The Four Books

Four canonical hadith collections of Shia Islam

Not to be confused with the Four Books of Chinese Confucianism.

Part of a series on Shia Islam

Twelver Shi'ism

The Fourteen Infallibles

* Muhammad
* Fatimah

The Twelve Imams

* Ali
* Hasan
* Husayn
* al-Sajjad
* al-Baqir
* al-Sadiq
* al-Kazim
* ar-Rida
* al-Taqi
* al-Naqi
* al-Askari
* al-Mahdi

Principles

* Monotheism
* Justice
* Prophethood
* Imamate
* Judgement Day

Other beliefs

* Imamate of the Family
* Angels
* Mourning of Muharram
* Intercession
* Occultation
* Wilayat al-Faqih
* Usul al-fiqh
* Ijtihad
* Taqlid
* Irfan

Practices

* Salat
* Sawm
* Hajj
* Zakat
* Khums
* Jihad
* Amr bi-l maʿrūf
* Nahy ani l-Munkar
* Tawalli
* Tabarri

Other practices

* Mourning of Muharram
* Arba'een Pilgrimage
* Intercession

Holy cities

* Mecca
* Medina
* Najaf
* Karbala
* Mashhad
* Jerusalem
* Samarra
* Kadhimiya
* Qom

Groups

* Ja'fari
* Usuli
* Akhbari
* Shaykhi

Other related sects and groups

* Alawites
* Sufi orders and Alevism
* Qizilbash
* Safaviyya
* Bektashism and folk religion
* Malamatiyya
* Qalandariyya
* Hurufism
* Bektashism
* Galibi
* Ni'matullāhī

Scholarship

* Law
* Marja' (list)
* Hawza
* Ayatollah (list)
* Allamah
* Seghatoleslam
* Hojatoleslam
* Ijtihad

Hadith collections

* The Four Books
* Kitab al-Kafi
* Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih
* Tahdhib al-Ahkam
* Al-Istibsar

* Other hadith collections
* Book of Sulaym ibn Qays
* Bihar al-Anwar
* Wasā'il al-Shīʿa
* Reality of Certainty
* Nahj al-Balagha
* Mafatih al-Jinan
* Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
* Al-Amali

Sources of ijtihad and jurisprudence

* Qur'an
* Hadiths of The Infallibles
* Consensus
* Reason

Related topics

* List of Twelver Shia books
* Criticism of Twelver Shi'ism

Shia Islam portal

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Part of a series on

Hadith

Hadith studies

* Hadith sciences
* Terminology
* Sahih hadith
* Mutawatir hadith
* Isnad
* Types (categories)
* Biographical evaluation
* Musannaf
* Musnad
* Israʼiliyyat

Collections

Sunni1

Kutub Al-Sittah
("The Six Books")

Sahih al-Bukhari|  صحيح البخاري
Sahih Muslim|  صحيح مسلم
Sunan Abi Dawud|  سنن أبي داود
Sunan al-Tirmidhi|  سنن الترمذي
Sunan al-Nasa'i|  سنن النسائي
Sunan ibn Majah|  سنن ابن ماجه

Others

|

|  Al-Adab al-Mufrad
|  Al-Jami al-Kamil
|  Kanz al-Ummal
|  Kitab al-Athar
|  Majma al-Zawa'id
|  Mu'jam al-Awsat
|  Mu'jam al-Kabeer
|  Mu'jam al-Saghir
|  Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq
|  Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah
|  Musnad Abu Awanah
|  Musnad Abu Hanifa
|  Musnad Abu Ya'la
|  Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal
|  Musnad_al-Bazzar
|  Musnad al-Shafi'i
|  Musnad al-Siraj
|  Musnad al-Firdous
|  Musnad al-Tayalisi
|  Musnad Humaidi
|  Musnad Ishaq ibn Rahwayh
|  Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn
|  Muwatta Imam Malik
|  Sahih Ibn Hibban
|  Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah
|  Sahifah Hammam ibn Munabbih
|  Shama'il al-Muhammadiyya
|  Sunan al-Kubra Bayhaqi
|  Sunan al-Wusta Bayhaqi
|  Sunan al-Daraqutni
|  Sunan al-Darimi
|  Sunan Nasa'i al-Kubra
|  Sunan Sa'id ibn Mansur
|  Shu'ab al-Iman
|  Tahdhib al-Athar
|  Targhib wal Tarhib

Shia

Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah
("The Four Books")

