The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays

Part of a series on Hadith collections v • d • e

Most famous

Sunni six major collections (Al-Sihah al-Sittah): Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih Muslim al-Sunan al-Sughra Sunan Abi Dawood Sunan al-Tirmidhi Sunan Ibn Maja/Al-Muwatta Shi'a Twelver collections: Nahj al-Balagha "The Four Books" (Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah) Kitab al-Kafi of Kulainy Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih of Shaikh Saduq Tahdhib al-Ahkam by Shaikh Tusi al-Istibsar by Shaykh Tusi Ibadi collections: al-Jami' as-Sahih by al-Rabi' ibn Habib Tartib al-Musnad by al-Warijlani

Sunni collections

Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal — 780-855 Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah — 923 Sahih Ibn Hibbaan — 965 Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain — 1014 Mawdu'at al-Kubra— 1128-1217 Riyadh as-Saaliheen — 1233 - 1278 Mishkat al-Masabih - 1340 Talkhis al-Mustadrak — 1274-1348 Majma al-Zawa'id — 1335-1405 Bulugh al-Maram — 1372-1449 Kanz al-Ummal — 1500th Zujajat al-Masabih — 1960 Deen-e-Illahi — 2000 Minhaj us Sawi — 2003

Shi'a Twelver collections

The book of Sulaym ibn Qays — 600th Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya — 678-713 Wasael ush-Shia — 1600s Bihar al-Anwar — 1600s Haqq al-Yaqeen — 1600s Ain Al-Hayat — 1600s Sharh Usul al-Kafi — ?-1081

Shi'a Ismaili collections

Qalam-e-Mowla Daim al-Islam

Mu'tazili collections

Nahj with comments — ?-1258

The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays is a Hadith collection, collected by Sulaym ibn Qays who entrusted it to Aban ibn abi-Ayyash.

According to the Shi'a, the book "has received endorsement from five Infallible Imams." The author researched and verified events before he penned them so that their authenticity is incontrovertible. The book was entrusted to only one person, Aban ibni abi Ayyash who was held to a solemn oath not to talk of the book during Sulaym’s lifetime and that after his death he would give the book only to trustworthy Shi’a.^[1]

There is no doubt about the authenticity of the book itself among the Shi'a scholars. The author is also regarded as a trustworthy narrator. The book has been mentioned both in the four main collections of Shi'a hadith. Ibn Al-Nadim, the famous 10th century (C.E.) book publisher, said that the book was among the well known books of the Shi'a.^[2] No'mani has mentioned the book and the author in his book, Al-Ghaibah. In fact, the book is so well known among the Shi'a that most books of hadith and rijal (commentary on the life and trustworthiness of the hadith narrators) have regarded both the book and its author with high esteem.

Currently, several variant manuscripts of this book exist, and it has been suggested that content was added to it and altered in it over time.^[3] Furthermore, the oldest known copy, on which the majority of modern manuscripts are based, was written in 1676 C.E.^[4] This is problematic as it may also suggest that the true appearance date for the current form of the book, if indeed it existed prior to the rise of the Safavid empire, was from around the 10th century C.E. as it was only at this point in time that mention of it became commonly attributed to imams and scholars.

[edit] Content

The Prophet said: "There never has been a nation which made someone its leader while there was a more learned person in its midst, but that it underwent steady decline, unless that it corrected its mistake". ^[5]

[edit] References

1. ^ Shi'a review of a translation
2. ^ Al-Fihrist, p.275 in chapter titled, "Al-Fan Al-Khamis Min Al-Maqalaht Al-Saadesah".
3. ^ Ths Shi'i Imams, Wilayah and aspects of Imamology
4. ^ Ths Shi'i Imams, Wilayah and aspects of Imamology
5. ^ Iranian political constitution