Kitab al-Kafi

(, , 'The Sufficient') is the most important and authoritative hadith collection in Shia Islam, compiled in the first half of the 10th century CE (early 4th century AH) by (). It is one of the Four Books (Kutub al Arba'a) of Shia Islam.

It is divided into three sections: , dealing with epistemology, theology, history, ethics, supplication, and the ; , which is concerned with practical and legal issues; and (or ), which includes miscellaneous traditions, many of which are lengthy letters and speeches transmitted from the Twelve Imams. In total, comprises 16,199 narrations. It reportedly took him twenty years to finish the book.Ehteshámi, A. (2022) “‘The Four Books of Shiʿi Hadith: From Inception to Consolidation’. Islamic Law and Society 29.3 (2022): 225–279.,” Islamic Law and Society, 29(3), pp. 225–279. doi: 10.1163/15685195-28040002.

Contents Usul al-Kafi The first eight books of are commonly referred to as , meaning 'Fundamental'. The first typeset edition of the , which was published in eight volumes, placed in the first two volumes. Generally speaking, contains traditions that deal with epistemology, theology, history, ethics, supplication, and the .

+:ChaptersTraditionsDescriptionsThe Book of Intellect and Ignorance36 traditionsThe Book of Knowledge and its Merits176 traditionsThe Book of God and his Oneness212 traditionsThe Book of Divine Guidance1015 traditionsThe Book of Belief and Unbelief1609 traditionsThe Book of Supplication409 traditionsThe Book of the Qurʾān and its Merits124 TraditionsThe Book of Social Intercourse464 traditions

Furūʿ al-Kāfī Books 9 through 34 are referred to as and are found in volumes three through seven of the first typeset edition. contains traditions that deal predominantly with practical and legal issues. +ChaptersThe Book of PurityThe Book of MenstruationThe Book of Funeral RitesThe Book of PrayerThe Book of CharityThe Book of FastingThe Book of ḤajjThe Book of JihādThe Book of CommerceThe Book of MarriageThe Book of Animal Sacrifice upon the Birth of a ChildThe Book of DivorceThe Book of EmancipationThe Book of HuntingThe Book of SlaughteringThe Book of FoodThe Book of DrinkThe Book of Clothing, Beautification, and HonorThe Book of Domesticated AnimalsThe Book of TestamentsThe Book of InheritanceThe Book of Capital and Corporal PunishmentsThe Book of Restitution and Blood MoneyThe Book of Testimonies and DepositionsThe Book of Adjudication and Legal PrecedentsThe Book of Oaths, Vows, and Penances

Rawdat al-Kāfī The final book stands alone as or , which is found in volume eight of the first typeset edition. contains nearly 600 miscellaneous traditions, many of which are lengthy letters and speeches, not arranged in any particular order. +TitleThe Book of Miscellanea – literally a garden from which one can pick many kinds of flowers

Authenticity

Most scholars do not make any assumptions about the authenticity of a hadith book. Most believe that there are no ('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 , known as (1505–1559 CE, 911–966 AH), who examined the or the chains of transmission of traditions, 5,072 are considered ; 144 are regarded as ('good'), second category; 1,118 are held to be ('trustworthy'), third category; 302 are adjudged to be ('strong') and 9,485 traditions which are categorized as ('weak').

Scholarly remarks

The author, , stated in his preface to :

Imam Khomeini (a prominent 20th century scholar and statesman) said:Wilayat al-Faqih: Al-Hukumah Al-Islamiyyah, p. 72.

The general idea behind this metaphor is that Khomeini objected to the laziness of many ignorant people who simply kept on their shelf, and ignored or violated it in their daily lives, assuming that they would somehow be saved from Hell just by possessing the book. Khomeini argued that Islamic law should be an integral part of everyday life for the believer, not just a stale manuscript to be placed on a shelf and forgotten. The irony of the allusion is telling; Khomeini implicitly says that (literally 'the Sufficient') is not ('enough') to make one a faithful Muslim or be counted among the righteous, unless one uses the wisdom contained within it and acts on it.

scholar did not believe in the complete authenticity of . Khoei points this out in his , or Collection of Men of Narrations, in which he states:

Scholars have made such remarks to remind the people that one cannot simply pick the book up, and take whatever they like from it as truthful. Rather, an exhaustive process of authentication must be applied, which leaves the understanding of the book in the hands of the learned. From the point of view, any book other than the , as well as individual hadiths or hadith narrators can be objectively questioned and scrutinized as to their reliability.

Shia view of al-Kafi relative to other hadith books

Kulaynī 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. Kulaynī also states, in reference to hadiths generally:

The author of never intended for it to be politicized as "infallible", but compiled it to give sincere advice based on Islamic law (regardless of the soundess of any one particular hadith), and to preserve rare hadiths and religious knowledge in an easily accessible collection for future generations to study.

is the most comprehensive collection of traditions from the formative period of Islamic scholarship. It has been held in the highest esteem by generation after generation of Muslim scholars. ( 1022 CE) extolled it as "one of the greatest and most beneficial of Shia books". (d. 1385 CE) and (d. 1533 CE) have said, "No book has served the Shia as it has." The father of ʿAllāmah al Majlisī said, "Nothing [else] like it has been written for Islam."

Commentaries , a commentary on by Mohammad Salih al-Mazandarani (17th century CE) ('Mirror of the Mind'), a commentary on by Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (17th century CE) by Mulla Sadra (17th century CE) by Muhammad Baqir al-Behbudi (20th century CE)

Kitab al-Kafi

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