The Four Books

Not to be confused with the Four Books of Chinese Confucianism.

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Hadith
Sunni1 Kutub Al-Sittah ("The Six Books") Sahih Bukhari صحيح البخاري Sahih Muslim صحيح مسلم Al-Sunan Al-Sughra السنن الصغرى Sunan Abu Dawood سنن أبي داود Sunan al-Tirmidhi جامع الترمذي Sunan ibn Maja سُنن ابن ماجه Others Period (CE) Muwatta Imam Malik 8th–9th cent. Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 780–855 Sunan Al-Darimi 868 Shama'il Muhammadiyah (Shamaail Tirmidhi) 9th century Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah 923 Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān 965 Al-Mustadrak a. Al-Ṣaḥīḥaīn 11th century Al-Mawdū'āt Al-Kubrā 1128–1217 Rīaḍ As-Ṣāliḥīn 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 16th century Zujajat al-Masabih 19th century Muntakhab Ahadith 20th century
Shi'ah Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah ("The Four Books") Kitab Al-Kafi الكتاب الكافي Man La Yahduruhu Al-Faqih من لا يحضره الفقيه Tahdhib Al-Ahkam تهذیب الاحکام Al-Istibsar الاستبصار Others Period (CE) Nahj Al-Balagha 10th century Bihar Al-Anwar 17th century Book of Sulaym Ibn Qays 7th century Al-Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya 678–713 Uyun al Akhbar ar Reda 10th century Sharh Usul al-Kafi 11th century Wasā'il Al-Shīʿah 17th century Haqq al-Yaqeen 17th century Ain Al-Hayat 17th century Qalam-e-Mowla   Daim al-Islam 10th century Al-Ghadir 19th century
Ibadi Jami Sahih Tartib al-Musnad
Mu'tazila On the Peak of Eloquence  (13th century)
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1 - Books also revered by Ahmadis Category Islam portal Wikipedia book

The Four Books (Arabic: الكتب الاربعة‎ Al-Kutub Al-Arbʿah) is a Twelver Shiʿa term referring to their four best-known hadith collections:

Name	Collector	Size (no. of hadith)
Kitab al-Kafi a	Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni al-Razi (329 AH)	16,199
Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih	Muhammad ibn Babawayh	9,044
Tahdhib al-Ahkam	Shaykh Muhammad Tusi	13,590
Al-Istibsar	Shaykh Muhammad Tusi	5,511
a Divided into Usul al-Kafi, Furu al-Kafi and Rawdat al-Kafi.

Shi'a Muslims use different books of hadith from those in Ahl al-Sunnah's Six major Hadith collections. The Shi'a consider many Sunni transmitters of hadith to be unreliable because many of them accepted the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman in preference to Ali and the majority of them were narrated through certain personalities that waged war against Ali or sided with his enemies such as Muawiya. Shia trust traditions transmitted through the Imams, Muhammad's descendants through Fatima Zahra.

The Four Books have been praised by many notable Shi'a scholars. This is what some have said:

• Shaikh al-Hur al-Aamili said, "The authors of the 4 Books of shia have testified that the Hadiths of their books are accurate (saheeh) , firm and well conducted from the roots that all shia agreed on , and if you consider those scholars (the authors of the four books) are reliable then you must accept their sayings and their narrations . " [Al-wasa’el, vol. 20, p. 104]

• Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi said: "Al-Kafi, Al-Istibsaar, Al-Tahzeeb and Mun La Yahduruhu Al-faqeeh are Mutawatirah and agreed on the accuracy of its contents (the Hadiths), and Al-Kafi is the oldest, greatest, best and the most accurate one of them.“ [The book of Al-Muraja'aat (A Shi'i-Sunni dialogue), Muraj'ah No. 110]

• Al-Tabrosi (aka, Tabarsi) said:"Al-Kafi among the 4 shia books is like the sun among the stars, and who looked fairly would not need to notice the position of the men in the chain of hadiths in this Book, and if you looked fairly you would feel satisfied and sure that the hadiths are firm and accurate."[Mustadrak al-Wasail, vol. 3, p. 532]

See also

• List of Shi'a books