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Sheikh al-Kulayni (250-329) lived during minor occultation of Imam Mehdi (عليه السلام). He could have directly narrated ahadith from Imam (عليه السلام) through his (عليه السلام) deputies making shorter reliable asnaad. Why did he took pains to meet narrators who could narrate ahadith of Imam Ja'far (عليه السلام) through longer asnaad (which in many cases are unreliable)? Had he consulted the Imam of time (عليه السلام), at least shia community would have a book that would have been near to 100% authentic.

Salaam Are there any gradings of Kutub Araba besides those done by Shaikh al-Behbudi (Saheeh al-Kafi, Saheeh al-Faqeeh, Saheeh al-Ahkam), Allama Majlisi I (Rowzaat Mutakoon), Allama Majlisi II (Mira'at al-Uqool, Miladh al-Akhyar)?

Salaam everyone, The Thaqalayn Discord server and I have been working on a Hadith browsing site, which is ready here: http://thaqalayn.co/index.php/ahadith So far it's only Al Kafi, using the Hube Ali translation, but inshallah in the future we will be adding more books. Would be great if you guys could check it out. Thank you, 7ssein

Salam alaykum all, To help the Shia community more readily access our own books' information, I made a website with the four major Shia Hadith books. The site allows you to browse, search and share Shia Hadith. Please check it out and let me know any feedback. http://www.fourshiabooks.com

