Al-Istibsar (book): Difference between revisions

'''Al-Istibṣār fī mā ukhtulifa min al-akhbār''' (Arabic: الاستبصار فی ما اختلف من الاخبار) is the fourth book of [[the Four Books]]. It is a [[hadith]] collection compiled by [[Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi]] (d. [[460]]/1067 ) known as al-Shaykh al-ta'ifa.

This book contains jurisprudential hadiths and it is more concise than Tahdhib al-ahkam. The order of the chapters in al-Istibsar are so that the first two parts (part one and two) are dedicated to issues regarding worship (except Jihad) and the last part (part three) is about other jurisprudential issues such as contracts, unilateral obligations, fixed punishments and financial compensations.

According to statistics that the author has given about the hadiths recorded in al-Istibsar, they are 5511 hadiths while in a researched publication of the book, the number of hadiths are 5558 and this difference might be due to the way of counting some special hadiths.

In the first two parts, Shaykh Tusi has recorded almost all hadiths with their references, but in the last part, the references are mention in a brief way and similar to the style of Tahdhib al-ahkam and more like the style of ibn Babiwayh in Man la yahduruh al-faqih the references of hadiths to hadiths Usul [original references] are mentioned at the end of the work.

Some scholars and students of Shaykh Tusi asked him to write a book in which he collects opposite hadiths, analyses them and marks the correct and incorrect ones. In this book, Shaykh Tusi first brought authentic and correct hadiths and then has mentioned opposite ones and has tried not to miss one and after all has tried to reach a conclusion after discussing the two kinds of hadiths.

In this work, in addition to collecting all hadiths related to one issue at one place, Tusi has reviewed their references and meanings and in each chapter, has suggested his own opinion for removing apparent disagreements between hadiths or the priority of some of them over others. Methods for reach agreements and conclusions between hadiths and removing their disagreements have a special position in the Shaykh Tusi's fiqh, and has been reflected especially in his al-Istibsar.

Therefore, this book should not be regarded as a mere collection of hadiths and ignore its jurisprudential value. Similar to other books among the Four Books, the order of the chapters of al-Istibsar is based on the usual order in jurisprudential works.

Although in compiling al-Istibsar, Shaykh Tusi has so much relied on his previous work Tahdhib al-ahkam, but al-Istibsar has its own characteristics regarding the general purpose of compilation as well as the chaptering and the order of hadiths in each chapter and is regarded as an independent work. This independence is clearly seen in a list of the author's works and in the words of his contemporary scholar, Najashi.

In addition to its great credit, al-Istibsar has a very good coverage so that Ibn Tawus says, “If there is any disagreement about an issue, it must be mentioned in al-Istibsar.”

Al-Istibsar is one of the Four Books and at the same level with Shaykh al-Kulayni's al-Kafi, Shaykh al-Saduq's Man la yahduruh al-faqih and Shaykh al-Rusi's another book, Tahdhib al-Ahkam which was written previous to al-Istibsar.

Regarding the significance and value of al-Istibsar, its name has always been in the list of references and Shia scholars and faqihs gave permission of narrating its hadiths to each other.

About old copies of al-Istibsar, first the incomplete manuscript transcribed by Ja'far b. Ali Mashhadi must be mentioned that Aqa Buzurg Tehrani reports that was available in the library of SAyyid Hadi Kashif al-Ghita' in Najaf. According to this report, the mentioned copy has been compared with the handwriting of Shaykh al-Tusi and the job has finished in 573 AH.

Then, a copy kept in the library of Mar'ashi in Qom should be mentioned that has been transcribed in 8th century AH.

Compiling works as commentary, gloss or marginal notes on al-Istibsar can be seen particularly since late 10th century, among the most important ones of which are the following:

* Marginal notes written by Muhammad b. Ali b. Husayn ‘Amili, author of Madarik al-Ahkam (d. 1009 AH) which is kept together with the text of al-Istibsar in Rawdati copy.

* Marginal notes written by Hasan b. Zayn al-Din'Amili, author of Ma'alim al-Din (d. 1011 AH). Availability of this marginal notes is reported by Afandi in Riyad al-‘Ulama.

* Marginal notes written by Muhammad b. Ali b. Ibrahim Astarabadi, author of Minhaj al-maqal (d. 1028 AH), different copies of which have been seen in Najaf and Mashhad.

* Istiqsa' al-I'tibar which is a commentary written by Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Hasan b. Zayn al-Din ‘Amili (d. 1030 AH) and Aqa Buzurg Tehrani has reported some copies of it.

* Manahij al-akhbar which is a commentary written by Kamal al-Din (or Nizam al-Din) Ahmad b. Zayn al-‘Abidin ‘Amili.

* A commentary written by Mulla Muhammad Amin Astarabadi (d. 1036 AH)

* A gloss written by Mir Muhammad Baqir Astarabadi, known as Mirdamad (d. 1040 or 1041 AH) which has been sometimes referred to as a commentary. There are several copies of it in Sepahsalar Library in Tehran and Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.

* Jami' al-Akhbar fi Idah al-Istibsar which is a commentary written by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Latif b. Ali b. Ahmad b. Abi Jami' Harithi (d. 1050 AH), a pupil of Shaykh Baha'i.

* Kashf al-asrar fi sharh al-Istibsar which is a commentary on al-Istibsar written by Sayyid Ni'mat Allah Jaza'iri (d. 1112 AH) and several manuscripts of it have been mentioned by Aqa Buzurg Tehrani.

* Nukat al-irshad dar sharh al-Istibsar written by Shahid Awwal Muhammad b. Makki.

* Sharh al-Istibsar written by Sayyid Mirza Hasan b. ‘Abd al-Rasul Husayni Zanuzi

* Sharh al-Istibsar written by Amir Muhammad b. Amir ‘Abd al-Wasi' Khatun Abadi, ‘Allama Majlisi's son-in-law.