Book of 'Ali: Difference between revisions

'''''The Book of ʿAlī''''' (Arabic: {{ia|کتاب علي}}), also known as '''''al-Jami'a''''' (The compendium), is a collection of hadiths dictated by the [[Prophet (s)]] and transcribed by [[Imam Ali (a)]]. This book is considered a [[Wadayi' al-Imamate (Trusts of Imamate)|trust of the Imamate]], and possession of it signifies the rightfulness claim of its holder to the [[Imamate]] position. According to [[hadiths]], ''al-Jami'a'' contains all [[Shari'a laws]], even the most specific ones. It also includes teachings on [[ethics]], beliefs, [[stories of the prophets]], and esoteric narratives.

According to Shiite hadiths, ''al-Jami'a'' is a book dictated by the [[Prophet (s)]] and transcribed by [[Imam Ali]].<ref>Ṣaffār, ''Baṣāʾir al-darajāt'', p. 142-146; Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 1, p. 239.</ref> The book is also known by other titles, such as ''al-Sahifa''<ref>Ṣaffār, ''Baṣāʾir al-darajāt'', p. 153-155.</ref> and ''Kitab 'Ali'',<ref>Ahwāzī, ''al-Zuhd'', p. 39; Ashʿarī, ''al-Nawādir'', p. 79; Barqī, ''Kitāb al-maḥāsin'', vol. 1, p. 107, 273.</ref> which researchers believe refer to the same text, given the identical characteristics attributed to all of them.<ref>Bahār dūst, ''Jifr wa jāmiʿa'', 476.</ref> However, [[Aqa Buzurg Tihrani]] (1293-1389/1876-1970) argues that ''Kitab 'Ali'' is distinct from ''al-Jami'a''.<ref>Tihrānī, ''al-Dharīʿa'', vol. 2, p. 305-306.</ref>

=== ''Al-Jami'a'' as a Sign of Imamate ===

According to certain hadiths, ''al-Jami'a'' is a [[Wadayi' al-Imamate (Trusts of Imamate)|trust of the Imamate]], signifying the rightful claim of its holder to [[Imamate]].<ref>Ṣadūq, ''Maʿānī al-akhbār'', p. 102-103; Ṣadūq, ''Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh'', vol. 4, p. 418-419.</ref> Aqa Buzurg Tihrani argues that, like other trusts associated with the Imamate, the ''Book of 'Ali'' was passed down among the [[Shiite Imams]] and is now in the possession of [[Imam al-Mahdi (a)]].<ref>Tihrānī, ''al-Dharīʿa'', vol. 2, p. 305.</ref>

According to numerous hadiths, all rulings pertaining to [[halal]] and [[haram]], including nuanced issues such as the diya (blood money) for merely scratching someone's skin, are mentioned in ''al-Jami'a''.<ref>Ṣaffār, ''Baṣāʾir al-darajāt'', p. 142-146; Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 1, p. 239.</ref> Some researchers speculate that the book is called ''al-Jami'a'' (literally, "comprehensive" or "compendium") due to its inclusion of all Sharia rulings.<ref>Bahār dūst, ''Jifr wa jāmiʿa'', 477.</ref> Sayyid Husayn Mudarrisi Tabataba'i, a Shiite researcher of the twenty-first century, cited various hadiths in his book ''[[Tradition and Survival]]'', suggesting that the ''Book of 'Ali'' encompassed the following contents: [[Furu' al-Din|jurisprudential rulings]] (including [[prayer]], [[hajj]], [[jihad]], [[marriage]], [[divorce]], [[judgeship]], [[testimony]], [[hudud]], and [[diyat]]), [[ethics]], [[beliefs]] and virtues, [[stories of the prophets]], and esoteric narratives.<ref>Mudarrisī Ṭabāṭabāʾī, ''Mīrāth-i maktūb-i Shīʿa '', p. 32-36.</ref>

