Al-Shaikh al-Saduq is the title given to Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. 'Ali ibn
Babawaih al Qummi. He was the leading traditionist of his time (4th Century
A.H.) and one of the most outstanding traditionists of Shi'ite Islam. He earned
the title of al-Shaikh al-Saduq on account of his great learning and his
reputation for truthfulness. It is a title which he also shares with his father.
Al-Shaikh 'Ali, the father of the author, was a leading figure among the
scholars of Qumm. By the father's time the family were established as strong
adherents of Shi'ite Islam. However, it is not known how early the family
entered into Islam.[1] Al-Shaikh al-Saduq is sometimes known as Ibn Babawaih.
This is the family name and indicates the Persian origin of the family. For
Babwaih is an Arabicized version of the Persian form Babuyah.[2]
The date of al-Shaikh al-Saduq's birth is not known exactly. However an
interesting story surrounds the circumstances of his birth. When his father was
in Iraq, he met Abul Qasim al-Husain b. Rawh, the third agent of the Hidden
Imam. During their meeting he asked the latter several questions. Later he wrote
to al-Husain b. Rawh asking him to take a letter to the Hidden Imam. In this
letter he asked for a son. Al-Husain sent back an answer telling him that they
(the Hidden Imam and al-Husain) had prayed to God to ask Him to grant the
request and he would be rewarded with two sons. Another version of the story
says three sons. The elder, or eldest, of these sons was Muhammad, that is al-Shaikh
al-Saduq, our author.
On the basis of this story, early Shi'ite scholars have placed his birth after
the year 305 A.H. probably 306 A.H. For al-Husain b. Rawh was the agent of the
Hidden Imam from 305 A.H. until his death in 326 A.H. Al-Shaikh al-Saduq was
born and grew up in Qumm. He was educated by his father and came into close
contact with all the leading scholars of Shi'ite Islam in Qumm and studied under
many of them.[3]
Qumm was one of centres of the study of Shi'ite traditions and it was this form
of religious learning which held great influence over al-Shaikh al-Saduq. He
travelled widely visiting many cities in search of traditions and as a result
the number of scholars whom he learned traditions from is considerable. The
number is put at 211.
The importance of traditions is emphasized by al-Shaikh al-Saduq and he quotes
traditions against speculative theology. His works reflect this interest in
traditions and nearly all of them take the form of compilations of traditions.
However he did write a creed of Shi'ite Islam al-I'tiqadat. His pupil, the
eminent theologian al-Shaikh al-Mufid, wrote a correction of this creed Tashih
al-i'tiqad where he criticises him on several points.[4]
The number of al-Shaikh al-Saduq's works is considerable.[5] Al-Tusi says that
they numbered over 300 but list only 43 of them that he has immediately in his
possession, while al-Najashi lists 193 of them. Curiously enough al-Najashi does
not mention the important work Man la y'ahduruh al-faqih! Many of the works of
al-Shaikh al-Saduq have been lost but a considerable number survive and have
been published. There are also other works not yet published but extant in
manuscript form. As has been mentioned during his life al-Shaikh al-Saduq
devoted most of his energy to the collection and compilation of traditions; he
was also a great teacher of tradition. During the last years of his life al
Shaikh' al Saduq lived in a Rayy. He had been invited there by the Buyid Rukn al
Dawla.[6] He seems to have been well-treated and honoured there by Rukn al-Dawla
and took part in many discussions with him. However it is reported that his
teaching was eventually restricted by the Buyid Wazir Ibn 'Abbad. The attack
appears to have been aimed at traditions for several Sunni traditionists also
suffered similar restrictions at the hands of Ibn 'Abbad.[7]
Al-Shaikh al-Saduq died in al-Rayy in 381 A.H. and he was buried there. He was
probably more than 70 years of age. He left behind him many collections of
traditions which are of great importance.
Man la yahduruh al-faqih
This work is included in the four major books of the traditions of Shi'ite Islam
Despite the fact that many of his other works are extremely important, this book
must be regarded as his most important work However some authorities maintain
that there were five major books of traditions and they include another of al
Shaikh al Saduq's works Madinat al-'ilm, in this number.[8] Al-Tusi mentions
that the latter work was bigger than Man la yahduruh al-faqih.[9] It appears
that this book is no longer existant. It seems to have been concerned with usul
al-din (the principles of religion) rather than the furu', which are the
practical regulations for carrying out the shari'a, the holy law of Islam.
As its title implies Man la yahduruh al faqih was concerned with furu'. It has
be neatly translated by E. G. Brown as "Every man his own lawyer"[10] In his
introduction to the book al-Shaikh al-Saduq explains the circumstances of its
composition and the reason for its title. When he was at Ilaq near Balkh, he met
Sharif al-Din Abu 'Abd Allah known as Ni'mah whose full name was Muhammad b. Al-Husain
b. Al-Husain b. Ishaq b. Musa b. Ja'far b. Muhammad b. Ali b. Al-Husain b. Ali
b. Abi Talib. He was delighted with his discourses with him andh his gentleness,
kindness, dignity and interest in religion. He brought a book compiled by
Muhammad b. Zakharia al-Razi entitled Man la yahduruh al-Talib or "Every man his
own doctor" to the attention of al-Shaikh al-Saduq. He, then, asked him to
compile a book on fiqh (jurisprudence), al-halal Wa-'1-haram (the permitted and
prohibited) al-shara-i' wa-'l-ahkam (revealed law and (ordinary) laws) which
would draw on all the works which the Shaikh had composed on the subject. This
book would be called Man la yahduruh al-faqih and would function as a work of
reference.[11]
In fact the work represents a definitive synopsis of all the traditions which
al-Shaikh al-Saduq had collected and included in individual books on specific
legal subjects. In the lists of books of al-Shaikh al-Saduq, individual works
are attributed to him on every subject of the furu'; examples are such works as
Kitab al-nikah "Book of Marriage" or Kitab al-hajj "Book of the Pilgrimage".
