Islamic Law Biography
Source:- Google.com.pkHis exact year of birth has not been recorded. However, it is mentioned that his birth had already taken place by start of the imamate of the 11th Imam, which lasted from 254 A.H to 2560 A.H. Thus if he was 9-10 years old at this time, (an age when children begin to understand matters), then he must have been born around 250 A.H. He was born in the village of Kulain, about 38 kms from the Iranian city of Raiy, which was an important city at that time. His father was also a scholar. Thus Mohammed bin Yaqoob al Kulayni was born around 250Ah, which was the period of imamate of the 10th Imam, and then when he was a little older, it was the period of the imamate of the 11th Imam.
Kunniyat: His kunniyat (agnomen) was Abu Ja’far.
An interesting coincidence is that the name of all the three compilers of the 4 basic books of ahadeeth( al-kafi, Man la Yahdharuhul Faqih, Tehdheeb ul ehkam and Istibsaar fi mukhtatafil akhbar) is Mohammed, and the kunniyat of all of them was Abu Ja’far. Together they are called ‘mohammaduna thalatha’ or the three Mohammeds. Another interesting fact is that even in later times, around 11th-12th century, three more important books of ahadeeth have been compiled, and the names of the compilers of all these three books are also Mohammed, and are called Mohammedun Thalatha al Awaqib. . These are (1) Mohammed Baqar bin Mohammed Taqi, famous by the name of Allama Majlisi. His book is Biharul Anwar, in 14 volumes. It is a treasure house of the teachings of the AhleBayt. (2) Mohammed bin Murtadha Muhsin Faidh Kashani. And the book is Al Wafi, in 26 volumes (3) Mohammed Hurr e Ameli, the book is Wasael us Shia and covers Shia Jurisprudence. It was originally in 6 volumes, but was later divided into 20 volumes. These scholars are called Mohammedun thalatha al Akhir(the last three Mohammeds).
Title: His laqab(title) was ‘Thiqatul Islam’, the one trusted by Islam and Muslims. He was respected and trusted by all muslims and all have given him this title
Family and early life: His family was very learned and his father was a very well-known alim(scholar) and the sheikh and leader of the other Ulema of the village
Teachers: History has recorded the names of 36 of his teachers, prominent amongst these was Abu Ja’far Barqi Ali bin Samri, and Ali bin Mohammed Samri who later became the 4th special naeb(representative) of the12th Imam. Another of his teachers was Ali bin Ibraheem Qummi, the famous author of tafseer e Qummi. Ali bin Ibraheem Qummi was a companion of the 11th Imam, hence this tafseer has been written by a companion of the 11th imam. This implies that it was written by the author after hearing it from the Imam himself. Hence this tafseer is highly regarded in the circles of learning.
Students: History has recorded the names of 15 of his outstanding students. The kafi has reached us through three of these. These are: Ahmad bin Ahmad Katib Toofi,Mohammed bin Ibraheem and Abdullah Safwani.The latter is a descendent of the companion of the 7th Imam, safwani, to whom the Imam had said,”Safwan, we like everything about you, except that you hire out your camels to a cruel, tyrant king. It is related that once when the kazi of Mosul was visiting the king, he entered into a debate wit Abdulla safwan regarding Imamte. When the debate reached a deadlock, Safwani invited the kazi to an imprecation( mubahilah). Thus they invoked the curse of Allah on the liar. The kazi died the very next day.
Death: Kulaini died in Baghdad in 329 A.H. The year he died is called ‘tanasirul nujoom’ or the year of the breaking of the stars, because during this year it was observed that a lot of stars appeared to break and fall. Also, it was a year that saw the death of prominent Ulema – Kulayni, followed by the death of the father of Sheikh Sadooq, Ali bin Babwayh Qummi. The 12th Imam’s special naeb(representative), Ali bin mohammed, too, died in this year. This year also marked the beginning of ghaibat e kubra( major occultation) of the Imam. Hence this year is called the year of the breaking of the stars, as it appeared as if the stars of the sky were breaking and falling towards the earth, and stars of the sky of knowledge, too, broke and fell.
His age, when he died is calculated to be about 80 years. According to the Christian calendar it was the year 941 AD. His salatul mayyit (prayer over the dead body) was recited by Mohammed bin Ja’far Husseini abu Qaraat. He is buried in Baghdad ,in Bab e Koofa. This is the same district where he used to live. It is located in eastern Baghdad . He grave exists there even today.
