He was born around 250 A.H. in Kulayn near Ray, which is
present day Tehran. It was the time of our Eleventh
Infallible Imam Hasan al-Askari
(a.s.).He belonged to a learned family; his father was a scholar. His early
mentors were 36 and prominent among them was Abu Jafar Ali Ibn Samri who was
later to be nominated as the Fourth Deputy of the Twelfth Imam (a.t.f.). It was
the year 329 A.H. when the great scholars like Ali ibn Ibrahim Qummi, Muhammad
Yaqub Kuayni , Shaikh Sadooq and Ali ibn Bauya Qummi, died. Hence it was called
“Sirr al Nujum” or the year of the
breaking of the stars. The “Great Occultation” or Ghaibat-e-Kubra
also occurred in the same year.
He was respected and trusted by all Muslims; hence he was
given the title of “Thiqatul Islam”
means trusted one.
He had written few other books other than al-Kafi, which are
Ruqqatul Aimma, Kitab ar-Rijaal, Kitab al madh al-Aimma, Kita brad al-Qaramata.
Disciples of Yaqub
Kulayni: Although he had numerous students but history records the names of
15 students. Three of them were instrumental in bringing his master piece “Usul
al-Kafi” to the posterity. They were Ahmed ibn Ahmed Katib Toofi, Muhammad ibn
Ibrahim and Abu Abdullah Safwani, a descendant of Safwan. Safwan was a
companion of our Seventh Infallible Imam Musa al-Kazim (a.s.). He was in the
business of hiring out camels to Haroon during Hajj season. The Imam once said
to Safwan: “We like all your acts except renting out camels to the tyrannical
ruler.” There is an incident in the life of Abdullah Safwani. When the Qazi
(judge) of Musul came to the court of the ruler of the time and talked about
the issue of Imamate, Abdullah Safwani challenged him to “Mubahelah” that the
curse of Allah will visit the liar. They did the “Mubahelah” and the very next
day the Qazi died.
Conditions prevalent:
During the times of our infallible Imams, the conditions were very adverse, but
still the followers would go to them but inform their families about their
final will as their return was not guaranteed. During the time of Imam
Jaffar al-Sadiq (a.s.), his students managed to write books, 400 of which were
very important and were called “Usul”
but Mansoor Dawaniqi hired false mujtahid who issued fatwas to counter those
books. It is reported that once a man wanted to resolve a problem, he went to
Madinah and disguised himself as a vegetable vendor to meet the Imam. Anyone
found in possession of those “Usul” books, was arrested and the house and the
book were burnt down.
Similarly, Ishaq
ibn abi Umair was a companion of our
Infallible Sixth Imam Jaffer al-Sadiq (a.s.) who had compiled several books
in the company of the Imam. When the ruler of the time came to know about it,
he sent troops to arrest Ishaq. His sister quickly buried all the books in the
courtyard. The troops could not find any book in his possession but still he
was arrested and the caliph sent him to jail for 14 years! What a tragedy, the so called Muslims imprisoned the writers on the charges of writing books.
When Ibn Umair returned from prison after 14 years, the first thing he asked
was those invaluable books.
Al-Kafi: It is one of the “Four Shia Books of Traditions”. It is a collection of 16,199 Traditions. As per Najashi, it
took about 20 years to compile this huge collection. It is divided into three
parts; Usul-e-Kafi which contains Traditions on beliefs consisting of 2
volumes, Furu-e-Kafi which relates the Traditions pertaining to jurisprudence
consisting of 5 volumes, Rawadatul Kafi . Rawadha means garden. It contains all
other Traditions which are not related to the other parts. It relates to the
lives and times of the Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)
As mentioned earlier, the books “Usul” were not written in any particular order but the students
would write down whatever the Infallible Imam said in reply to any question or
problem. Hence, Yaqub Kulayni had to collect these books, edit them and arrange
them in some order. He spent 20 years of his life on this gigantic project.
Usul-e-Kafi is divided
into eight chapters or kitab and most of the chapters are divided into sections
or abwab
1. Kitab al-aql wal jahl: (The chapter of
reason and ignorance)
2. Kitab al-fazl al-ilm: (The chapter of
excellence of knowledge)
3. Kitab al-Tawhid: (The chapter of Unity of
God)
4. Kitab al-Hujja: (The chapter of the Proof)
It deals with the need for a man and the world to have a proof which is Imam.
5. Kitab al-Iman wal Kufr: (The chapter of
Faith and Unblief)
6. Kitab al-du’a’: (The chapter of prayer)
7. Kitab alfazl al-Qur’an (The chapter of
excellence of Qur’an)
8. Kitab al-Ishra : (The chapter of the
companionship). It deals with man’s relationship with his fellow humans.
Furu of al-Kafi,
deals with the details of Islamic laws and is divided into 26 chapters or Kutub
(plural of Kitab).
It deals with the first six “Furu-e-Deen” followed by
manner of earning a living, marriage, aqiqa, divorce, slavery, hunting and
zabiha, food and drinks etc.
Desecration of Yaqub
Kulayni’s grave: Many years after the demise of Yaqub Kulayni, the Muslim
ruler of Baghdad, who was sworn enemy of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), passed near the
grave of this great scholar. When he noticed many people offer fateha on his
grave, he inquired about the identity of the person and when he was told that
it was the grave of Yaqub Kulayni, he ordered his grave to be dug up. When the
grave was dug up, people found his body as fresh as it was buried the same day.
They say that there was the body of a small child also buried with him which
was also untouched by the elements. The perpetrators of this heinous crime felt
that such miracles are attributable to the prophets and Imams. Nemat ullah
Jazaeri, a scholar also reports this incident slightly differently. He mentions
that a Muslim ruler of Baghdad who was extremely biased with the Ahlul Bayt
(a.s.) and was jealous about people visiting the grave of the Infallible
Seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim (a.s.) and wanted to dug up his grave! The Inferiority Complex of the kings of
Banu Umayyia and Banu Abbas who possessed power and wealth but witnessed that
people still loved and respected the Progeny of the Noble Prophet of Islam
(s.a.w.s.) hence they always tried to imprison them and ultimately martyred
them! Someone told him that Shia Muslims believe that even their scholars
bodies did not deteriorate by time. Hence, he ordered the grave of Yaqub
Kulayni be dug up and his body was found fresh.
Sources used:
Great Shi’i works: Al-Kafi By
Dr. I. K. A. Howard
Allama Yaqub Kulayni Islamic-laws.com
Shia Great Scholars Scribd.com
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