Submission of Intellect and its Excellence

Sign of Perfection of Intellect

Merit of Knowledge and the Scholar and the Obligation of Knowledge

Reward of the Scholar and the Seeker of Knowledge

Attributes of the Scholar

Asking the Scholar and Discussing with Him

Prohibition on Speaking without Knowledge and Ruling based on Opinion

Accountability of the Scholar and its Severity

Miscellaneous from the Book of Intellect and Knowledge‎

Transmitting the Narration Non-Verbatim

Prohibition of Blind Following

Regarding Innovation and Analogical Reasoning

Ruling of Everything is in the Book and the Sunna

Prohibition on Debate and Argumentation

Some of the Reasons for Differences in the Narrations

Fitting Response Appropriate to the Understanding of the Questioner and the Addressee

No Excuse for the Ignorant One who Falls Short

Narration that Contradicts the Qur’an

Prohibition of Giving Fatwa without Knowledge and Evidence

Everything has a Ruling in the Book and the Sunna

Permanence of the Halal and the Haram unto the Day of Judgment

What Can be Used to Infer some General Principles

Authoritativeness of the Book and the Sunna

Principle of Precaution

Authoritativeness of the Solitary Report of a Truthful Narrator

Principle of “Whomsoever it reaches …”

Necessity of Comparing the Hadith with the Qur’an

Judging Conflict between Narrations

Reasons for Differences between Narrations

Invalidation of Analogical Reasoning

Primary Doubts

Principle of Continuity

Legal Injunctions are Predicated on Pubescence

Principle of ’No Harm’

Ijtihad

Lapsing of both Injunctive and Declaratory Rulings in Cases of Necessity

Some Rulings which are Time-Bound

Precedence is Given to what has been Established by the Qur’an over the Sunna

One of the Reasons for Differences between Narrations

Principle of Impartiality

What has been Lifted from the Umma

Aban b. Taghlib

Ibrahim b. Abi Mahmud

Ibrahim b. Abda

Ahmad b. Hammad al-Marwazi and his son Muhammad

Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Abi Nasr al-Bazanti

Usama b. Zayd

Ishaq b. Ammar

Ismail b. Ja`far and Abdallah b. Sharik

Bazi`, al-Sarri, Bashshar and Bayan

Bukayr

al-Hakam, Salama, Kathir, Salim and Abu al-Miqdam

Abu Sasan, Ammar, Shatira and Abu Amra

Jabir b. Abdallah al-Ansari and Jabir b. Yazid al-Ju`fi

al-Ash`ath, Jarir and Simak

Ja`far b. Isa, Salih and Abu al-Asad

al-Harith b. al-Mughira

Hariz and Hudhayfa

Hasan al-Muthalath

Abu Ali b. Rashid and Ali b. al-Husayn b. Abd Rabbi

al-Hasan and al-Husayn the two sons of Zurara

al-Husayn b. Qayama

al-Husayn b. Mihran

al-Hakam b. Utayba

Hammad b. Isa

Humran b. A`yan

Hamza b. Bazi`

Hayyan al-Sarraj

Khuzayma b. Thabit

Khayran al-Khadim

Dawud b. Farqad and Harun b. Sa`d

Dharih b. Muhammad al-Muharibi

al-Rayyan b. al-Salt

Zurara b. A`yan

Zakariyya b. Sabur

Ziyad b. Marwan al-Qandi

Ziyad b. al-Mundhir Abu al-Jarud

Zayd b. Ali

Salim b. Mukram

Sukayn al-Nakhai

Simak b. Kharasha

Sahl b. Hunayf

Salih b. Muhammad b. Sahl

Sa`sa`a b. Suhan

Safwan b. Mihran al-Jammal

Safwan b. Yahya

Dhurays b. Abd al-Malik

A`sim b. Umar al-Bajali and Ka`b al-Ahbar

`Amir b. Wathila

`Abbad al-Basri

Abd al-Hamid b. Salim and Muhammad b. Ismail b. Bazi`

Abd al-Khaliq b. Abd Rabbi

Abdallah b. Abi Ya`fur

Abdallah b. al-Imam al-Sadiq

Abdallah b. Jundab

Abdallah b. al-Hasan b. al-Hasan al-Mujtaba

Abdallah b. Saba

Abdallah b. Shubruma

Abdallah b. Ajlan and Muyassir b. Abd al-Aziz

Abdallah b. Umayr al-Laythi

[-/1] الكافي: علي، عن أبيه، عن ابن أبي نجران، عن ابن حميد، عن ابن حازم، قال: قلت لأبي عبد الله عليه السلام: ما بالي أسألك عن المسألة فتجيبني فيها بالجواب ثم يجيئك غيري فتجيبه فيها بجواب آخر؟ فقال: إنا نجيب الناس على الزيادة والنقصان. قال: قلت: فأخبرني عن أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه واله صدقوا على محمد صلى الله عليه واله أم كذبوا ؟ قال: بل صدقوا قلت: فما بالهم اختلفوا فقال: أما تعلم أن الرجل كان يأتي رسول الله صلى الله عليه واله فيسأله عن المسألة فيجيبه فيها بالجواب، ثم يجيبه بعد ذلك بما ينسخ ذلك الجواب فنسخت الأحاديث بعضها بعضا

1. [1/-] Ali from his father from Ibn Abi Najran from Asim b. Humayd from Mansur b. Hazim who said: I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام: what is my condition – I ask you about a matter so you answer me in it with a certain answer, then someone other than me comes to you and you answer him with a different answer? He said: we answer the people with deletion [in-short] and [at other times] with addition [in-depth]. I said: so inform me about the companions of the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه واله – were they truthful about Muhammad or did they lie? He said: they were truthful, I said: so what was the matter with them that they differed? He said: don’t you know that a man used to come to the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه واله and ask him about a thing so he answers him in it with an answer, then he answers after that with that which abrogates the former answer, so the narrations abrogated one another. 

