In the Islamic tradition, Satan was known to a be a pious and obedient believer of God. During this phase we find in the Qur’an that he is referred to as إبليس (Iblis). His disobedience is what made him into شيطان (the devil)[1], who is known to spread evil and misguide the believers. His disobedience … Read more

The Path of Kulaynī to Zurārah From the reliable Uṣūl works is the book of Zurārah[1]. He himself is very trustworthy[2] and is from the companions of Imam Bāqir and Ṣādiq (a). Sometimes Shaykh Kulaynī mentions Zurārah without a path in al-Kāfī, such as in Kitāb al-Zakāt, pg. 520 and 526.   Other times he … Read more

The following is a translation of excerpts from the book Al-A’lām al-Hidāyah al-Rafīyyah fī I’tibār al-Kutub al-Arba’a al-Manī’ah written by Shaykh ‘Alī Namāzī Shāhrūdī. The intent of the author in this book is to prove the reliability of the four canonical books (al-Kāfī, al-Tahdhīb, al-Istibṣār and Man lā Yahḍuruhū al-Faqīh) through the process of analyzing … Read more

By Mohsin Jaffery The original research was conducted by Muhammad Qurbani and published in a 24-page paper titled Asnād Pur-Tikrār Nishānī az Manābi’ Maktūb al-Kāfī. The paper attempts to collect chains of narrations that are most often repeated in al-Kāfī and tries to trace down the works that Shaykh al-Kulaynī (d. 329 AH) was making use … Read more