بسم الله و له الحمد Husn al-Zhann means to have a positive regard or positive suspicion towards someone or something, husn al-zhann billah means to have a positive opinion regarding Allah. Lane's Lexicon translates husn as: حُسْنٌ and حُسُنٌ↓, which is of the dial. of El-Ḥijáz, and حَسَنٌ Goodness, or goodliness, [generally the latter,] beauty, comeliness, or pleasingness http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/06_H/094_Hsn.html and zhann is translated as: ظَنٌّ is a simple subst. as well as an inf. n. and signifies Thought, opinion, supposition, or conjecture: or a preponderant belief, with the admission that the contrary may be the case http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/17_Z/019_Zn.html So for the purpose of translating the phrase one would use one of the aforementioned terms however that does not fully convey what is meant in Arabic, so for the following translations a variety of words have been used for both husn and zhann in order to render a more free-flowing and readable text. The translations could still do with some improvements so all corrections are welcome. I do however feel that I have done a sufficient job in conveying the broad meaning of what was written, insha'Allah. Husn al-Zhann in the Hadith: al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 71, 72, Hadith #2 ٢ ابن محبوب، عن جميل بن صالح، عن بريد بن معاوية، عن أبي جعفر (عليه السلام) قال: وجدنا في كتاب علي (عليه السلام) أن رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله) قال وهو على منبره والذي لا إله إلا هو ما أعطي مؤمن قط خير الدنيا والآخرة إلا بحسن ظنه بالله ورجائه له وحسن خلقه والكف عن اغتياب المؤمنين والذي لا إله إلا هو لا يعذب الله مؤمنا بعد التوبة والاستغفار إلا بسؤ ظنه بالله وتقصيره من رجائه وسؤ خلقه واغتيابه للمؤمنين والذي لا إله إلا هو لا يحسن ظن عبد مؤمن بالله إلا كان الله عند ظن عبده المؤمن، لان الله كريم، بيده الخيرات يستحيي أن يكون عبده المؤمن قد أحسن به الظن ثم يخلف ظنه ورجاءه، فأحسنوا بالله الظن وارغبوا إليه Ibn Mahbub, from Jamil bin Salih, from Burayd bin Mu'awiyya, from Abi Ja'far, peace be upon him, he said: We found in the book of 'Ali, peace be upon him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, whilst upon his pulpit said: By the One whom there is no god but He, a believer has not been given anything better in this life or the next but (through) his good opinion of Allah and his hope in Him and his good moral character and his refraining from backbiting the believers. By the One whom there is no god but He, Allah does not punish a believer after repenting and seeking forgiveness but through his bad opinion of Allah and his failure to place his hope in Him, and his bad moral character, and his backbiting the believers. By the One whom there is no god but He, a believer does not think well of Allah but that Allah is generous, in His power is all that is best. He would be ashamed for His slave to have thought well of Him then for him to go against his good opinion and his hope. So think well of Allah and beseech Him. http://shiaonlinelibrary.com/الكتب/1123_الكافي-الشيخ-الكليني-ج-٢/الصفحة_71#top The Commentary: Mirat al-'Uqul, Volume 8, Page 44 al-Majlisi says: الحديث الثاني : صحيح The second hadith: Authentic (It should be noted that of the four narrations in on this subject, three are authentic according to Majlisi) قوله عليه‌السلام: إلا بحسن ظنه قيل : معناه حسن ظنه بالغفران إذا ظنه حين يستغفر ، وبالقبول إذا ظنه حين يتوب وبالإجابة إذا ظنه حين يدعو ، وبالكفاية إذا ظنها حين يستكفي ، لأن هذه صفات لا تظهر إلا إذا حسن ظنه بالله تعالى وكذلك تحسين الظن بقبول العمل عند فعله إياه ، فينبغي للمستغفر والتائب والداعي والعامل أن يأتوا بذلك موقنين بالإجابة بوعد الله الصادق ، فإن الله تعالى وعد بقبول التوبة الصادقة والأعمال الصالحة ، وأما لو فعل هذه الأشياء وهو يظن أن لا يقبل ولا ينفعه فذلك قنوط من رحمة الله تعالى والقنوط كبيرة مهلكة ، وأما ظن المغفرة مع الإصرار وظن الثواب مع ترك الأعمال فذلك جهل وغرور يجر إلى مذهب المرجئة ، والظن هو ترجيح أحد الجانبين بسبب يقتضي الترجيح ، فإذا خلا عن سبب فإنما هو غرور وتمن للمحال And his saying, peace be upon him: "but (through) his good opinion" - it is said that its meaning is: his expectation of absolution if he supposes it when he seeks forgiveness, and of acceptance if he supposes it when he repents, and of an answer if he supposes it when he supplicates, and of sufficiency if he supposes it when he seeks it. Because these qualities will not become manifest except if one thinks well of Allah, the Most High. Likewise to make good your supposition of acceptance of a deed when doing it for Him (alone) so it behoves the penitent one and the one who repents and the one who supplicates and the one who undertakes an action that he comes to it being certain of an answer because of Allah's truthful promise. For verily Allah the Most High, promised to accept the truthful repentance and the sincere deed. However if he does these things and he thinks that they won't be accepted nor will it benefit him, that is despairing of the mercy of Allah the Most High and desperation is a major damnation. As for the belief of forgiveness with the persistence (of sinning) and the abandonment of deeds, that is ignorance and (self) deception and it leads to the innovations of the murji'a. Opinion is preferring one of the two positions for the reason that a choice is required, but if he can't find a reason, that is (self) deception and a contradiction (?)

Hadist 346 from al-Kafi I kinda not agree with this translation : He is not absolved in anything so that it could be said He is within anything and He is far from anything so that it could be said He has nothing to do with them (the creatures). Perhaps the translation should be : It is not or do not say that : He is absolved in anything so that it could be said He is within anything and He is far from anything so that it could be said He has nothing to do with them (the creatures). If someone can give more explanation, i will be appreciate. I am now translating this hadist 346 to my language, Indonesia. If i translate it literally it would be : Dia tidak bebas dalam apapun sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa Dia berada dalam apapun dan Dia jauh dari apapun sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa Dia tidak ada urusan apapun dengan mereka (ciptaan). But my understanding is : Bukanlah bahwa : 1. Dia bebas dalam apapun sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa Dia berada dalam apapun dan 2. Dia jauh dari apapun sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa Dia tidak ada urusan apapun dengan mereka (ciptaan).

Hello im debating with a sunni and he brought up this hadith: part 8 page 245 hadith #341 in al-Kafi which says all the sahaba apostated or something. It seems weak but can someone verify for me? tell me the english translation, the arabic, and the narrator and his trustworthiness. Jazakallah khair to any brother or sister who can help out.

