Usul al-Kafi

Document Text

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise be to Allah Who is praised for His bounties, worshipped for His Might, obeyed in His reign, feared for His Majesty. He possesses all things that allure, His commands pervade all through His creation. He is elevated to the extent He liked. He is too near to find, too high for everyone to see, Whose beginning has no beginning and Whose eternity has no end, Who existed before the existence of all things and Who is an eternal supporter of all things. The Conqueror Whom the preservation of the things does not tire. The Almighty Who is in a class by Himself in His sublimity throughout His realm, the unique in His Might because of His power. Who, out of His Wisdom, manifested His signs (proofs) and mercy for His creation. Who out of His Might and Wisdom originated all things anew from the very beginning. Nothing existed (at that time) to falsify His being the originator (of all things), nor did any other cause (of creation) exist to nullify His being the (first) originator. All alone He created what He liked and as He liked to manifest His Wisdom and the truth of His being the Nourisher. Reason cannot grasp Him. Imagination cannot reach Him. Eyes cannot see Him. Measurement cannot encompass Him. Every explanation fails in His description. Eyes are blurred in seeing Him. Attributing different qualities to Him goes astray in His description.

He is veiled without any veil and is concealed without any covering. He is recognised without being seen and has been described as being formless. He is described as having no corporal form. There is no God save Him, the great the elevated. Imagination goes astray in trying to reach the reality about Him (Godhood). Thoughts get confounded in trying to reach His finality. No flight of fancy can touch Him. He is all knowing, all hearing. He (Allah) has offered proofs (of truth and reality) through His messengers (peace be upon them) and has explained things through reasons. He has sent His messengers with glad tidings and due warnings. So that, if, thereafter one comes to grief it will be on his own account and if he comes to success it will also be on his own account, so that people should understand what they do not know about their Lord and they should recognise God’s Lordship after their having denied it. And, so that people should believe in His unity after believing in His plurality. To Him (Allah) do we accord such a praise as is the solace of the souls, as secures God’s pleasure and as will acquit us of our gratitude for His perfect bounties, abundant favours and graceful tests.

I am a witness to there being no God save Him. Who has no partner, the one, the eternally Besought and Who has taken no wife nor a son. And I have been witness to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny), His select slave, and to his being sent as a messenger when the coming of such messengers had been suspended. The period when the nations were in deep slumber, when ignorance prevailed, distress and affliction were rampant, firm pledges were being violated, people were blinded against all truth, when oppression was in great vogue and honesty was being obliterated.

So (under the circumstances such as these) did Allah send His book to him (Muhammad, the prophet) containing description and explanation (of all good), a book readable (Qur’an) in Arabic language totally free from all slant, so that mankind may guard itself against every evil. This book (Qur’an) describes clearly before the people the distinct path (of truth) with reason and knowledge. It also elucidates the (divine) religion, describing the imperatives imposed on them by Allah, the things which God has revealed and announced for the people. This book contains guidance for salvation, and is a milestone leading towards the right path.

The Prophet delivered what he received (from God) and acknowledged whatever was ordained. He bore the weight of the responsibilities of prophethood on him. He exercised patience to please His Lord. He strove in the way of God and consulted his people and called them towards their salvation. He roused them to the remembrance of God and guided them towards the right path. Afterwards he built the highways and erected the light house for the guidance of mankind and raised minarets, the flags of which fluttered high for the people to watch. All this He did so that people should not go astray, since he (the Prophet) was very kind and merciful to them.

When his (Prophet’s) period of life ended and his days were done, God took out his soul and brought it to Himself. Now he is with God in a state where God is pleased with each of his actions. He is venerable and his share of divine rewards is the greatest. He departed (from the world) and has left behind him the book of Allah and his deputy (nominated executor, ‘Ali ibn Abi talib) the chief of the believers and the guide (Imam) for those who guard themselves against evil. May peace of Allah be upon him. Both of them (the Prophet and ‘Ali, his executor) were comrades and close associates. Each one of whom bore witness to the integrity of the other. (‘Ali) the Imam spoke for God about (the import) of His book (Qur’an) in respect of the imperatives, God has imposed upon the people for His obedience and the obedience of the Imam (the divinely appointed guide). He also spoke (towards God), about the rule and rights of the Imam, through whom God intended perfecting His religion, expressing His commands, offering His reasons and arguments and (finally) His effulgence (guidance).

