Chapter 1 SHAIKH MOHAMMED BIN YAQOOB BIN ISHAQ KULAINI - Al KAFI - 250-329 AH Birth: His exact year of birth has not been recorded. However, it is mentioned that his birth had already taken place by start of the imamate of the 11th Imam, which lasted from 254 A.H to 2560 A.H. Thus if he was 9-10 years old at this time, (an age when children begin to understand matters), then he must have been born around 250 A.H. He was born in the village of Kulain, about 38 kms from the Iranian city of Raiy, which was an important city at that time. His father was also a scholar. Thus Mohammed bin Yaqoob al Kulayni was born around 250Ah, which was the period of imamate of the 10th Imam, and then when he was a little older, it was the period of the imamate of the 11th Imam. Kunniyat: His kunniyat (agnomen) was Abu Ja’far. An interesting coincidence is that the name of all the three compilers of the 4 basic books of ahadeeth( al-kafi, Man la Yahdharuhul Faqih, Te- hdheeb ul ehkam and Istibsaar fi mukhtatafil akhbar) is Mohammed, and the kunniyat of all of them was Abu Ja’far. Together they are called ‘mohammaduna thalatha’ or the three Mohammeds. Another interesting fact is that even in later times, around 11th-12th century, three more im- portant books of ahadeeth have been compiled, and the names of the compilers of all these three books are also Mohammed, and are called Mohammedun Thalatha al Awaqib. These are (1) Mohammed Baqar bin Mohammed Taqi, famous by the name of Allama Majlisi. His book is Bi- harul Anwar, in 14 volumes. It is a treasure house of the teachings of the AhleBayt. (2) Mohammed bin Murtadha Muhsin Faidh Kashani. And the book is Al Wafi, in 26 volumes (3) Mohammed Hurr e Ameli, the book is Wasael us Shia and covers Shia Jurisprudence. It was originally in 6 volumes, but was later divided into 20 volumes. These scholars are called Mohammedun thalatha al Akhir(the last three Mohammeds). 2 Title: His laqab(title) was ‘Thiqatul Islam’, the one trusted by Islam and Muslims. He was respected and trusted by all muslims and all have given him this title Family and early life: His family was very learned and his father was a very well-known alim(scholar) and the sheikh and leader of the other Ulema of the village Teachers: History has recorded the names of 36 of his teachers, prom- inent amongst these was Abu Ja’far Barqi Ali bin Samri, and Ali bin Mo- hammed Samri who later became the 4th special naeb(representative) of the12th Imam. Another of his teachers was Ali bin Ibraheem Qummi, the famous author of tafseer e Qummi. Ali bin Ibraheem Qummi was a com- panion of the 11th Imam, hence this tafseer has been written by a com- panion of the 11th imam. This implies that it was written by the author after hearing it from the Imam himself. Hence this tafseer is highly re- garded in the circles of learning. Students: History has recorded the names of 15 of his outstanding stu- dents. The kafi has reached us through three of these. These are: Ahmad bin Ahmad Katib Toofi,Mohammed bin Ibraheem and Abdullah Safwani.The latter is a descendent of the companion of the 7th Imam, safwani, to whom the Imam had said,”Safwan, we like everything about you, except that you hire out your camels to a cruel, tyrant king. It is re- lated that once when the kazi of Mosul was visiting the king, he entered into a debate wit Abdulla safwan regarding Imamte. When the debate reached a deadlock, Safwani invited the kazi to an imprecation( mubahil- ah). Thus they invoked the curse of Allah on the liar. The kazi died the very next day. Death: Kulaini died in Baghdad in 329 A.H. The year he died is called ‘tanasirul nujoom’ or the year of the breaking of the stars, because dur- ing this year it was observed that a lot of stars appeared to break and fall. Also, it was a year that saw the death of prominent Ulema – Kulayni, fol- lowed by the death of the father of Sheikh Sadooq, Ali bin Babwayh Qummi. The 12th Imam’s special naeb(representative), Ali bin mo- hammed, too, died in this year. This year also marked the beginning of 3 ghaibat e kubra( major occultation) of the Imam. Hence this year is called the year of the breaking of the stars, as it appeared as if the stars of the sky were breaking and falling towards the earth, and stars of the sky of knowledge, too, broke and fell. His age, when he died