Wasa'il al-Shi'a (book)

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Wasa'il al-Shi'a
Bibliographical Information
Bibliographical Information
AuthorAl-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili
Original titleوَسائل الشیعة
LanguageArabic
Series10 vol.
SubjectFiqh
GenreHadith
Published1429/2008, Qom
PublisherManshurat Dhawi l-Qurba


Tafṣīl wasāʾil al-shīʿa ilā taḥṣīl masāʾil al-sharīʿa (Arabic:تفصیلُ وَسائل الشیعة إلی تَحصیلِ مسائل الشّریعة) reputably known as: Wasāʾil al-shīʿa (وسائل الشیعة) is a Shi'a Hadith collection, compiled by al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili (d.1104/1693). It consists of Shi'a narrative traditions from early Shi'a hadith collections like The Four Books and other sources, pertaining exclusively to jurisprudential matters.

About the Author

Muhammad b. Hasan b. 'Ali b. Muhammad b. Husayn, widely known as: al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili, is an Imami jurist and expert in Hadith in eleventh/seventeenth century, who, along his magnum opus, wrote several valuable books. In scholarly circles, he is famous as: "the author of al-Wasa'il". He passed away in Mashhad and was buried in one of the courtyards of the Holy Shrine of Imam al-Rida (a).

Review

Wasa'il al-shi'a is an extensive collection of authentic narrations from the Prophet (s) and the Ahl al-Bayt (a) regarding Shi'a jurisprudence and practical laws. The narrations are classified in fifty categories, and the final section presents various discussions about Hadith sources, the chains of narration and 'ilm al-Rijal (study of transmitters of Hadith). Al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili compiled these narrations within twenty years, finishing in 1082/1671-2. The book holds distinctive scholarly merits which made it a necessary reference for all scholars and Mujtahids since its compilation.

The Motive

In the introduction, the author writes:

For a long time, I had this idea in mind, to collect narrations about Shari'a and practical laws from reliable books that are at the reach of 'Ulama, for these books, in addition to redundancy and repetition, contain other unrelated traditions that are not helpful for jurists. Therefore, I started to compile narrations pertaining to practical laws, I did whatever I could and I did not take but from reliable and reputable books.[1]

Contents

This great collection, contains 36,000 narrations, dealing with: practical laws, obligations and rituals. The book is an scrutinized selection from authentic early Shi'a Hadith collections and primary manuscripts of early companions.

Important Shi'i hadith collections Author Death Number of hadiths descriptions
al-Mahasin Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Barqi 274/887-8 about 2604 Hadiths regarding different topics such as fiqh and ethics
al-Kafi Muhammad b. Ya'qub al-Kulayni 329/941 about 16000 Variety of hadiths regarding the principles of beliefs, ethics, conducts, and fiqh
Man la yahduruh al-faqih al-Shaykh al-Saduq 381/991-2 about 5500 Hadiths regarding fiqh
Tahdhib al-ahkam al-Shaykh al-Tusi 460/1067 about 13600 Hadiths regarding fiqh
Al-Istibsar al-Shaykh al-Tusi 460/1067 about 5500 Hadiths regarding fiqh
al-Wafi al-Fayd al-Kashani 1091/1680 about 50,000 Collection of hadiths in the Four Books with eliminating repeated hadiths and explaining some hadiths
Wasa'il al-shi'a al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili 1104/1693 35850 Hadiths regarding fiqh in the Four Books and over 70 other collections of hadiths
Bihar al-anwar al-'Allama al-Majlisi 1110/1699 about 85,000 Hadiths from most of the Infallibles (a) regarding various issues
Mustadrak al-wasa'il Mirza Husayn Nuri 1320/1902 23,514 Supplementation of hadiths regarding fiqh in Wasa'il al-shi'a
Safinat al-bihar Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi 1359/1941 10 volumes an alphabetically ordered index for Bihar al-anwar
Mustadrak safinat al-bihar Shaykh 'Ali Namazi 1405/1984-5 10 volumes Supplementation of Safinat al-bihar
Jami' ahadith al-Shi'a Ayatollah Burujirdi 1380/1961 48,342 Including all Shiite hadiths regarding fiqh
Mizan al-hikma Muhammad Muhammadi Reyshahri 2022 23,030 564 non-jurisprudential (not regarding fiqh) topics
al-Hayat Muhammad Rida Hakimi 2021 12 volumes 40 chapters regarding theoretical and practical issues

