi is a Twelver Shia hadith collection compiled by Mohammad Ya'qub Kulainy. It is divided into three sections: Usul al-Kafi, which is concerned with the principle of religion, Furu al-Kafi, which is concerned with the details of religious law, and Rawdat (or Rauda) al-Kafi, which is concerned with various religious aspects and includes some writings of the imams.^[1] Like all Shia hadith books, every single hadith must be individually examined through the science of hadith.

Usul al-Kafi

Usul al-Kafi (literally, "Sufficing fundamentals") includes 15,176 traditions. If the traditions reported in different sections are counted, an additional 1,000 must be added to the total amount. Of the basic traditions, 5,072 are considered sahih (sound); 144 are regarded as hasan (good), second category; 178 are held to be muwaththaq (trustworthy), third category; 302 are adjudged to be qaui (strong), fourth category; and 9,484 are considered da'if (weak), fifth category.

Khomeini said: "Do you think it is enough for our religious life to have its laws summed up in Al-Kafi and then placed upon a shelf?" [Al-Hukumah Al-Islamiyyah page 72]. [ [Shaikh Saduq]], the famous Shi'a scholar, didn't believe complete authenticity of Al-Kafi. [Khoei]] points this out in his Mu'jam Rijaal al-Hadith, or "Collection of Men of Narrations", in which he states

أنّ الشيخ الصدوق : قدّس سرّه : لم يكن يعتقد صحّة جميع مافي الكافي "Shaykh as-Sadūq did not regard all of the traditions in al-Kafi to be Sahih (truthful)."^[2]

Al-Khoei also states in his Mu'jam (on the same referenced page):

"لانّ فيها مرسلات وفيها روايات في اسنادها مجاهيل، ومن إشتهر بالوضع والكذب،"

There is within it (al-Kafi) traditions, who's chains of narration contain (known) ignorants, liars and fabricators."

This is not to dismiss al-Kafi in its entirety, as it still contains some authentic narrations.

Furu al-Kafi

Furu al-Kafi is one of the most authoritative Shia hadith collections, containing eight volumes. It consists of books and sections on jurisprudence and is one of the authoritative reference books for deduction and independent reasoning (ijtihad) from Islamic law for the Shi'a jurisprudents (fiqh).

Rawdat al-Kafi

Rawdat al-Kafi is the third section. It is a collection of traditions outlining various points of religious interest. Included are letters and speeches of the 12 Holy Imams.

References

See also

• List of Shi'a books
• Shahr Usul al-Kafi, a commentary on the Usul al-Kafi
• Branches of Religion, Furu al-din
• Sharif al-Kafi

External links

• Kitab al-Kafi text
• Selections from Usul al-Kafi
• Selections from Usul al-Kafi

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