Kitab al-Kafi|  الكتاب الكافي

Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih

|  من لا يحضره الفقيه
Tahdhib al-Ahkam|  تهذیب الاحکام
Al-Istibsar|  الاستبصار

Others

|

Al-Wafi|
Wasa'il al-Shia|
Mustadrak al-wasa'il|
Bihar al-Anwar|
Nahj al-Balagha|
The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays|
Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya|
Risalah al-Huquq|
Sahifah of al-Ridha|
Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah|
Da'a'im al-Islam|
Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha|
Haqq al-Yaqeen|
Ain Al-Hayat|
Al-Ghadir|

Ibadi

* Jami Sahih
* Tartib al-Musnad

* 1 \- Books also revered by Ahmadiyya

Related topics

* Ahl al-Hadith
* Criticism
* Sheikh al-Hadith

Islam portal • Category

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The Four Books (Arabic: ٱلْكُتُب ٱلْأَرْبَعَة, romanized: al-Kutub al-ʾArbaʿa) are the four canonical hadith collections of Shia Islam. The term is used mostly by Twelver Shias.

Name  | Collector  | No. of
hadith

|
|

Kitab al-Kafi [a] | Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni al-Razi (329 AH) | 16,199
Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih | Muhammad ibn Babawayh | 9,044
Tahdhib al-Ahkam | Shaykh Muhammad Tusi | 13,590
Al-Istibsar | Shaykh Muhammad Tusi | 5,511
Total ahādith | 44,344

Shi'a Muslims use different books of hadith from those used by Sunni Muslims,[b] who prize the six major hadith collections. In particular, Twelver Shi'a consider many Sunni transmitters of hadith to be unreliable because many of them took the side of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali instead of only Ali (and the rest of Muhammad's family) and the majority of them were narrated through certain personalities that waged war against Ahlul Bayt or sided with their enemies such as Aisha that fought Ali at Jamal, or Muawiya who did so at Siffin. Hussain (grandson of Muhammad and son of Ali ibn Abi Talib) was martyred at the Battle of Karbala.[2] Shia trust traditions transmitted through the Imams, Muhammad's descendants through Fatima Zahra.[3]

The content of most of the Hadiths in “Four Books” is nearly the same as that in “Six Books”, the Sunni Hadith collections. Only differing in the chain of transmission in many cases.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Shi'a books
* Kutub al-Sittah

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Divided into Usul al-Kafi, Furu al-Kafi and Rawdat al-Kafi.
2. ^ However, for example Zaidi Shi'a also accept and hold Sunni Hadith collections in high esteem.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Karimov, N.R., 2019. SOME BRIEF INFORMATION ON AL-SIHAH AL-SITTA. Theoretical & Applied Science, (5), pp.611-620.
2. ^ Momen, Moojan, Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Yale University Press, 1985, p.28-31
3. ^ a b Seyyed Hossein Nasr, A young Muslim's guide to the modern world, KAZI Publications, Inc Chicago, IL, 2003, p. 19

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Shia hadith literature

Kutub Al-Arb'ah|

* Kitab al-Kafi
* Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih
* Tahdhib al-Ahkam
* Al-Istibsar

Other primary hadith collections|

* Nahj al-Balagha
* Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
* Risalah al-Huquq
* Sahifah of al-Ridha
* Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah
* Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha
* Da'a'im al-Islam
* The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays
* al-Ghayba (al-Nu'mani)
* al-Ghayba (al-Tusi)
* Tuhaf al-Uqul
* Khasais of Al Aemmah
* Kamil al-Ziyarat
* Al Saqib Fi al-Manâqib
* Basa'ir ad-Darajat
* Al-Amali (of Shaykh Saduq)
* Al-Amali (of Shaykh Mufid)
* Al-Khisal
* Tafsir Al-Qummi
* Tafsir Ayyashi
* Tafsir Furat Kufi

Secondary books of Hadith|

* Al-Wafi
* Bihar al-Anwar
* Wasā'il al-Shīʿa
* Nahj-al feṣāḥa
* Al-Ihtijaj
* Ghurar al-Hikam
* Haqq al-Yaqeen
* Ain Al-Hayat
* Al-Ghadir
* Mafatih al-Janan
* Muntahi al-Amal

Biographical evaluation|

* Ikhtiyar ma'rifat al-rijal
* Qamus al-Rijal

Authority control databases |

* İslâm Ansiklopedisi

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