Baghdad has always been a centre of the opponents of the Shia faith. After a long time had passed after Kulaini’s death, a king happened to pass by his grave. He saw a lot of people coming to the grave. On enquiring he found out that it was the grave of a Shia alim. He was enraged and ordered the destruction of the grave. On his orders when the grave was opened, his body was found to be very fresh, with not the slightest hint of decay. A child was also found buried in the same grave. Even the body of the child had not decayed. The king was impressed and ordered the closure of the grave.
However Sayyed Ne’matullah Jazaeri had related another event. According to him, a great opponent of Shias established his rule in Baghdad He wanted to stop the people from visiting the graves of the Masoomeen(a), and decided to destroy them. He decided to begin with the grave of The 7th Imam, it being closest to Baghdad. Preparations got underway, when someone informed him that the Shias believe that the bodies of their Imams do not decay in the graves. The king replied,” let the grave be opened. If what they say turns out to be true, I will close the grave with great honor. If I find the body decayed, I will consider my actions justified”. But someone else told him,” you do not need to go far to check their claim, because they claim the same thing for their Ulema as well. One of their Ulema is buried in Baghdad itself. Open that grave. If the body is still fresh, it can be concluded that their faith is the correct one. Thus Kulaini’s grave was opened, the body was found to be so fresh that he appeared to be asleep. Even the color of henna on his nails had not faded. The king was impressed. He ordered the grave to be closed and a dome erected over it
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Some details about his life: His initial schooling took place in the city of Raiy. Later, he came to be known as Shaykh ul fuqaha (the leader of the jurisprudents) in Raiy. Then he migrated to Baghdad and started teaching there. Even in Baghdad he was called Shaykhul Fuqaha. When Kulaini came to Baghdad, the 3rd nominated representative of Imam was residing there, but he( the representative) was doing dissimulation (taqayyah), so much so that the ordinary Muslims considered him to be their alim, and his orders and writings were much respected, even in the court of the king. Kulaini is known as the Mujaddid( the reviver of Islam) of the 3rd century.
His Books: Ruqatul Aimma(a collection of letter penned by the Aimma, Kitab al-rijal( a book about the transmitters of ahadeeth), Kitab ta’beer ar-ru’ya( a book on the interpretation of dreams. It is said that a better book on this topic has not been written till today). Kitab al madh’ al Aimma( a collection of poetry in praise of the Aimma),Kitab ra’d al Qaramata(a book denouncing a sect who had invaded the Kaaba, robbed the Hajar e Aswad, and kept it in their land for 17 years). However, his greatest contribution is the al-kafi.
Al-Kafi: This book is Kulaini greatest contribution. It is a collection of 16,199 ahadeeth, comprising weak and strong ahadeeth, but no forged ones. One of the principal features of the work is that the traditions are presented systematically in chapters according to their subject matter
The Kafi is divided into 3 parts: 2 volumes of Usool e Kafi, comprising ahadeeth on beliefs, 5 volumes of Furoo’ e kafi containing ahadeeth on jurisprudence, and 1 volume of Rawdhatul Kafi. Rawdha means garden. It is a type of shia encyclopaedia, containing ahadeeth not covered in the other volumes. Thus it contains assorted ahadeeth about, eg, the life and times of our Aimma and their opponents.
About the background and importance of Kafi: Conditions during the times of our aimma were very hostile for the shias. Still the companions and students went to the Aimma to gain some knowledge, but before they left home they used to inform their families about their final will, because they could never be sure of returning home. Thus during the 6th Imams’ time, too, his students came to him to learn something, so much so that the Imams’ teachings began to spread everywhere. There was a time during the 6th Imams’ time when Banu Abbas and the Banu Umayyah were fighting for power. They each had already had an enemy to contend with, and could not give much attention to the happenings in Madina.Later when Banu Abbas came to powr, Masoor Dawanaqi decided to shift the capital from Damascus. Thus a new city, Baghdad, was built which again diverted is attention away from madina. His students managed to write books, 400 of which were very important. These are called Usool. But then the tyrant rulers got scared and tried to stem this knowledge from spreading. False mujtahids were brought in, and the “Ulema” attached to the court started issuing fatwa and relating ahadeeth .Going to the Imam to solve ones problems or to learn from him was taken to mean that one was working against the ruler.