is calculated to be about 80 years. According to the Christian calendar it was the year 941 AD. His salatul mayyit (prayer over the dead body) was recited by Mohammed bin Ja’far Husseini abu Qaraat. He is buried in Baghdad ,in Bab e Koofa. This is the same district where he used to live. It is located in eastern Baghdad . He grave exists there even today. Baghdad has always been a centre of the opponents of the Shia faith. After a long time had passed after Kulaini’s death, a king happened to pass by his grave. He saw a lot of people coming to the grave. On enquir- ing he found out that it was the grave of a Shia alim. He was enraged and ordered the destruction of the grave. On his orders when the grave was opened, his body was found to be very fresh, with not the slightest hint of decay. A child was also found buried in the same grave. Even the body of the child had not decayed. The king was impressed and ordered the closure of the grave. However Sayyed Ne’matullah Jazaeri had related another event. Ac- cording to him, a great opponent of Shias established his rule in Baghdad He wanted to stop the people from visiting the graves of the Masoomeen(a), and decided to destroy them. He decided to begin with the grave of The 7th Imam, it being closest to Baghdad. Preparations got underway, when someone informed him that the Shias believe that the bodies of their Imams do not decay in the graves. The king replied,” let the grave be opened. If what they say turns out to be true, I will close the grave with great honor. If I find the body decayed, I will consider my ac- tions justified”. But someone else told him,” you do not need to go far to check their claim, because they claim the same thing for their Ulema as well. One of their Ulema is buried in Baghdad itself. Open that grave. If the body is still fresh, it can be concluded that their faith is the correct one. Thus Kulaini’s grave was opened, the body was found to be so fresh that he appeared to be asleep. Even the color of henna on his nails had not faded. The king was impressed. He ordered the grave to be closed and a dome erected over it . Some details about his life: His initial schooling took place in the city of Raiy. Later, he came to be known as Shaykh ul fuqaha (the leader of the jurisprudents) in Raiy. Then he migrated to Baghdad and started 4 teaching there. Even in Baghdad he was called Shaykhul Fuqaha. When Kulaini came to Baghdad, the 3rd nominated representative of Imam was residing there, but he( the representative) was doing dissimulation (taqayyah), so much so that the ordinary Muslims considered him to be their alim, and his orders and writings were much respected, even in the court of the king. Kulaini is known as the Mujaddid( the reviver of Islam) of the 3rd century. His Books: Ruqatul Aimma(a collection of letter penned by the Aimma, Kitab al-rijal( a book about the transmitters of ahadeeth), Kitab ta’beer ar-ru’ya( a book on the interpretation of dreams. It is said that a better book on this topic has not been written till today). Kitab al madh’ al Aimma( a collection of poetry in praise of the Aimma),Kitab ra’d al Qaramata(a book denouncing a sect who had invaded the Kaaba, robbed the Hajar e Aswad, and kept it in their land for 17 years). However, his greatest contribution is the al-kafi. Al-Kafi: This book is Kulaini greatest contribution. It is a collection of 16,199 ahadeeth, comprising weak and strong ahadeeth, but no forged ones. One of the principal features of the work is that the traditions are presented systematically in chapters according to their subject matter The Kafi is divided into 3 parts: 2 volumes of Usool e Kafi, comprising ahadeeth on beliefs, 5 volumes of Furoo’ e kafi containing ahadeeth on jurisprudence, and 1 volume of Rawdhatul Kafi. Rawdha means garden. It is a type of shia encyclopaedia, containing ahadeeth not covered in the other volumes. Thus it contains assorted ahadeeth about, eg, the life and times of our Aimma and their opponents. About the background and importance of Kafi: Conditions during the times of our aimma were very hostile for the shias. Still the compan- ions and students went to the Aimma to gain some knowledge, but be- fore they left home they used to inform their families about their final will, because they could never be sure of returning home.