According to Majid Ma'arff (b. 1953), over forty individuals have reported the existence of the book ''al-Jami'a''.<ref>Maʿārif, ''Pajūhishī dar tārīkh-i ḥadīth-i Shīʿa'', p. 43-45.</ref> Some hadiths mention that several companions of the Imams, including [[Muhammad b. Muslim]],<ref>Ṭūsī, ''al-Tahdhīb'', vol. 9, p. 271.</ref> [[Zurara b. A'yan]],<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 7, p. 94.</ref> [[Abu Basir al-Muradi]],<ref>Ṣaffār, ''Baṣāʾir al-darajāt'', p. 143.</ref> [['Abd al-Malik b. A'yan]],<ref>Ṣaffār, ''Baṣāʾir al-darajāt'', p. 153.</ref> and Mu'attab,<ref>Ṣaffār, ''Baṣāʾir al-darajāt'', p. 145.</ref> as well as some of their adversaries, such as [[al-Mansur al-'Abbasi]], had seen the book ''al-Jami'a''.<ref>Jundī, ''al-Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq'', p. 200.</ref> Al-Sayyid Muhammad Kazim al-Tabataba'i suggests that eighty hadiths cited in ''[[Wasa'il al-Shi'a]]'' are, in fact, quoted from the ''Book of 'Ali''.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī, ''Tārīkh-i hadīth-i Shīʿa'', vol. 1, p. 69.</ref>

==The Sunni Perspective==

Some researchers suggest that, unlike in Shiite accounts where the ''Book of [[Jafr]]'' and ''al-Jami'a'' and their contents are clearly distinguished, there is no such distinction in [[Sunni]] reports. In some Sunni accounts where the two books are differentiated, their contents are said to be identical.<ref>Bahār dūst, ''Jifr wa jāmiʿa'', 477.</ref> [[Al-Sayyid Mir Sharif al-Jurjani]], a Hanafi scholar of the eighth/fourteenth century, believes that ''al-Jami'a'' was written using an encoded method based on the science of letters ('ilm al-huruf).<ref>Jurjānī, ''Sharḥ al-mawāqif'', vol. 6, p. 22.</ref> Haji Khalifa identifies the ''Book of Jafr'' as pertaining to the Tablet of Predestination (qada'), and ''al-Jami'a'' to the Tablet of Fate (qadar).<ref>Ḥājī Khalīfa, ''Kashf al-ẓunūn'', vol. 1, p. 591.</ref>

According to some hadiths, the ''Book of 'Ali'' is described as having a length of seventy cubits (approximately 35 meters)<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 1, p. 239; Ṣadūq, ''Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh'', vol. 4, p. 419.</ref> and a width equal to that of a camel's thigh,<ref>Ṭūsī, ''al-Tahdhīb'', vol. 9, p. 271.</ref> indicating its substantial size and volume.<ref>Bahār dūst, ''Jifr wa jāmiʿa'', 477.</ref> However, other hadiths suggest that the book was small enough to fit within a sword scabbard. <ref>Barqī, ''Kitāb al-maḥāsin'', vol. 1, p. 17-18; Nasāʾī, ''al-Sunan al-kubrā'', vol. 8, p. 56.</ref>Some researchers, citing additional hadiths, argue that the smaller book was only a portion of the original text.<ref>Bahār dūst, ''Jifr wa jāmiʿa'', 477.</ref> Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Tabataba'i (b. 1965) believes that the smaller book was actually a different text, distinct from the ''Book of 'Ali''.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī, ''Tārīkh-i hadīth-i Shīʿa'', vol. 1, p. 65-66.</ref>

*[[Mushaf of Imam Ali (a)]]

*[[Mushaf of Fatima (a)]]

*Ahwāzī, Ḥusayn b. Saʿīd al-. ''Al-Zuhd''. Qom: al-Maṭbaʿa al-ʿIlmīyya, 1402 AH.

*Ashʿarī,  Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā al-. ''Al-Nawādir''. Qom: Madrasa-yi Imām Mahdī (a), 1408 AH.

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*Barqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. ''Kitāb al-maḥāsin''. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1371 AH.

*Ḥājī Khalīfa. Muṣṭafā b. ʿAbd Allāh. ''Kashf al-ẓunūn ʿan asāmī al-kutub wa al-funūn''. Baghdad: Maktabat al-muthannā, 1941.

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*Ṣaffār, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. ''Baṣāʾir al-darajāt fī faḍāʾil-i Āl-i Muḥammad''. Qom: Kitābkhāna-yi Āyat Allāh al-Marʿashī, 1404 AH.

*Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. ''Tārīkh-i hadīth-i Shīʿa''. Tehran: Samt, 1388 Sh.

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*Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. ''Tahdhīb al-aḥkām''. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.