(salam) While going through al-Kafi today, I found a very interesting hadith about a man from the Kashmir in the time of Imam Mahdi, who became a companion. This may interest brothers/sisters from India and Pakistan. (Please note that both Muhammad al-Amiri and Abu Sa'id Ghanim al-Hindi interchangeably narrate this hadith. Please try to keep track of who is saying what) Usul al-Kafi, Kitab al-Hujjah, Chapter 125 (The Birth of the Possessor), Hadith #3: Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from more then one person of our people of Qumm from Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-‘Amiri from Abu Sa‘id Ghanim al-Hindi who has said the following: "I lived in interior Kashmir, India. My friends would sit on chairs on the right and left of the King. They were forty people and all of them would read the four books, Torah, Gospel, Psalms and the books of Abraham. We would judge among the people and provide them understanding of their religion and issue fatwas for them in the lawful and unlawful matters. All people would seek assistance from us including their King. Once we discussed about the Messenger of Allah and said that this prophet who is mentioned in the books has remained obscure to us. We must investigate about him and lead a fact finding task in his affairs. We agreed that I should go out and lead the fact finding task. I then left out with large amount of money and journeyed for twelve months until I reach near Kabul. Turkish bandits rubbed wounded me seriously. They pushed me to Kabul where their King saved me when he learned about me he sent me to Balkh which was under the control of Dawud ibn al-‘Abbass ibn abu al-Aswad. Information about me had reached him that I have come out of India in search for religion and that I have learned Persian and have debated the scholars of law and theology. Dawud ibn al-‘Abbass sent for me and summoned me to his presence. He gathered the scholars of law against me. They debated me. I then informed them that I have come to find about the prophet about whom we have learned in the books" He asked, "Who is he and what is his name?" I said, "His name is Muhammad." They said, "He is our prophet that you search for." I asked them about his laws and they informed me about them. I said, "I know that Muhammad is the prophet but I do not know the one you describe to me is he or not. You should show where he is so I can go and find out whether the signs that I have about him is found in him or not. If he would the one I am looking for I will accept his religion." They said, "He has passed away." I asked them, "Who is the executor of his will and his successor?" They said, "Abu Bakr is his successor." I asked them, "Tell me about his name. Is this (Abu Bakr) his Kunya?" They said, "It is ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Uthman." They ascribed him to Quraysh." I then asked them to tell me about the genealogy of Muhammad. They informed me of his genealogy. I said this is not the person I am looking for. The one I am searching for is the one whose successor is his brother in religion and his cousin genealogically, the husband of his daughter and the father of his sons. This prophet will have no children on earth except the sons of this man who is his successor." He has said that they attacked me and said, "O commander, this man has come out polytheism and has entered disbelief. It is lawful to spill his blood." I said to them, "O people I already have a religion and I strongly believe in it. I do not want to give it up until I can find a religion stronger than this. I have found the description of this man in the books that Allah has revealed to His prophets. I came out of my country, India leaving behind all the honor and respect that I had only to find him. When examined your prophet the way you described him to me I found out that his description as you presented does not match the description of the prophet mentioned in the books. So leave me alone." The agent sent for a man called al-Husayn ibn Eshkib and said to him, "Debate this Indian man." He said, "May Allah grant you well being. There are the scholars of the law and the other scholars. They know better how to debate him." He said to him, "Debate him as I say, and you can meet privately and be kind to him." Al-Husayn ibn Eshkib said to me after our consultations, "The prophet that you are looking for is the one these people have described for you but their description of his successor is not the way they have described. This prophet is Muhammad ibn‘Abdallah ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. His successor is Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. He is the husband of Fatema, daughter of Muhammad (s.a) and the father of al-Hassan and al-Husayn, the grandsons of Muhammad (s.a)." Ghanim abu Sa‘id has said, "I then said, "Allahu Akbar." (Allah is great). This is the one I have been looking for." I then returned to Dawud ibn al-‘Abbass and said to him, "O commander, I have found what I was searching for. I testify that there is no lord besides Allah and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." The narrator has said that he treated and helped me with kindness and asked al-Husayn to look after me." The narrator has said that thereafter I went to him until we were acquainted properly and he taught me understanding of the law of the matters that I needed such as prayer, fasting and the obligations." The narrator has said that I said to him, "We read in our books that Muhammad (s.a) is the last of the prophets and there will be no other prophets after him. The task of leadership after him will be with the executor of his will, his successors and heirs and thereafter it will be with the executor of the will of the previous one and so on in their descendants until the end of the world. Who is the executor of the will of the executor of the will of Muhammad (s.a) ?" He said, "They are al-Hassan then al-Husayn the grandsons of Muhammad (s.a)." He then continued speaking of the executors of the will of the Holy Prophet (s.a) until the Sahib al-Zaman (the one who possesses Divine Authority today). Then he explained to me what had happened (with the Imams). Thereafter I hand no other goal but to search for the holy location. He (‘Amiri) has said that he came to us in Qumm. He sat with our people in the year 264 AH. He then left with them and arrived in Baghdad with his friend from al-Sind who had accompanied him in religion. ‘Amiri has said that Ghanim said to me, "I disliked certain things about my companion and I departed him and went out to al-‘Abbassia and prepared my self for prayer. I began the prayer but I was anxious and thoughtful about my goal. At this time someone came to me and called me with my Indian name. I replied, "Yes, it is I." He said, "Your master is calling you." I went with him and he would walk from this to that street until he came to house and a garden and I saw him (a.s.) sitting." He said, "Well come, O so and so, in Indian language. How are you? How was so and so until he mentioned all the forty people. He then asked me about every and each of them. Then he told all that had happened among us all in Indian language. Then he asked, "Did you want to perform Hajj with people of Qumm?" I said, "Yes, my master." He then said, "Do not go to Hajj with them this year. Go back and perform Hajj in future." He then gave me a bag of money that was in front of him and said to me, "Spend it for your needs and do not go to Baghdad to so and so." He mentioned his name and said, "Do not tell him anything." ‘Amiri has said that he came to us at Qumm. He then informed us of the triumph and that our people had returned from al-‘Aqaba. Ghanim went ‘Uthman Khurasan. Next year he went for Hajj and sent us souvenirs from Khurasan. He lived there for sometimes and then he died. May Allah grant him blessings." From what I can ascertain, the man al-Hindi met at the end was in fact Imam Mahdi (ajfs). (wasalam)

