A book for the ordinary Muslim: The title means "For the One Who Has No Jurist Present". Shaykh al-Saduq named it after a famous medical book of the time, "For One Who Has No Doctor". Just as that book let ordinary people treat their own ailments, this book lets ordinary Muslims find legal rulings without a scholar beside them.
The strictest filter of the four: Al-Saduq — Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Babawayh al-Qummi (d. 381 AH / 991 CE), born around 305 AH in Qum — only included narrations he personally acted upon and considered reliable. The result is 5,998 narrations in 4 volumes — smaller than Al-Kafi, but more strictly filtered. The book is purely legal, organised by Fiqh chapter: Tahara, then Salah, Zakat, Khums, Hajj, Marriage, Divorce, Inheritance, Commerce, and Ethics.
Often without the full chain: Al-Saduq often writes simply, "The Imam said…", without the full chain. These are Mursal narrations. He did this deliberately — because he had already checked the chain himself. Most Shia scholars accept his Mursal narrations because of his stated filter: he only included what he acted upon.
A scholar born through prayer: His father wrote to the Hidden Imam's (ajtf) last deputy, asking for prayer for a son. The Imam (ajtf) replied that a son would come who would transmit Hadith abundantly. Al-Saduq was that son. He wrote more than 300 books, and Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih is his most famous.
Example
Think of a first-aid book kept at home: when no doctor is around, it tells you what to do for a cut or a fever. Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih is the legal first-aid book: when no scholar is around, an educated Muslim can open it and find the ruling he needs.
Key Terms
- Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih (من لا یحضرہ الفقیہ) — "For the One Who Has No Jurist Present", by al-Saduq
- Al-Saduq (الصدوق) — "The Truthful One"; the title of Shaykh al-Saduq
- Mursal (مرسل) — a narration given without the full chain
- Fiqh (فقہ) — Islamic law: the rulings of worship, trade, marriage, and more
Quran or Hadith
None used in this topic.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A friendly picture — an ordinary Muslim at home opening a book, with a thought bubble: "What is the ruling on this?" and the book answering in plain words. Caption: "A book for the one who has no jurist present."
- Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih is the book for the ordinary Muslim who has no scholar beside him.
- Al-Saduq used the strictest filter: he only included narrations he personally acted upon.
- It holds 5,998 narrations, all legal, organised by Fiqh chapter.