That this was the intention of both the author and the learned member of Ahl
al-bait is emphasised by the author when he says that Sharif al-Din had asked
him for this work despite the fact that he had copied or heard from him the
traditions of 145 books.[12]
Another element in the work that stresses that it was conceived as a reference
book to help ordinary Shi'ites in the practise of the legal requirements of
Islam is the general absence of the isnads for traditions. The isnads - or the
chain of authorities by which the tradition had been received from the Prophet
or one of the Imams - was, and is, an all-important feature of the science of
traditions. Therefore this book was not meant to be a work for scholars, who
would want to check the authorities. Scholars could check the isnads in the
numerous individual studies compiled by al-Shaikh al-Saduq. This book was a
summary of the study of legal traditions by one of the great scholars of
traditions. Al-Shaikh al-Saduq says that he complied with the request for him to
compile the book "... because I found it appropriate to do so. I compiled the
book without isnads (asanid) so that the chains (of authority) should not be too
many (-and make the book too long-) and so that the book's advantages might be
abundant. I did not have the usual intention of compilers (of books of
traditions) to put forward everything which they (could) narrate but my
intention was to put forward those things by which I gave legal opinions and
which I judged to be correct.[13]
Al-Shaikh al-Saduq also gives an account of some of the earlier works which he
referred to. These works were the books of Hariz b. 'Abd Allah al-Sijistani - he
died during the life time of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq; the book of 'Ubaid Allah b.
'Ali al-Halabi - who was also a contemporary of Imam Ja'far; the books of Ali b.
Mahziyar - who took traditions from Imam 'Ali al-Rida, Imam Muhammad al-Jawad
and Imam al-Hadi; the books of al-Husain b. Sa'id - who also heard traditions
from those three Imams; the Nawadir of Ahmad b. Muhammad b. 'Isa - who died in
297 A.H. and also heard traditions from those three Imams; the Kitab nawadir al-hikma
of Muhammad b. Yahya b. 'Imran al-Ash'ari; Kitab al-rahma of Sa'd b. 'Abd Allah
- who died in 299 A.H. or 301 A.H.; the Jami' of Muhammad b. al-Hasan - who was
one of the teachers of the Shaikh and died in 343 A.H.; the Nawadir of Muhammad
b. Abi 'Umayr - who died in 218 A.H.; the Kitab al-Mahasin of Ahmad b. Abi 'Abd
Allah al-Barqi (i.e. Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi) who died in 274 A.H.
or 280 A.H. (this book has been published in Teheran); and the Risala which his
father had written to him. The Shaikh goes on to mention that he also consulted
many other works whose names occur in the book-lists.[14] This inclusion of the
list of some of the works consulted is useful evidence that the works of both
al-Shaikh al-Saduq and his predecessor, al-Kulaini, who compiled the first of
the four major books of Shi'ite traditions, al-Kafi, represent the culmination
of works of traditions which had been compiled in a continuous process from the
earliest times and at least from the time of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq.
In addition to these references which the author gives in his introduction he
frequently refers to his own works during the course of the book. Thus at the
end of his Bab nawadir al-hajj (Chapter of Exceptional Traditions of the
Pillgrimage), he says: "I have published these nawadir with isnads with others
in Kitab jami', nawadir al-hajj."[15]
Another feature of the work is the method used by the author. He does not leave
the traditions to speak for themselves but frequently draws rules from the
traditions or explains their meaning. In a summary of the various traditions on
the pilgrimage, he gives a long outline of all the rituals which should be
performed by the faithful with very few traditions intervening in his
outline.[16]
The book covers most of the points concerned with the furu' (practices) of fiqh
jurisprudence. It is not arranged in chapters (kutub) but in smaller sections (abwab),
with the various categories such as fasting and pilgrimage following closely
after each other. As indicated, its lack of isnads and al-Shaikh al-Saduq's own
explanations make it an extremely useful compendium of law for ordinary Shi'ite
Muslims of the period.
The book, naturally as one of the four major works of traditions, has had many
commentaries written on it. Among the great Shi'ite writers who have written
such commentaries are al-Sayyid Ahmad b. Zain al-'Abidin al-'Alawi al-'Amili
(died 1060 A.H.) and Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi al-Awwal (died 1070 A H ).[17] The
book itself has been recently published in four volumes in Teheran.
Notes:
1. Cf. "Introduction" by al-Sayyid Hasan al-Musawi al-Khurasan in his edition of
Man la yahduruh al-faqih (4 volumes Teheran, 1390), I, pages h-w
2. A. A. Fyzee, A Shi'ite Creed (Calcutta, 1942), p.8 footnote 2
3. Cf. al-Sayyid Hasan al-Musawi al-Khurasan, "Introduction", op cit, I, pages
z-t
4. W. Madelung, "Imamism and Mu'tazilite Theology", Le Shi'isme Imamite, (Paris
1970), 21