[-/2] الكافي: أحمد بن إدريس، عن محمد بن عبدالجبار، عن الحسن بن علي، عن ثعلبة بن ميمون، عن زرارة بن أعين، عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: سألته عن مسألة فأجابني ثم جاءه رجل فسأله عنها فأجابه بخلاف ما أجابني، ثم جاء رجل آخر …

2. [2/-] Ahmad b. Idris from Muhammad b. Abd al-Jabbar from al-Hasan b. Ali from Tha’laba b. Maymun from Zurara b. A’yan from Abi Ja’far عليه السلام, he (Zurara) said: I asked him about a matter so he answered me, then a man came to him and asked him about it so he answered him with a different answer to mine, then another man came … 

[-/3] التهذيب: باسناده عن الحسين بن سعيد عن محمد بن أبي عمير عن معاوية بن عمار قال: قلت لابي عبدالله عليه السلام أقضي صلاة النهار بالليل في السفر؟ فقال: نعم، فقال له اسماعيل بن جابر أقضي صلاة النهار بالليل في السفر؟ فقال: لا، فقال: إنك قلت نعم: فقال: إن ذاك يطيق وأنت لا تطيق

3. [3/-] al-Tahdhib: Via his chain from al-Husayn b. Sai’d from Muhammad b. Abi Umayr from Muawiya b. Ammar who said: I said to Abi Abdillah عليه السلام – do I repay the Salat of the day in the night whilst travelling? he said: yes, then Ismail b. Jabir said to him: do I repay the Salat of the day in the night whilst travelling? he said: no, so he said: you just said yes, he said: that one has the strength for it while you are not capable. 

[-/4] التهذيب: سعد بن عبدالله عن أحمد بن محمد عن الحسين بن سعيد عن حماد بن عيسى عن عمر بن اذينة عن زرارة قال: كنت قاعدا عند ابي جعفر عليه السلام وليس عنده غير ابنه جعفر فقال: يا زرارة ان ابا ذر رضي الله عنه وعثمان تنازعا على عهد رسول الله صلى الله وآله فقال عثمان: كل مال من ذهب أو فضة يدار به ويعمل به ويتجر به ففيه الزكاة إذا حال عليه الحول، فقال ابوذر رضي الله عنه: أما ما إتجر به أو دير وعمل به فليس فيه زكاة، إنما الزكاة فيه إذا كان ركازا أو كنزا موضوعا فاذا حال عليه الحول ففيه الزكاة، فاختصما في ذلك إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله قال فقال: القول ما قال ابوذر، فقال ابوعبدالله عليه السلام لابيه: ما تريد إلى أن تخرج مثل هذا فكيف الناس أن يعطوا فقراء هم ومساكينهم؟! فقال ابوه عليه السلام: إليك عني لا أجد منها بدا

4. [4/-] al-Tahdhib: Sa’d b. Abdallah from Ahmad b. Muhammad from al-Husayn b. Sa’id from Hammad b. Isa from Umar b. Udhayna from Zurara who said: I was seated at Abi Ja’far’s عليه السلام place and there was no one with him except his son Ja’far, so he (Abu Ja’far) said: O Zurara, Abu Dhar رضي الله عنه and Uthman argued in the life-time of the prophet, so Uthman said: every kind wealth whether it be gold or silver which circulates [is active i.e. having in-flow and out-flow], is worked with [as a capital], and is used for business – then there is Zakat on it if a year elapses, so Abu Dhar رضي الله عنه said: as for that which is used for business, is active, and is worked with – then there is no Zakat on it, rather Zakat is on that which is buried treasure (found fortuitously) and also on stored-up (saved) wealth, so if a year elapses on it then on it is Zakat, so they argued and referred it back to the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله, so he said: the true position is what was said by Abu Dhar, so Abu Abdillah عليه السلام said to his father: you do not want anything else but that such a one [narration] comes out [and is spread among the people] so that the people stop giving their poor and needy (anything of Zakat)?! So his father said: keep to yourself [don’t interfere], I do not find any option other than it (to narrate what happened and speak the truth). 

[-/5] الكافي: علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه، عن ابن أبي عمير، عن عبدالرحمن بن الحجاج، عن سليمان بن خالد قال: سمعت أبا عبدالله عليه السلام يقول: إن أصحاب أبي أتوه فسألوه عما يأخذ السلطان فرق لهم وإنه ليعلم أن الزكاة لا تحل إلا لاهلها فأمرهم أن يحتسبوا به فجال فكري والله لهم، فقلت له: يا أبة إنهم إن سمعوا إذا لم يزك أحد فقال: يابني حق أحب الله أن يظهره

5. [5/-] Al-Kafi: Ali b. Ibrahim from his father from Ibn Abi Umayr from Abd al-Rahman b. al-Hajjaj from Sulayman b. Khalid who said: I heard Aba Abdillah عليه السلام saying: the companions of my father came to him and asked him about that which is taken by the temporal ruler [as Kharaj – deeming it Zakat – is it sufficient], so he pitied them, while he knew that Zakat is not legitimate except for its people [only the true Imam can divide it to its rightful claimants], so he ordered them to count it [as Zakat], so my thoughts ran wild by Allah about them so I said: O father, if they have heard this then no one of them is ever going to give Zakat [in its right way]! so he said: O my son, it is a truth which Allah wanted to make apparent. 

Muʿjam al-Aḥādīth al-Muʿtabara

Book 2, Chapter 11