Kifayat al-athar (book)

Kifayat al-athar (book)

Bibliographical Information
Author	'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Khazzaz al-Qummi
Original title	کفایةُ الأثَر فِی النَّص عَلَی الأئمّة الإثنی عَشَر علیهم السلام
Language	Arabic
Series	1 vol.
Subject	Imamate
Genre	Hadith
Published	1401/1980-1.
Publisher	Bidar

Kifāyat al-athar fī l-naṣṣ ʿalā l-aʾimmat al-ithnā ʿashar ʿalayhim al-salām (Arabic: کفایةُ الأثَر فِی النَّص عَلَی الأئمّة الإثنی عَشَر علیهم السلام) is a book in which hadiths and textual evidence for the caliphate and imamate of Shi'a Imams (a) are collected. It was written by Abu l-Qasim 'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Khazzaz al-Qummi (d. 400/1009-10), a Shi'a scholar in hadith and jurisprudence in the second half of the 4th/10th century.

Author

Main article: 'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Khazzaz al-Qummi

Abu l-Qasim 'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Khazzaz al-Qummi al-Razi was a Shi'a transmitter of hadiths in the second half of the 4th/10th century. He was contemporary with al-Shaykh al-Saduq and al-Shaykh al-Mufid. He attended the lectures of al-Shaykh al-Saduq and al-Shaykh al-Mufid. Al-Najashi and al-'Allama al-Hilli considered him as reliable and as a Shi'a jurisprudent.

Subject-Matter

The author has collected reliable hadiths transmitted by well-known Sahaba from Prophet Muhammad (s) as well as many hadiths transmitted from the Imams (a) about the number and the names of the Imams (a) after the Prophet (s).

Motivation for Writing

According to the author's preface, his motivation for writing the book was that some uneducated Shi'as were impressed by the propaganda of the opponents of Ahl al-Bayt (a) and came to think that there is no hadith regarding the imamate of the Imams (a) transmitted by the companions of the Prophet (s) and his Ahl al-Bayt (a). Thus, he decided to collect such hadiths and reply to the objections.

Style of Writing

'Ali b. Muhammad al-Khazzaz appealed, in this book, to reliable hadiths from well-known Sahaba of the Prophet (s) regarding the imamate of 12 Infallible Imams (a), such as:

• 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a)

• Imam al-Hasan (a)

• Imam al-Husayn (a)

• 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas

• 'Abd Allah b. Mas'ud

• Abu Sa'id al-Khudri

• Abu Dhar al-Ghifari

• Salman al-Farsi

• Jabir b. 'Abd Allah al-Ansari

• Zayd b. Arqam

• Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

• 'Ammar b. Yasir

• Hudhayfa b. Yaman

• …

Among women, al-Khazzaz appealed to hadiths by figures such as Fatima al-Zahra (a), Umm Salama, and Aisha. At the end, the author cites hadiths from each Imam (a) about his subsequent Imam (a).

Significance

The book is an old, reliable source of Shi'a hadiths, which was referred to by prominent Shiite figures. It is an important source of Shi'a collections of hadiths, such as Bihar al-anwar. Al-'Allama al-Majlisi says: "the book, Kifayat al-athar, is a valuable, precious, and unique book. Nothing like this has yet been written about imamate."

Manuscripts

• A manuscript in the Library of 'Allama Sayyid Jalal al-Din Muhaddith Urmawi, which was written in 931/1524-5 with the handwriting of Taj al-Din b. 'Abd Allah b. Sulayman al-Faqih.

• A manuscript in the Library of Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi in Qom which was written in 1086/1675-6 with the handwriting of Mu'min b. 'Abd al-Jawad al-Kazimi.

• Another manuscript in the Library of Ayatollah Mar'ashi written in 1280/1863-4 with the handwriting of al-Muhaddith al-Nuri, the author of Mustadrak al-wasa'il.

Publication

The book was published in one volume in Arabic by Bidar Publication in 1401/1980-1 in the octavo size as edited by Sayyid 'Abd al-Latif al-Husayni al-Kufkamara'i al-Khu'i.