He did all this through those who were the fountain spring of all divinely chosen, the unique, the righteous, belonging to the house (progeny) of our Prophet Muhammad, may peace of Allah be upon him and upon his progeny. God the Almighty explained His religion through them and lighted through them the path that leads to Him and through them He unearthed the deep springs of divine knowledge. God appointed them as the milestones on the highways of God consciousness, sign posts for His religion and ushers between Himself and His creation. He made them the doorways which lead to divine rights, secrets’ and the realisation of obligations of God consciousness. Further, God informed them His secrets and mysteries.

Whoever among the Imams died, he used to nominate after him his successor as a declared luminous, righteous guide (Imam). Who would guide people (towards the Truth) and would be constant in his guidance. These guides (Imams) called the people towards Allah as His demonstrators and are designated by God as the patrons for His creation. Because of their guidance the people adopt religion and Godliness and due to them the cities get illuminated (with Truth and guidance). God the Almighty designated them as the life and soul of the people, beacon lights in darkness, keys to the fort of knowledge and as the bedrock of His religion (Islam). God determined obedience and submission to the Imams as obedience and acme of submission to Himself and His religion, in respect of the commands known to them. Regarding God’s commands unknown to them, God wanted them to refer to Imam (to know the Truth), forbidding all other people to pass hasty verdicts. God also forbade them from rejecting them and not accepting the verdicts passed by the Imams in respect of those divine commands they do not know, God did all this at the time He intended redeeming the people, He liked, from the curse of darkness (of misguidance), from the rampant ambiguity (in faith). May peace of Allah be upon Muhammad and upon the folk of his house, the righteous, from whom Allah wish as to wipe out uncleanliness away from them (the folk of the house) and cleanse them with thorough cleansing.

To come to the point, I have fully comprehended your complaint about the people of our time how proverbially they are accustomed to ignorance and how they assist and help each other in rehabilitating its ways and means and in getting farther away from learnings and from the men of learning. Until the plant of learning not only gets dried up but is also completely uprooted from their life. It is because they have all helped in elevating the state of ignorance in wiping off learning and the men of learning.

And you have asked me whether it is proper for the people to take up a stand in ignorance and to adopt religion without knowing religion, believing all its theories and concepts in all excellence, and also following it in every way. But they are doing it all blindly in following their fore-fathers, ancestors and their chiefs, completely relying upon their thoughts and reasons in matters (of religion) small or big.

Know thou, my brother, may God be merciful to you, verily, God the Almighty has brought human beings into existence as distinct from the animals, in respect of intelligence and understanding of which they are compounded, and has imposed upon them the load of imperatives and preventives. Afterwards Allah of the highest praised, has divided them into two categories—the healthy, the sound and the second the unhealthy and disabled. God has singled out the former category for the enforcement of His imperatives and preventives after perfecting in them the (intelligence and understanding) the instrument of His (arduous) responsibility, and has relieved the disabled and the unhealthy of this heavy task of responsibility, as they have been created as beings quite unfit for the task of discipline and education. God has made the people of sound health the instrument of safety and preservation of the later category. And has made discipline and education as the instrument of safety and preservation of the former. Should ignorance have been made permissive for the former, the very responsibility (of imperatives and preventives) would have been taken away from them. Once this is made permissible, the entire structure of divine books, prophet and education falls to the ground. In this case, the divine books, the prophets and their education would have been nullified and the whole set up would have come to naught. In that case we would have had to turn to the beliefs and concepts of atheism. Hence, Providence in its justice and wisdom requires from men (of sagacity) that they should, in view of their nature and the very purpose of their creation, single themselves out to shoulder the burden of certain imperatives and prohibitions, lest their existence may not be regarded as in vain and purposeless. And so that they should glorify God, regard Him as one, and acknowledge His Lordship. And so that they should know God to be the creator and their All-giver, since the evidence of His Lordship is manifest, His arguments are self-evident and His symbols are unmistakable. They (people of health, peace and sagacity) should invite mankind towards Unity of Allah, the Almighty. They themselves bear witness, on the basis of their own existence that they have their creator, Who is their Lord, Who is worshipped. It is because there are wonderful signs of His Providence within themselves. Allah Himself accorded to them God consciousness since, for Him it was not proper for such people to remain without His awareness and in ignorance of (His) religion and His commandments. It is because Allah in His Wisdom deems ignorance about Him and the denial of His religion highly improper, as He Himself has said:

“Has not the compact of the Book been taken touching them, that they should say concerning God nothing but the truth?” (al-A’raf, 7:169).

