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Kitab al-Kafi
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Kitab al-Kafi
Al-Kafi (Arabic: ٱلْكَافِي, al-Kāfī, Translated from Arabic means 'The Sufficient') is a hadith collection of the Twelver Shī‘ah tradition, compiled in the first half of the 10th century CE (early 4th century AH) by Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī (c. 868–941). It is one of the Four Books (Kutub al Arba'a) in Twelver Shi'i Islam.
It is divided into three sections: Uṣūl al-Kāfī, dealing with epistemology, theology, history, ethics, supplication, and the Qurʾān; Furūʿ al-Kāfī, which is concerned with practical and legal issues; and Rawdat (or Rawḍat al-Kāfī), which includes miscellaneous traditions, many of which are lengthy letters and speeches transmitted from the imams. In total, al-Kāfī comprises 16,199 narrations. It reportedly took him twenty years to finish the book.
The first eight books of al-Kāfī are commonly referred to as Uṣūl al-Kāfī, Uṣūl meaning 'Fundamental'. The first typeset edition of the al-Kāfī, which was published in eight volumes, placed Uṣūl al-kāfī in the first two volumes. Generally speaking, Uṣūl al-kāfī contains traditions that deal with epistemology, theology, history, ethics, supplication, and the Qurʾān.
Books 9 through 34 are referred to as Furūʿ al-Kāfī and are found in volumes three through seven of the first typeset edition. Furūʿ al-Kāfī contains traditions that deal predominantly with practical and legal issues.
The final book stands alone as Rawdat or Rawḍah al-Kāfī, which is found in volume eight of the first typeset edition. Rawḍah al-Kāfī contains nearly 600 miscellaneous traditions, many of which are lengthy letters and speeches, not arranged in any particular order.
Most Shī‘ah scholars do not make any assumptions about the authenticity of a hadith book. Most believe that there are no ṣaḥīḥ ('sound', 'truthful') hadith books that are completely reliable. Hadith books are compiled by fallible people, and thus realistically, they inevitably have a mixture of strong and weak hadiths. Kulaynī himself stated in his preface that he only collected hadiths he thought were important and sufficient for Muslims to know, and he left the verification of these hadiths up to later scholars.
According to the Imami scholar Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmili, known as ash-Shahīd ath-Thāni (1505–1559 CE, 911–966 AH), who examined the asanād or the chains of transmission of al-Kāfi traditions, 5,072 are considered ṣaḥīḥ; 144 are regarded as ḥasan ('good'), second category; 1,118 are held to be muwathaq ('trustworthy'), third category; 302 are adjudged to be qawi ('strong') and 9,485 traditions which are categorized as ḍaʿīf ('weak').
The author, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī, stated in his preface to Al-Kafi:
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Kitab al-Kafi
Al-Kafi (Arabic: ٱلْكَافِي, al-Kāfī, Translated from Arabic means 'The Sufficient') is a hadith collection of the Twelver Shī‘ah tradition, compiled in the first half of the 10th century CE (early 4th century AH) by Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī (c. 868–941). It is one of the Four Books (Kutub al Arba'a) in Twelver Shi'i Islam.
It is divided into three sections: Uṣūl al-Kāfī, dealing with epistemology, theology, history, ethics, supplication, and the Qurʾān; Furūʿ al-Kāfī, which is concerned with practical and legal issues; and Rawdat (or Rawḍat al-Kāfī), which includes miscellaneous traditions, many of which are lengthy letters and speeches transmitted from the imams. In total, al-Kāfī comprises 16,199 narrations. It reportedly took him twenty years to finish the book.
The first eight books of al-Kāfī are commonly referred to as Uṣūl al-Kāfī, Uṣūl meaning 'Fundamental'. The first typeset edition of the al-Kāfī, which was published in eight volumes, placed Uṣūl al-kāfī in the first two volumes. Generally speaking, Uṣūl al-kāfī contains traditions that deal with epistemology, theology, history, ethics, supplication, and the Qurʾān.
Books 9 through 34 are referred to as Furūʿ al-Kāfī and are found in volumes three through seven of the first typeset edition. Furūʿ al-Kāfī contains traditions that deal predominantly with practical and legal issues.
The final book stands alone as Rawdat or Rawḍah al-Kāfī, which is found in volume eight of the first typeset edition. Rawḍah al-Kāfī contains nearly 600 miscellaneous traditions, many of which are lengthy letters and speeches, not arranged in any particular order.
Most Shī‘ah scholars do not make any assumptions about the authenticity of a hadith book. Most believe that there are no ṣaḥīḥ ('sound', 'truthful') hadith books that are completely reliable. Hadith books are compiled by fallible people, and thus realistically, they inevitably have a mixture of strong and weak hadiths. Kulaynī himself stated in his preface that he only collected hadiths he thought were important and sufficient for Muslims to know, and he left the verification of these hadiths up to later scholars.
According to the Imami scholar Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmili, known as ash-Shahīd ath-Thāni (1505–1559 CE, 911–966 AH), who examined the asanād or the chains of transmission of al-Kāfi traditions, 5,072 are considered ṣaḥīḥ; 144 are regarded as ḥasan ('good'), second category; 1,118 are held to be muwathaq ('trustworthy'), third category; 302 are adjudged to be qawi ('strong') and 9,485 traditions which are categorized as ḍaʿīf ('weak').
The author, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī, stated in his preface to Al-Kafi:
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