al-Kutub al-arbaʿa

al-Kutub al-arbaʿa , ( Arabic الكتب الأربعة, DMG al-kutub al-arbaʿa  ' the four books ') are the four canonical (normative) hadith collections of the Twelve Shiites . In addition to the words and deeds of the Prophet Mohammed, they also contain those of the Shiite imams , with most of the traditions relating to the fifth and sixth imams . Another important difference to the Sunni hadith is that the Shiites do not accept all of the Prophet's companions and, unlike the Sunnis, they also include the seven other of the twelve imams after Hussein.

The four collections consist of the following works:

• al-Kafi ( al-Kāfī  /الكافي / 'The sufficient')

by Muhammad ibn Yaqub al-Kulaini ( Muḥammad b.Yaʿqūb al-Kulainī , d. 940/41)

• Man la yahduruhu l-faqih (من لا يحضره الفقيه / Man lā yaḥḍuruhu l-faqīh  / 'Who has no expert at hand')

by Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Babuya al-Qummi as-Saduq ( Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Bābūya al-Qummī aṣ-Ṣadūq , also called Ibn Bābawaih , d. 991)

• al-Istibsar fi-ma chtulifa fihi min al-achbar (الاستبصار فيما اختلف فيه من الأخبار / al-Istibṣār fīmā ḫtulifa fīhi min al-aḫbār  / 'the consideration of the disputed traditions')
• Tahdhib al-Ahkam (تهذيب الأحكام / Tahḏīb al-aḥkām  / 'the revision of decisions')

both by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan at-Tusi ( Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan aṭ-Ṭūsī , d. 1067)

literature

• Robert Gleave: “Between Ḥadīth and Fiqh: The 'Canonical' Imāmī Collections of Akhbār” in Islamic Law and Society 8 (2001) 350–382.