Kifayat al-talib fi manaqib 'Ali b. Abi Talib (book)

For other books with similar titles, see Manaqib (disambiguation).

Kifayat al-talib fi manaqib 'Ali b. Abi Talib

Bibliographical Information
Author	Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Ganji al-Shafi'i
Original title	کِفايَة الطالِب فی مَناقِب عَلي بن اَبي طالِب
Language	Arabic
Subject	Virtues and high status of Imam Ali (a)
Published	1404/1984
Publisher	Tehran, Dar ihya' turath Ahl al-Bayt

Kifāyat al-ṭālib fī manāqib ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: کِفايَة الطالِب فی مَناقِب عَلي بن اَبي طالِب), written by Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Ganji al-Shafi'i (d. 658/1259-60), a Shafi'i scholar, on the virtues of Imam 'Ali (a). The book also mentions the virtues of the family of the Prophet (s) and includes one hundred sections.

Author

Main article: Fakhr al-Din Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Ganji al-Shafi'i

Fakhr al-Din Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Ganji al-Shafi'i, one of the great scholars of the early seventh/thirteenth century.

He was censured by a small group of scholars because of his great love for Imam Ali (a). People like Ibn Kathir—despite admitting his trustworthiness in hadith transmission—called him rafidi khabith (a filthy Rafidite). Eventually, under the pressure of this group, al-Ganji was expelled from Mosul, and he went to Damascus for learning hadiths. He was murdered in 658/1259-60 in the Great Mosque of Damascus.

He also has a book on the Imam al-Mahdi (a) entitled, al-Bayan fi akhbar sahib al-zaman.

Motivation for Writing

In the introduction, the author writes, "After the class [held in Hasba' in the city of Mosul], I quoted some hadiths and ended the session with a discussion on the excellences of Ahl al-Bayt (a). Some of the people who had attended—because of their unfamiliarity with the discipline of hadith—criticized the hadith of Zayd b. Arqam on Ghadir Khumm and the hadith of 'Ammar b. Yasir in which the Prophet (s) said [to Ali (a)]: 'Happy is the one who loves you and confesses to the truth with regard to you.' So my fervid love for them [i.e., for the family of the Prophet (s)] made me compile a book containing some of what we have heard [on the excellences of Ahl al-Bayt] from our teachers in different cities. And I entitled it Kifayat al-talib fi manaqib Ali b. Abi Talib."

Structure, Methodology and Importance

Kifayat al-talib is a collection of the hadiths of the Prophet (s) on the virtues and high status of Imam Ali (a). The author mentions the hadiths with their chain of narrators and after a short explanation about each hadith, he introduces one or more Sunni sources for it.

From early on, Kifayat al-talib was an important source used by such scholars as Ibn Tawus. It contains authentic and reliable hadiths on the virtues of Imam Ali (a), which make it a valuable source for scholars and researchers.

Contents

The book contains one-hundred sections on the virtues of Imam Ali (a), including the Prophet's (s) sermon in Ghadir Khumm, the reward and value of love for Imam Ali (a), the great love of God and the Prophet (s) for Imam Ali (a), the fact that cursing him is equal to disbelief, and so forth.

In addition to hadiths on the excellences of the Imam (a), al-Ganji mentions some hadiths on the virtues of Lady Fatima (a) and Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a). He also mentions some reports on the Tragedy of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn (a) and his companions.

Editions

This book was first published in Egypt, but the chains of narrators for the hadiths were omitted. Then it was published in 1937 in Najaf, and in this edition the chains of transmission were mentioned.

This edition was further edited and revised by Muhammad Hadi Amini, 'Allama Amini's son, and published in Tehran.