Salaam to all. Has there been any compilation of hadiths which both Shia and Sunni agree upon ?

This show has been going on since end of july. I dont know when or if they will post every episode after aired but if you go to the site and find the schedule you can watch it online on their site or maybe find the past episodes on demand on their site as well. http://ahlulbayt.tv/

Salam Alaikum dear brothers and sisters. Several hours ago i saw a website that quoted lines out of the book al-kafi. Here is the thing that i dont understand, and perhaps anyone can explain this for me. Website source: http://www.ahya.org/...rticle&artid=72 Sorry for my bad english.

I have one serious question regarding Al-kafi. It might have been posted differently in this forum previously but I am unable to get clear answer… When I read translated ‘Introduction’ by Kulayni. He says to his friend… Now According to Kulayni he did refer his collection to the 12th Imam and he did reply by saying that “, "Whichever you would follow in submission and obedience is excusable for you." Since it is possible because it was compiled during minor occultation and if it was the case than Kulayni must have done it through one of Imams four representatives. At present, majority of shias neither believe that Al-kafi is authentic (which should have been authentic if 12th Imam approved so) nor they believe that it was approved by 12th Imam. There is one tradition attributed to 12th Imam that Kitab al-kafi was authenticated by himself…. which majority of shia’as rejects since it doesn’t have chain of narrations…. So just forget this tradition. Now my question is WHO LIED? Kulayni? (Although he said it in his Introduction but he never managed to approach any of four representative) Representatives? (It might be possible that Kulayni did ask them to approve his book but neither of them were able to approach the 12th Imam) 12th Imam? (not possible) No one, but at least one of them was doing Taqayya.