Allah has (also) said:

“No; but they have cried lies to that whereof they comprehended not the knowledge” (Yunus, 10:39).

So mankind has been earmarked for (divine) imperatives and prohibitions and it has been ordained to speak the truth. Men have not been allowed to remain in ignorance (regarding the ultimate truth and the divine imperatives and prohibitions). Hence Allah has ordained mankind to be interrogative (in this connection) and to acquire understanding in the religion (of Allah) saying:

“But why should not a party of every section of them go forth, to become learned in religion, and to warn their people when they return to them” (at-Tawbah, 9:122).

Allah has further said: “Question the people of the remembrance, if it should be that you do not know” (ah-Nahl, 16:43).

If it had been proper for the people of health and peace to remain ignorant, then God would have never ordered them to be interrogative, and the need for sending the prophets with the books and the codes would never have arisen. In that case all mankind would have been maimed and disabled and would have remained on the animal plane. Had all this been so, then all mankind would have been set at naught within the twinkling of an eye. When there is no justification for its (mankind) existence without a code and education, then it is incumbent on each and every perfectly sound individual to have a teacher, a guide, a director, a preventer, a code, an education and interrogation to discharge his responsibilities. The privilege of a sage and a lucky rightful and a brilliant statesman is to endeavour in the acquisition of the knowledge of religion and God consciousness on account of which God is worshipped by His creation, which (in essence) is God’s unity, divine code, divine commandments, divine imperatives and preventives, His admonitions and His etiquette. If it is established that the divine proofs are there, that our responsibilities are evident, that our life span is very short, that evasion and procrastination are unacceptable, then the divine condition, on account of which God is worshipped by His creatures, is to discharge all divine obligations consciously, in true belief and with due insight, so that (the divine obligations) performer be deemed praiseworthy in the eye of God and be entitled to divine rewards in high compensation. Since the one who performs divine obligations without knowledge and insight, does not really know what he has performed and in whose obedience he has done so; and because the ignorant can neither have any confidence in what have they done in the performance of divine obligations, nor can he truly believe in his deeds, for the simple reason that the believer can never believe unless he is the knower of the things he believes in, without the least doubt; and because of this reason, neither can the sceptic be like those who in all submission long for and fear God, nor can they have that nearness to God which a sage with true belief has. Thus has God observed:

“Save such as have testified to the truth and that knowingly” (az-Zukhruf, 43:86).

Evidence is acceptable on the basis of the knowledge of what is witnessed. Evidence without the knowledge of what is witnessed is not at all acceptable. In the case of a person performing divine duties in a state of doubt and uncertainty without the knowledge of insight (into them) is left to Allah’s Will either to accept it in His grace, or to reject it totally since the indispensable condition laid by God on the person for whom they (divine duties) are made imperative, is to act upon them with knowledge, insight and conviction, so that such people may not be included among those whom God has described with the following words:

“And among men there is such a one as worships God upon the very edge—if good befalls him he is at rest in it, but if a trial befalls him he turns completely over; he loses this world and the world to come; that is indeed the manifest loss” (al-hajj 22:11).

For this reason, the entrance of such a type of man in religion without knowledge and belief in it and his exist also therefrom, is without knowledge and belief. The ‘Alim (the Imam) has observed:

“The faith of a man accepted knowingly remains steadfast, and is of profit for him. Whoever enters the house of faith without knowledge, makes his exit from that house in the same way in which he entered it.” The Imam (peace be upon him) has said, “Whoever derives his faith from the knowledge of the Book of Allah and the precepts of the Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his progeny) is more difficult to be dislodged from his faith than the mountains are, from their places. And the faith of a person derived from the words of the mouth of the people is repudiated by the people themselves.”

The Imam added, “He, who does not recognize our (Imams from the progeny of Prophet Muhammad—p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) case in the light of Qur’an, will not be able to turn the errors aside.”

