Al-Istibsar (book): Difference between revisions

{{unreferenced}}

| author = [[Al-Shaykh al-Tusi|Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi]]

| title_orig = الاستبصار فی ما اختلف من الاخبار

| series =

| subject =

| genre =

'''''Al-Istibṣār fī mā khtulif min al-akhbār''''' (Arabic: {{iarabic|الاستِبصار فی ما اختَلَفَ مِن الاَخبار}}) is the fourth book of [[the Four Books]]. It is a [[hadith]] collection compiled by [[Al-Shaykh al-Tusi|Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi]] (d. [[460]]/1067 ) known as '''al-Shaykh al-Ṭaʾifa''' (Arabic: {{iarabic|الشَّیخ الطّائِفَة}}).

This book contains [[jurisprudence|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, [[al-Shaykh al-Tusi]] has recorded almost all hadiths with their references, but in the last part, the references are mentioned in a brief way and similar to the style of ''Tahdhib al-ahkam'' and more like the style of [[Al-Shaykh al-Saduq|Ibn Babawayh]] in ''[[Kitab man la yahduruh al-faqih (book)|Man la yahduruh al-faqih]]'' the references of hadiths to [[Al-Usul al-arba'ami'a|hadiths Usul]] [original references] are mentioned at the end of the work.

In this work, in addition to collecting all hadiths related to one issue at one place, al-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 al-Shaykh al-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'' , al-Shaykh al-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, [[al-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'' .”

This book is among the most authentic Shia hadith books and every faqih or [[Mujtahid]] needs to refer to it when judging about rulings.

''Al-Istibsar'' is one of the [[Four Books]] and at the same level with [[al-Shaykh al-Kulayni]]'s ''[[Al-Kafi (book)|Al-Kafi]]'' , [[al-Shaykh al-Saduq]]'s ''Man la yahduruh al-faqih'' and al-Shaykh al-Tusi'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 Tihrani]] 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 al-Shaykh al-Tusi and the job has finished in 573/1177-1178.