From notebooks to a great book: Long before Al-Kafi, the students of Imam al-Baqir (as) (d. 733 CE) and Imam al-Sadiq (as) (d. 765 CE) wrote down what they heard in personal notebooks called the 400 Usul. About 4,000 students sat with Imam al-Sadiq (as), and about 400 of them kept written notebooks — the closest thing to a direct written record of the Imams' (as) words.
A scholar who spent twenty years: Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (d. 329 AH / 941 CE) gathered those notebooks. He travelled to every major Shia centre, collected manuscripts, and checked their chains. He spent 20 years on the work. The result was Al-Kafi — 16,199 narrations, the most of any single Shia Hadith book.
Three sections in one book: Usul al-Kafi (2 volumes, about 3,000 narrations) covers belief — Tawhid, the intellect ('Aql) against ignorance (Jahl), Imamate, and faith. Furu' al-Kafi (5 volumes, about 9,000 narrations) covers law — purity, prayer, fasting, Zakat, Khums, Hajj, marriage, and more. Rawdat al-Kafi (1 volume, about 700 narrations) holds letters, supplications, and sermons — including Imam Ali's (as) famous letter to Malik al-Ashtar.
"Sufficient for our Shia": A narration attributed to Imam al-Mahdi (ajtf) says, "Al-Kafi is sufficient for our Shia." Scholars discuss the chain of this report, but the standing of Al-Kafi in Shia scholarship is unquestioned — it is the first and most cited of the four books. — to be checked.
Example
A student wrote to al-Kulayni: "I want a book that is sufficient for the student of religion — one that the seeker finds satisfying, containing the sound narrations from the truthful Imams." Al-Kulayni took this request as his life's mission. That is why the book is called "Al-Kafi" — "the sufficient".
Key Terms
- Al-Kafi (الکافی) — the most comprehensive Shia Hadith collection, compiled by al-Kulayni
- 400 Usul (اصول اربع مائہ) — the 400 original notebooks of the Imams' (as) students
- Usul al-Kafi (اصول الکافی) — the section on belief and theology
- Furu' al-Kafi (فروع الکافی) — the section on law and rulings
Quran or Hadith
Imam al-Mahdi (ajtf) is reported to have said: "Al-Kafi is sufficient for our Shia." — to be checked. Scholars discuss the chain of this report, but every Shia scholar agrees on the value of the book itself.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A funnel picture — 400 small notebooks at the top labelled "The 400 Usul", flowing down into one big book labelled "Al-Kafi — 16,199 narrations", with three coloured bands for Usul, Furu', and Rawda.
- Al-Kafi was compiled by al-Kulayni over 20 years, from the 400 Usul notebooks.
- It holds 16,199 narrations in three sections: Usul (belief), Furu' (law), and Rawda (letters and supplications).
- Al-Kafi is the first and most cited of the four books.