Al-Kafi (book): Difference between revisions

| caption = الکافی

== The Title ''al-Kafi'' ==

''Al-Kafi'' may have been entitled as such due to al-Kulayni's own statement in the chapter on ''[[taharah]]'', which reads, "This book is ''kafiⁿ'' (i.e. sufficient) for all religious sciences"<ref>''Al-Kafi''. vol. 1, p. 14 (Introduction)</ref>. It also could have been named ''Al-Kafi'' due to a report that when it was presented to [[Imam Mahdi]] (a), he said, 'Al-Kafi is ''kafiⁿ'' (i.e. sufficient) for our Shi'a." <ref>Ghaffar, Abd allah al-rasul.''al-Kulayni wa al-kafi''. p. 392.</ref>

== ''Al-Kafi'' in the Words of Great Scholars ==

[[Al-Shaykh al-Mufid]] says, "This book is among the best shi'a books and has abundant fruits."<ref>al-Shaykh al-Mufid.''Tashih al-I'tiqadat al-Imamiyyah''. p. 70.</ref>

[[Al-Shahid al-Awwal]] introduces it as a book of hadith similar to which has not been written by any shi'a scholar.<ref>al-Kulayni, Muhmmad b. Ya'qub.''al-Kafi''. vol. 1. p. 27.</ref>

[[Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi]] writes, "'''Al-Kafi'' is the most accurate and most comprehensive of all books on the roots of [[fiqh]], and it is the greatest and best book ever written by the [[Imamiyyah]]."<ref>al-Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir. ''Mir'at al-uqul''. vol. 1. p. 3.</ref>

[[Agha Buzurg Tihrani]] says, "'''Al-Kafi'' is a book of hadith reported from [[Ahl al-Bayt]] (a) and nothing has been written as good as it."<ref>Agha Buzurg, Tihrani. ''Al-Dhari'ah''. vol. 17, p. 245.</ref>

[[Ayatollah Khoei]] mentions that his teacher, [[Ayatollah Na'ini]], would call doubting the sources of ''al-Kafi'', "the business of the incompetent".<ref>al-Khu'i, Abu al-Qasim. ''Mu'jam rijal al-hadith''. vol. 1. p. 99.</ref>

According to the introduction to ''Al-Kafi'', Kulayni has written this book in response to a person he calls, "a religious brother":

::You reminded that you have difficulty in some matters and do not understand the truth in them due to incompatibility of hadith… and that you do not have access to any trustworthy scholar about which you can speak about. You said that you want to have a sufficient book addressing all religious sciences to suffice the learner and be the reference for the seeker [of truth]…You said that you hope God the Almighty assists our fellows in this school of religion and takes them to their leaders.

 

[[Al-Kulayni|Al-Kulayni]] states in his introduction that he has collected hadith in such a way that they agree with the consensus and there is no incompatibility between them and the [[Qur'an]]. Furthermore, when he saw no preference between two incompatible hadith, he chose the one he deemed more correct and authentic.<ref>Al-Kafi, vol. 1, pp. 8 - 9.</ref>

At the time of writing ''al-Kafi'', [[Al-Kulayni|al-Kulayni]] used 'The four hundred hadith booklets' written by the companions of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), known in Arabic as ''[[Usul arba'a mi'ah|usul arba'a mi'ah]]''. He met with those companions of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) - or those who had seen them - to collect the hadith which had the least number of media and links. Being contemporary with [[the Four Deputies]] paved the way for him to best verify these hadith.

An important feature of ''al-Kafi'' is its order and comprehensiveness.<ref>Sayyid b. Tawus, 'Ali b. Musa.''Kashf al-Mahajjah''. p. 159.</ref> ''Al-Kafi'' is also known for its large number of hadith, clear classification of hadith, completeness in chains of transmitters, and coverage of various topics in theology, [[fiqh]], ethics, etc.

Al-Kulayni has tried to bring the most detailed, authentic and clear hadith at the beginning of each section, and the more concise and ambiguous ones following these.<ref>Mustafawi, Javad. ''Tarjumah usul al-kafi''. vol. 1. p. 10.</ref>

== Categories in ''Al-Kafi'' ==

'''''[[Usul al-kafi|Usul al-Kafi]]''''' contains hadith regarding beliefs and is comprised of 8 chapters (i.e. books):

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# ''Kitab [[Tawhid|al-tawhid]]'' (The Book of Divine Unity)

# ''Kitab al-hujjah'' (The Book of the Proof)

# ''Kitab al-Iman wa al-kufr'' (The Book of Belief and Unbelief)

# ''Kitab [[Du'a|al-du'a]]''' (The Book of Supplication)

# ''Kitab fadl al-Qur'an'' (The Book of the Merits of the Qur'an)

# ''Kitab al-'ishrah'' (The Book of Social Ethics)

'''''Furu' al-Kafi''''' contains hadith regarding jurisprudential rulings and is comprised of 26 chapters:

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# ''Kitāb [[Taharah|al-taharah]]'' (The Book of Purity)

