Al-Kafi (book): Difference between revisions

'''''Al-Kāfī''''' (Arabic:{{iarabic| الکافي}}) is one of the most important and authentic Twelver Shi'a [[hadith]] collections, and the first of the [[the Four Books]]. It was compiled by [[thiqat al-Islam]] [[al-Kulayni]] (d. [[329]]/941) in the [[Minor Occultation]] period. ''Al-Kafi'' consists of three parts: Usul, Furu', and Rawda; [[Usul al-Kafi|Usul]] is the most important part. Al-Kulayni tries to collect hadiths in such a way that they agree with the [[consensus]] and there is no incompatibility between them and the [[Qur'an]].  

It also could have been named ''Al-Kafi'' due to a report that when it was presented to [[Imam al-Mahdi (a)]], he said, "''Al-Kafi'' is Kafi (i.e. sufficient) for our [[Shi'a]]." <ref>Ghaffar, Abd allah al-rasul.''al-Kulayni wa al-kafi''. p. 392.</ref>

[[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-imamiyya''. p. 70.</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>Tihrani, Agha Buzurg. ''Al-Dhari'a''. vol. 17, p. 245.</ref>

According to the introduction to ''al-Kafi'', al-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.

At the time of writing ''al-Kafi'', [[al-Kulayni]] used 'The four hundred hadith booklets' written by the companions of the [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]], known as ''[[Usul arba'a mi'a]]''. 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 hadiths.

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. ''Tarjuma usul al-kafi''. vol. 1. p. 10.</ref>

==Comparison with other collections of hadiths==

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

# ''Kitab al-'aql wa al-jahl'' (The Book of Intellect and Ignorance)

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

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

# ''Kitab al-'aqiqa'' (The Book of New Born)

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

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

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

# ''Kitab al-ayman wa al-nudhur wa al-kaffarat'' (The Book of Belief and Vows and Atonements/Reparation)

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 hadiths, while others count it as one. Also, some have included ''[[Mursal]]'' hadiths (those hadith which do not have a complete chain of transmitters), while others have not. There are also rare cases where some hadiths 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>

* ''Jami' al-ahadith wa al-aqwal'' written by al-Shaykh Qasim b. Muhammad b. Jawad b. al-Wandi (d. 1100/1689)

* Ghaffar, Abd Allah al-Rasul, ''Al-Kulayni wa al-kafi'', Mu'assisah Nashr al-Islami, 1416 AH.