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] رجال الكشي: حكى بعض الثقات بنيسابور أنه خرج لإسحاق بن اسماعيل من أبي محمد عليه السّلام توقيع: يا اسحاق بن اسماعيل سترنا اللّه و اياك بستره … فلا تخرجن من البلدة حتى تلقي العمري رضى اللّه عنه برضاي عنه، و تسلم عليه و تعرفه و يعرفك فانه الطاهر الامين العفيف القريب منا و إلينا، فكل ما يحمل إلينا من شي‏ء من النواحي فاليه يصير آخر أمره، ليوصل ذلك إلينا …

1. [1/-] Rijal al-Kashshi: One of the trustworthy narrators in Naysabur relayed that a Tawqi [signed rescript] came out addressed to Ishaq b. Ismail from Abi Muhammad عليه السلام saying: O Ishaq b. Ismail, may Allah protect both you and us with His protection … so do not leave town without meeting and conveying to al-Amri رضى اللّه عنه my satisfaction with him, greeting him, and getting mutually acquainted with him, for he is the pure, the dependable, the chaste, close from us and to us. Whatever is directed to us of anything from the different regions [of the dues] ultimately goes through him so that he can deliver it to us …

[2/199] غيبة الطوسي: جماعة، عن أبي محمد هارون بن موسى، عن أبي علي محمد بن همام الاسكافي، عن عبدالله بن جعفر الحميري، عن أحمد بن إسحاق بن سعد القمي قال: دخلت على أبي الحسن علي بن محمد صلوات الله عليه في يوم من الايام فقلت: يا سيدي أنا أغيب وأشهد ولا يتهيأ لي الوصول إليك إذا شهدت في كل وقت، فقول من نقبل؟ وأمر من نمتثل؟ فقال لي: هذا أبو عمرو الثقة الامين ما قاله لكم فعني يقوله، وما أداه إليكم فعني يؤديه. فلما مضى أبوالحسن عليه السلام وصلت إلى أبي إبنه محمد الحسن العسكري عليه السلام ذات يوم فقلت له مثل قولي لابيه، فقال لي: هذا أبوعمرو الثقة الامين ثقة الماضى وثقتي في المحيا والممات، فما قاله لكم فعني يقوله، وما أدى إليكم فعني يؤديه

2. [2/199] Ghayba of al-Tusi: A large number from Abi Muhammad Harun b. Musa [al-Tali`ukbari] from Abi Ali Muhammad b. Hammam al-Iskafi from Abdallah b. Ja`far al-Himyari from Ahmad b. Ishaq b. Sa`d al-Qummi who said: I entered in to see Abi al-Hasan Ali b. Muhammad صلوات الله عليه one day and said: O my master, I am sometimes absent and at other times present, even when present I am not able to meet you at all times, so whose words do we accept? and whose orders do we follow? He said to me: that one is Abu Amr – the trustworthy and dependable, so whatever he says to you then he is saying it on my behalf, and whatever he entrusts you then he is entrusting it on my behalf. When Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام passed on I went to his son Abi Muhammad al-Hasan al-Askari عليه السلام one day and said to him the same as I had said to his father, so he said to me: that one is Abu Amr – the trustworthy and dependable, trustee to the one who has gone by [the previous Imam] and trustee to me both in life and after death, so whatever he says to you then he is saying it on my behalf, and whatever he entrusts you then he is entrusting it on my behalf.