Features

  1. Recording the chain of transmission for each narration.
  2. Classification of the narrations and presenting all related narrations in the specified category.
  3. Author's random explanation about certain narrations, particularly those that seemingly conflict with other narrations.
  4. The author's final inference of all narrations in each group, which is represented as the title for the group.
  5. Long and complex narrations were fractionated by the author to fit in their addressed categories.
  6. Reference to other related groups at the end of each group. These references in recent published versions have been analyzed and specified by volume and page number in the footnote.
  7. An authenticity-based order in each group. That is, each group begins with the most authentic narrations and ends with the weak ones. (according to author's viewpoint)
  8. The Twelve Discussions at the final section, introducing Hadith sources and discussing some topics within the discipline of Hadith and 'ilm al-Rijal.[2]

Views about the Book

Sayyid Husayn Sadr says:

Whenever a jurist or Mujtahid looks in this book, he finds what he needs like neatly ordered pearls. There's no issue but to get addressed in this book, which gained the admiration of scholars and is distinguished from other books, like the way the verses of the Qur'an are distinguished from other words.

'Allama Amini writes:

There's no biographical account of al-Shaykh al-Hurr but to contain admirations and appreciations of his great work, Wasa'il al-shi'a [3]

Related Books

  1. Tahrir wasa'il al-shi'a wa tahbir masa'il al-shari'a, by: al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili
  2. Ta'liqa 'ala wasa'il al-shi'a, by: al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili
  3. Hidayat al-umma ila ahkam al-a'imma, by: al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili
  4. Sharh wasa'il al-shi'a and majma' al-ahkam, by: al-Shaykh Muhammad Maqabi Bahrani
  5. Sharh wasa'il al-shi'a, by: Muhammad Radi Qazwini.
  6. Sharh wasa'il al-shi'a, by: Sayyid al-Khoei.
  7. Mustadrak al-wasa'il, by: 'Allama Nuri.
  8. And seven other books.

Manuscripts

  1. Manuscript in the Library of the Holy Shrine of Imam al-Rida (a) in Mashhad. this is the first draft of the book, written by the author himself. The author has dated it: Rabi' I 1072/Oct.-Nov. 1661.
  2. Manuscript in the Library of late Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi in Qom. This is the second version of the book, written by the author himself and is dated 1082/1671-2.
  3. Second manuscript in the Library of the Holy Shrine of Imam al-Rida (a), which dates back to 1114/1702-3. This manuscript is a copy of the third version, which had been written down by the author. Also, this version bears the final amendments and footnotes in the author's handwriting.[4]

Publications

After being recopied countlessly in scholarly circles, the book was published for the first time with the amendments by Shaykh Fadl Allah Nuri in six volumes. Its twenty volume version, with 'Abd al-Rahim Rabbani Shirazi's footnotes was published in 1403/1982-3. In 1414/1993-4,Al al-Bayt Foundation published the book in 30 volumes.

Notes

  1. Introduction of the book Wasāʾil al-shīʿa.
  2. Jāmiʿ fiqh ahl al-Bayt Software
  3. Amīnī, al-Ghadīr fī al-kitāb wa al-sunna wa al-ʾadab, vol. 11, p .336.
  4. Noor Digital Library

References

  • Amīnī, ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Al-Ghadīr fī al-kitāb wa al-sunna wa al-ʾadab. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1397/1977.
  • Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, 1414 AH.