Hence we have the case of a man in Kufa, who had divorced his wife but later regretted his actions. He did not know what to do, When someone told him to go to Medina to get his problem solved by the 6th Imam, he came to Medina. But in Medina he found out that anyone going to meet the 6th Imam was sure to be beheaded. Thus he disguised himself as a vegetable vendor, and started selling vegetables in the streets of Medina. When he reached the Imams’ house, he quietly went inside and got the solution to his problem. Thus anyone suspected of possessing any hadeeth or a book of hadeeth of the Imam was immediately arrested. On investigation if the suspicion was confirmed he was put to death, the house harboring the book was burnt, and the book itself was either burnt or thrown into a body of water. When this was the state of affairs during the time of the 6th Imam about whom it is believed that he was able to propagate true Islam in a more conducive environment, how much more stifling would the conditions have been during the times of our other Aimma!
Hence we find that during the 7th Imams’ time, the episode of Ali bin Yakteen. Ali bin Yakteen was a close companion of the Imam, and a minister in the court of Haroon al Rasheed, by the imams’ permission. Once Ali was gifted a very expensive dress by the King. When the dress remained unused for 1 year, Ali sent it to the Imam as part of khums. In those days the khums had to be paid only to the king. Giving khums to anyone else meant instant death. The Imam accepted all other articles, but returned this dress with the message: keep it, you will need it. Later it so happened that Ali fired one of his slaves. The slave went and told the king that Ali has close ties with the Imam of Madina, and has even sent him the dress you gave him, as part of khums. The king immediately summoned Ali and asked him to get the dress. Now Ali understood why the Imam had returned the dress. Ali sent a slave home to fetch the dress. On seeing the dress, Haroon was pleased and ordered the slave to be killed as punishment, and thus Ali bin Yakteen was saved.
Ishaaq bin abi Umair was a companion of the 6th Imam, and had compiled many books. When the ruler got wind of his activities, the police came to arrest him. While the police were arresting him, his sister dug a hole in the courtyard and buried the books there. She exhibited this presence of mind, because she knew very well that she may not see her brother again, but the books must be saved. Thus Abi Umair was arrested, but the sister was unable to meet him. The house was searched by the police, but not a single book was found. Still Abi Umair was not released for 14 years. When he was released, 14 long years had passed. As soon as he came home, the first question he asked was not about his wife or children. The first question he asked was about the books. The sister informed him about their whereabouts. She had been too afraid to retrieve the books, for fear of spies. After 14 years when Abi Umair retrieved them, some of the paper had decomposed, some of the ink had faded. However a major portion of the work was saved. These are the conditions in which the Imam was propagating Islam.
Bear in mind that till the time of the 11th Imam, the Shias were not overly concerned about preserving ahadeeth, because whenever they were faced with a problem an Imam was there to solve it. Even during the initial stages of the minor occultation, they had recourse to the Imam through his nominated representatives. But when Husain bin Rouh was appointed the representative, the Shias grew concerned as their Imam was in occultation and Hussain bin Rouh was in taqayyah on the orders of the Imam. It was at this time that Kulaini migrated to Baghdad , and since he was the Shaykh ul Fuqaha, it fell upon his shoulders to assume the responsibility of collecting and preserving the ahadeeth.
First he collected whatever he could of the 400 books of Usool. Then he sorted them topic-wise. Remember that the students of the Imam would spend the whole day with the Imam and would write down all the queries answered by the Imam, without arranging the material topic-wise. Thus every page was a jumble of topics ranging from Greek philosophy to Indian medicine to salat to beliefs of Islam etc. However, given the circumstances even noting down the queries and their answers was a major achievement. Next, Kulaini himself traveled all over the Islamic world to collect ahadeeth. As soon it would come to his notice that a person in a particular village knows a hadeeth, he would go to that village, even if it entailed journeying over great distances, to hear it from him personally and write it. He refused to appoint anyone else to go in his stead, so that he could be sure that the written hadeeth tallied word for word with what was related by that person. This process went on for 20 years. Thus the kafi came into existence. After Kulaini, this type of work was done by others too, but Kulaini was the first to undertake this task. Today no mujtahid can issue a fatwa without studying every hadeeth of the Kafi. He compiled the book and gave it to his students. During those times writing was not popular, because it was very difficult to get paper and ink. Thus the preferred method was oral transmission. Hence Kulaini would read out the ahadeeth to his students and they would memorize them. Then the students would recite the ahadeeth and he would hear them. When he was satisfied that a student had learnt all the ahadeeth, he would give the student permission to narrate them on his authority. This permission was called Ijaza e Riwayat, and was an important permission in those days. Thus his students were instrumental in spreading these ahaheeth, till such a time when printing became popular and books began to be printed.
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
Islamic Law Islam Facts For Kids Pictures About Religion Wikipedia And History And Beliefs Worksheet On Women Today And Information Images Wallpapers
