Kitab Man la yahduruh al-faqih (book): Difference between revisions

'''Kitāb Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh''' (Arabic: كتاب من لا يحضره الفقيه‎) is a [[hadith]] collection mainly about [[fiqh]] complied by the famous Twelver Shi'a hadith scholar [[al-Shaykh al-Saduq]]. This book is among the most reliable Shi'a hadith books and one of [[The Four Books]] of [[Twelver Shi'a]] hadith.

The full name of this book is "Kitab Man la yahduruhu al-faqih'' (The word kitab sometimes is not mentioned). Its name literally means ''The Book for the One Who Does Not Have a [[Faqih]] before Him''. Some translate the title as ''Every man his own lawyer''.

In his introduction to the book, [[al-Shaykh al-Saduq]] says when he was at Ilaq (a region near Balkh), met one of his friends and one day

::[this friend] mentioned a book compiled by Muhammad b. Zakariya al-Razi entitled ''Man la yahduruhu al-Tabib'' (Every man his own physician) which is comprehensive, albeit small. So he asked me to compile a book on [[fiqh]] and lawful and unlawful for him… which includes all I have written about fiqh … and to name the book ''Kitab Man la yahduruh al-faqih'' so that he can refer to it as a reliable book and act according it when needed…

::I did not have the usual intention of compilers (of Hadith books) to put forward everything which they (could) narrate but my intention was to put forward those things by which I issue fatwa and which I am sure of their attribution to the prophet and Imams.

In fact the work represents a definitive synopsis of all the traditions which al-Shaikh al-Saduq had collected and included in individual books on specific [[fiqh]] subjects.

Since this book has been written for ordinary people, generally the ''isnads'' of hadiths (that is, the chain of authorities by which the hadith had been received from the Prophet or one of the Imams) is omitted. [[Al-Shaikh al-Saduq]] explains in the introduction of the book that "I omitted the ''isnads'', lest the book become voluminous." The scholars, however, could check the ''isnads'' in other works of al-Saduq.

[[Al-Shaykh al-Saduq]] says that this work is driven from all hadiths and books he knew. He also gives an account of the works which he has consulted in compiling this book: "all what mentioned in this book is derived from those well-known works that we should rely on them and refer to them." Then he mentions the names of eleven early Shi'a hadith complier whose work he has refer to; such as [[Hariz b. 'Abd Allah al-Sijistani]], [['Ubayd Allah b. 'Ali al-Halabi]], [['Ali b. Mahziyar]], [[Husayn b. Sa'id al-Kufi]], [[Ibn al-Wlid al-Qummi]], [['Ali b. Babawayh al-Qummi]] (his father) and etc.

This inclusion of the list of some of the works consulted is an evidence that the works of both al-Shaykh al-Saduq and his predecessor, [[al-Kulayni]], who compiled [[al-Kafi]], the first of [[the Four Books]], represent the zenith of hadith works which had been compiled in a continuous process from the earliest times and at least from the time of [[Imam al-Sadiq]] (a).

In addition to these references which the author gives in his introduction he frequently refers to his own works during the course of the book. Thus at the end of his "Bab nawadir al-hajj" (Chapter of Exceptional Traditions of the Pilgrimage), he says: "I have published these [[nawadir]] with isnads with others in Kitab jami' nawadir al-hajj."

As one of the major works of Shi'a hadith, 23 commentaries have been written on it so far. Many of these commentaries have been lost or are unpublished transcripts. Among the significant Shi'a scholars who have written commentaries on this book are [[al-Shahid al-Thani]] and [['Allama al-Majlisi]].