[3/200] الكافي: محمد بن عبدالله ومحمد بن يحيى جميعا، عن عبدالله بن جعفر الحميري قال: اجتمعت أنا والشيخ أبوعمرو رحمه الله عند أحمد بن إسحاق فغمزني أحمد بن إسحاق أن أسأله عن الخلف فقلت له: يا أبا عمرو إني اريد أن أسألك عن شئ … وقد أخبرني أبوعلي أحمد بن إسحاق عن أبي الحسن عليه السلام قال: سألته وقلت: من اعامل أو عمن آخذ وقول من أقبل؟ فقال له: العمري ثقتي فما ادى إليك عني فعني يؤدي وما قال لك عني فعني يقول، فاسمع له وأطع، فإنه الثقة المأمون، وأخبرني أبوعلي أنه سأل ابا محمد عليه السلام عن مثل ذلك، فقال له: العمري وابنه ثقتان، فما أديا إليك عني فعني يؤديان وما قالا لك فعني يقولان، فاسمع لهما وأطعمها فإنهما الثقتان المأمونان، فهذا قول إمامين قد مضيا فيك. قال: فخر أبوعمرو ساجدا وبكى، ثم قال: سل حاجتك، فقلت: أنت رأيت الخلف من بعد أبي محمد (عليه السلام)؟ فقال: إي والله ورقبته مثل ذا - وأومأ بيده - فقلت له: فبقيت واحدة، فقال لي: هات، قلت: فالاسم: قال محرم عليكم أن تسألوا عن ذلك ولا أقول هذا من عندي، فليس لي أن أحلل ولا أحرم ولكن عنه (عليه السلام)، فإن الأمر عند السلطان أن أبا محمد مضى ولم يخلف ولدا وقسم ميراثه وأخذه من لا حق له فيه، وهو ذا عياله يجولون. ليس أحد يجسر أن يتعرف إليهم أو ينيلهم شيئا وإذا وقع الاسم وقع الطلب، فاتقوا الله وأمسكوا عن ذلك. قال الكليني (رحمه الله): وحدثني شيخ من أصحابنا - ذهب عني اسمه - أن أبا عمرو سأل أحمد بن إسحاق عن مثل هذا فأجاب بمثل هذا.

3. [3/200] al-Kafi: Muhammad b. Abdallah and Muhammad b. Yahya from Abdallah b. Ja`far al-Himyari who said: We gathered – myself and the Shaykh Abu Amr (rh) at Ahmad b. Ishaq’s place. Ahmad b. Ishaq gestured at me me to ask him [Abu Amr] about the successor [the Mahdi], so I said to him: O Abu Amr, I want to ask you about something, and I am not in doubt about what I want to ask you about. My belief and religion are that the earth is never without a proof except forty days before the Day of Resurrection. When that happens, the proof is lifted, and the door of repentance is closed, 'The day when a soul will not benefit from its faith unless it had believed before or had earned some good through its faith.' (6:158) Those are the worst of God's creation, and they are the ones upon whom the Resurrection will occur. But I wanted to increase my certainty, and indeed, Abraham (as) asked his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, to show him how He revives the dead. He said, 'Have you not believed?' He said, 'Yes, but so that my heart may be at ease.' (2:260)" <br>And Abu Ali Ahmad b. Ishaq has informed me from Abi al-Hasan [al-Naqi] (as) saying: I asked him [the Imam] and said: whom do I emulate or from whom do I take? whose words do I accept? So he [al-Naqi] said to him: ‘al-Amri is my trustee, so what he gives you on my behalf then his giving is truly on my behalf, and what he says to you on my behalf then his saying is truly on my behalf, so listen to him and obey him, for he is both trustworthy and reliable’. Abu Ali [Ahmad b. Ishaq] also informed me that he had asked Aba Muhammad [al-Askari] (as) about the same matter so he said to him: ‘al-Amri and his son are two trustees, so what they give you on my behalf then their giving is truly on my behalf, and what they say to you on my behalf then their saying is truly on my behalf, so listen to them and obey them, for they are both trustworthy and reliable’. These are the words of the two Imams said previously about you [O Abu Amr]. <br>He said: so Abu Amr prostrated himself and cried, then said: Ask your need. I asked: Did you see the successor after Abu Muhammad (pas)? He replied: By God, yes, and his neck is like this - and he gestured with his hand. I asked him: One more question remains. He told me: Go ahead. I asked: What is his name? He said: It is forbidden for you to ask about that, and I do not say this from myself, for it is not up to me to permit or forbid, but this is from him (as). The authority's stance is that Abu Muhammad has passed without leaving a son, his inheritance was divided and taken by those who had no right to it, and here are his family wandering. No one dares to approach them or give them anything. If the name is mentioned, the search will begin, so fear God and refrain from that. <br>Al-Kulayni (rh) said: A sheikh from our companions - whose name has escaped me - told me that Abu Amr asked Ahmad bin Ishaq about this matter and received the same answer.

Muʿjam al-Aḥādīth al-Muʿtabara

Book 3, Chapter 61