For this reason false and detestable faiths fulfilling all the conditions of infidelity and polytheism hold their sway over the people of our time. All this, (the recognition and non-recognition of our position) depends upon the favour and disfavour of God. Whomsoever God grants His favour of keeping his faith steady, He also creates such conditions for him as will lead to derive his faith from the Book of Allah and the precepts of Prophet (Muhammad) with knowledge, belief and insight. It is such people that are firmer in their faith than the high mountains in their places. Should God intend alienating Himself from a person, then, the faith He lends him is rendered superficial and temporary—may God protect us all from this situation. God provides such a person with ways and means on account of which he begins perceiving only the superficial beauty of every thing. He takes to following every thing blindly, and he starts interpreting (the scriptures) without knowledge and insight. The case of such a person entirely rests on the Will of God the Almighty whether to rectify his faith or to forfeit it from him altogether. Such a person cannot remain in peace when he is a believer in the morning and infidel in the evening or vice versa. All this is because he falls in for everything that appears great to him and accepts everything with a glittering appearance. The ‘Alim (the Imam)—peace be upon him—has observed: “God, the Almighty has so created His prophets as to infuse prophethood into their blood and so they cannot remain except as prophets (peace be upon them all). He has also created their vicegerents in the same mode; so they cannot remain except as the vicegerents (of the prophets). He lent faith temporarily to another group of people, so that should He so like, He may perfect it into them or forfeit it from them altogether.” These words of Allah hold true in the case of such people: “And then a lodging-place, and then a repository” (al-An’am, 6:98).

You (the interrogator) have spoken of matters that are difficult for you. Your main difficulty is that you do not know the truth because of the conflicting versions of traditions coming from different narrators. And you know that conflicting versions of traditions have their own causes and effects. Further, your problem is that you do not find whether any expert knowledge (of the authenticity of narrators) can be relied upon and whom you can approach, talk to and have your problem solved. And for all this you earnestly want to have a book with you, inclusive of all branches of the science of religion, which could wholly satisfy all the students of religion and which seekers of guidance could turn to, and from which they could derive the specific knowledge of religion they intend to, and they could act thereon with genuine traditions from the truthful Imams (the divinely appointed guides), which (Book) ensures the practice on the codified divine law. And finally by means of which (Book) the divine obligations and the precepts of the prophet could be implemented. And you have said, “In case such a book is compiled then I can hope by God that with His grace and help it will lead our brethren in faith their and our (Muslim) community to their truthful guides—the Imams.”

O’ brother! may God guide you. It is up to no person to discriminate between different versions of the traditions of the Imams according to his own light and except on the basis of the verdicts (criterion) laid down by the Imam himself. The verdict of the Imam is:

“Check it up with the text of the Book of God (Qur’an), accept it if it agrees with the text and reject it if it does not.”

The verdict further lays down, “Let alone the agreeing with what is on the lips of general people since the truth is just the opposite.” The third verdict lays down: “Accept what is held in common by all the narrators quoting us. Since there can be no doubt about what is unanimously held by all.” (The narrators of our traditions—a hadith.) But, to our knowledge, very few such contradicting traditions can be solved on the basis of the above described criterion. In the case of such (contradicting) traditions the best, the simpler and the more comprehensive solution is to leave all knowledge (regarding contradicting traditions) to the Imam himself. Imam has given us the easiest solution to choose and follow any of the versions among such contradicting traditions. The Imam has said, “Whatever you have accepted and followed with the intention of obeying (the Imam) is valid for you.”

Thus has Allah made (the task of selecting and collecting the traditions) easy. All praise is due to Allah, that He has enabled me to compile the book you have requested for. I hope this book will be after your liking. There may be some deficiency (in this work of mine) but there is none in the sincerity of intention to counsel my people, which is essential (especially) in the case of our brethren and coreligionists. Simultaneously we ourselves earnestly desire to be among the participants deriving benefits (from this book) and among those who act upon it in this age and in the ages hereafter coming, till the Day of Judgment. God the Almighty is one, His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) the last of the prophets, is one and the divine code is also one. What Muhammad, the Prophet (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) declared to be unlawful is unlawful till the Day of Judgment. The chapter on divine proofs has slightly been expanded although the expansion is not in the measure the chapter deserves, since it was distasteful for us to reducing any portion thereof.

We hope that Allah, the great and the Almighty, will make it easy for us and will grant us further span of life for the fulfillment of our objective of making this chapter widest and fullest, in the manner it deserves, provided Allah wills since all power and might is His. With Him are all our longings for increased help and favour. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our chief, Muhammad the Prophet and upon his progeny—the purified, the excellent.

I have commenced and inaugurated this book of mine with the chapter on reason, the greatness of knowledge, the great status of those who possess it, their high worth, the defectiveness of ignorance, the baseness of its possessor, and their lowered rank. Since reason is the axis on which every thing revolves, it is on the reason that all the argument rests. All divine rewards and punishments are in accordance with it. (It is Allah that grants the favour of reason.)