Muhammad b. Ya'qub al-Kulayni: Difference between revisions

'''Abu Jaʿfar, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqub b. Isḥāq al-Kulayni Al-Rāzī''' (Arabic: {{ia|ابوجعفر، محمّد بن یعقوب بن اسحاق الرازی}}) (c. [[255]]/869 - [[328]]/940) was among the greatest [[Shi'a]] [[hadith]] scholars and the author of ''[[al-Kafi]]'', the most authentic Shi'a [[hadith collection]] and one the [[Four Books]]. He was born after the martyrdom of [[Imam al-'Askari (a)]], at the time of [[Imam al-Mahdi (a)]] and met some hadith transmitters who directly had heard hadiths from Imam al-Hadi (a) and Imam al-'Askari (a). It is said that al-Kulayni was very accurate in transmitting hadiths. [[Ibn Qulawayh]], Muhammad b. Ali Majilawayh al-Qummi, [[Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Zurari]] were among his students.

Despite some ambiguities about exact time and place of the birth of al-Kulayni, many biographers have considered it certain that he was born in [[Kulayn]] village of [[Rey]]. About the time of his birth, some historical evidences show that he was born, before or shortly after the birth of [[Imam al-Mahdi (a)]], around [[255]]/869,  and lived in the age of [[Minor Occultation]]. [[Bahr al-'Ulum]] considered it possible that al-Kulayni lived toward the end of the life of [[Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a)]].<ref>Baḥr al-ʿulūm, ''al-Fawāʾid al-rijālīyya'', vol. 3, p. 336.</ref> [[Ayatullah]] [[Khoei]] believed that his birth was after the [[martyrdom]] of Imam al-'Askari (a).<ref>Khoei, ''Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth'', vol. 19, p. 58.</ref>