# ''Kitāb al-hayd'' (The Book of Menstruation)

# ''Kitab [[Salat|al-salat]]'' (The Book of Prayer)

# ''Kitab [[Zakat|al-zakat]] wa [[Sadaqah|al-sadaqah]]'' (The Book of Zakah and Charity)

# ''Kitab [[Sawm|al-siyam]]'' (The Book of Fasting)

# ''Kitab [[Hajj|al-hajj]]'' (The Book of Hajj)

# ''Kitab [[Jihad|al-jihad]]'' (The Book of Jihad)

# ''Kitab al-ma'ishah'' (The Book of Living)

# ''Kitab [[Nikah|al-nikah]]'' (The Book of Mariage)

# ''Kitab [[Talaq|al-talaq]]'' (The Book of Divorce)

# ''Kitab al-'itq wa al-tadbir wa al-mukatabah'' (The Book of Emancipation and Management and Writing)

# ''Kitab [[Dhabihah|al-dhaba'ih]]'' (The Book of Sacrifices)

# ''Kitab al-at'amah'' (The Book of Foods)

# ''Kitab al-ashrabah'' (The Book of Drinks)

# ''Kitab al-ziyy wa al-tajammul wa al-muruwwah'' (The Book of Garment and Beautification and Ettiquete)

# ''Kitab [[Al-Wasiyyah|al-wasaya]]'' (The Book of Wills)

# ''Kitab [[Irth|al-mawarith]]'' (The Book of Inheritance)

# ''Kitab [[Hudud|al-hudud]]'' (The Book of Punishments)

# ''Kitab [[Diyah|al-diyat]]'' (The Book of Atonements)

# ''Kitab [[Shahadah|al-shahadat]]'' (The Book of Witnesses)

# ''Kitab [[Qada'|al-Qada']] wa al-ahkam'' (The Book of Judgment and Rulings)

# ''Kitab al-iman wa [[Nadhr|al-nudhur]] wa [[Kaffarah|al-kaffarat]]'' (The Book of Belief and Vows and Atonements/Reparation)

'''''Rawdah al-Kafi''''' consists of miscellaneous hadith that are in no particular order. Although some do not consider it to be a part of ''al-Kafi'',<ref>Afandi, 'Abd Allah b. 'isa. ''Ryad al-'ulama''. vol. 2. p. 261.</ref> both [[Al-Najashi|al-Najashi]] and [[Al-Shaykh al-Tusi|al-Shaykh al-Tusi]] have asserted that ''Rawdah'' is ''al-Kafi's'' last chapter.<ref>al-Najashi, Ahmad b. 'Ali. ''Rijal al-Najashi''. p. 377; al-Shaykh al-Tusi. ''Al-Fihrist''. p. 210.</ref> It includes hadith pertaining to the following topics:

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# Interpretation of some verses of the Qur'an

# Advices of the Ahl al-Bayt (a)

# The history of some prophets (s)

# The merit of shi'a and their duties

# [[Imam Mahdi]] (aj), his attributes, companions and the attributes of his time

== Number of Hadith ==

[[Yusuf al-Bahrani]], in''Lu'lu' al-Bahrayn'', counts the number of hadith in ''Al-Kafi'' to be 16199, Dr. Husayn 'Ali Mahfuz, in the preface to ''al-Kafi'', counts 15176, Allamah Majlisi counts 16121 and some contemporary scholars such as al-Shaykh 'Abd al-Rassul al-Ghaffar consider there to be 15503.

The reason for this variancy in number is due to different methods of counting. For example, some scholars count a hadith transmitted from two different chains as two hadith, while others count it as one. Also, some have included ''[[mursal]]'' hadith (those hadith which do not have a complete chain of transmitters), while others have not. There are also rare cases where some hadith are not mentioned in certain manuscripts, and therefore may or may not have been counted.<ref>Ghaffar, Abd allah al-rasul. ''al-Kulayni wa al-kafi''. p. 401-402.</ref>

Since ''al-Kafi'' has always been a topic of discussion among scholars of hadith, many researches have been carried out on it. In [[Al-Dhari'ah|al-Dhari'ah]], [[Agha Buzurg Tihrani]] has listed 27 commentaries on ''[[Usul al-kafi|usul al-kafi]]'' or the whole of ''al-Kafi'', and 10 marginal notes on ''al-Kafi''.<ref>Agha Buzuer, Tihrani .''al-Dhari'ah''. vol. 13. p. 95-99.</ref>

''' Some Commentaries on ''al-Kafi'''''

* [[Allamah Majlisi]]'s ''Mir'at al-'uqul''

* Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhaqqiq Damad's ''al-Rawashih al-Samawiyyah fi Shah al-Kafi''

* ''Al-Ta'liqat 'ala kitab al-kafi'' written by Muhammad Baqir Hussayni, known as [[Mirdamad]] (d. 1041/)

* ''Jami' al-ahadith wa al-aqwal'' written by al-Shaykh Qasim b. Muhammad b. Jawad b. al-Wandi (d. 1100/)

* ''Al-Durr al-manzum min kalam al-ma'sum'' written by al-Shaykh 'Ali b. Hassan b. Zayn al-Din [[Shahid Thani|al-Shahid al-Thani]] (d. 1104/)

* ''Al-Hashiyat ala usul al-kafi'' written by Rafi' al-Din Muhammad b. Haydar al-Na'ini

* Marginal notes written by Sayyid Mir Abu Talib b. Mirza beyk Fendereski

''Al-Kafi'' has been translated into English by Muhammad Sarwar[http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Al-Kafi.pdf].

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* Agha Buzurg Tihrani. ''Al-Dhari'ah ila tasanif al-shi'a''. Beirut: Dar al-Adwa', 1403/.

* The material for this article is mainly taken from [http://fa.wikishi'a.net/view/%D8%A7%D9%84%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%81%DB%8C الکافی] in Farsi Wikishi'a.

* [http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Al-Kafi.pdf English translation of al-Kafi by Muhammad Sarwar.pdf]