Biography of our scholars – Shaikh Kulaini (ar)

SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN YAQUB BIN ISHAQ KULAYNI (ar)

Birth: His exact year of birth has not been recorded. However, it is mentioned that his birth had already taken place by start of the imamate of the 11th Imam, which lasted from 254 A.H to 260 A.H. Thus if he was 9-10 years old at this time, (an age when children begin to understand matters), then he must have been born around 250 A.H. He was born in the village of Kulain, about 38 kms from the Iranian city of Raiy (currently Tehran), which was an important city at that time. His father was also a scholar. Thus, Shaikh Mohammed bin Yaqoob al Kulayni was born around 250Ah, which was the period of imamate of the 10th Imam, and then when he was a little older, it was the period of the imamate of the 11th Imam.

Kunniyat: His kunniyat (agnomen) was Abu Jafar. 

Title: His laqab(title) was Thiqatul Islam, the one trusted by Islam and Muslims. He was  respected and trusted by all muslims and all have given him this title.

Family and early life: His family was very learned and his father was a very well-known alim(scholar) and the sheikh and leader of the other Ulema of the village.

Teachers: History has recorded the names of 36 of his teachers, prominent amongst these was Janab Abu Jafar Barqi Ali bin Samri (ar), and Janab Ali bin Mohammed Samri (ar) who later became the 4th special naeb(representative) of the12th Imam. Another of his teachers was Janab Ali bin Ibraheem Qummi (ar), the famous author of Tafseer e Qummi. Janab Ali bin Ibraheem Qummi (ar) was a companion of the 11th Imam, hence this tafseer has been written by a companion of the 11th imam. This implies that it was written by the author after hearing it from the Imam himself. Hence this tafseer is highly regarded in the circles of learning. 

Death: Kulaini died in  Baghdad in 329 A.H. The year he died is called Tanasirul nujoom or the year of the breaking of the stars, because during this year it was observed that a lot of stars appeared to break and fall. It was a year that saw the death of prominent Ulema like Shiakh Kulayni (ar), the father of Sheikh Sadooq (ar), Janab Ali bin Babwayh Qummi. The Twelfth Imams special naeb(representative), Janab Ali bin Mohammed (ar), too, died in this year. This year also marked the beginning of ghaibat e kubra  (major occultation) of the Imam.

His age, when he died is calculated to be about 80 years. According to the Christian calendar it was the year 941 AD. His salatul mayyit (prayer over the dead body) was recited by Mohammed bin Jafar Husseini abu Qaraat. He is buried in Baghdad, in Bab e Koofa. This is the same district where he used to live. It is located in eastern  Baghdad . He grave exists there even today.   
 Sayyed Nematullah Jazaeri relates that a great opponent of Shias established his rule in Baghdad. He wanted to stop the people from visiting the graves of the Masoomeen(a), and decided to destroy them. He decided to begin with the grave of The 7th Imam, it being closest to Baghdad. Preparations got underway, when someone informed him that the Shias believe that the bodies of their Imams do not decay in the graves. The king replied, let the grave be opened. If what they say turns out to be true, I will close the grave with great honor. If I find the body decayed, I will consider my actions justified. But someone else told him, you do not need to go far to check their claim, because they claim the same thing for their Ulema as well. One of their Ulema is buried in Baghdad itself. Open that grave. If the body is still fresh, it can be concluded that their faith is the correct one. Thus Kulainis grave was opened, the body was found to be so fresh that he appeared to be asleep. Even the color of henna on his nails had not faded. The king was impressed. He ordered the grave to be closed and a dome erected over it. 

Some details about his life: His initial schooling took place in the city of Raiy. Later, he came to be known as Shaykh ul fuqaha (the leader of the jurisprudents) in Raiy. Then he migrated to Baghdad and started teaching there. Even in Baghdad he was called Shaykhul Fuqaha. When Shiakh Kulaini (ar)  came to Baghdad, the 3rd nominated representative of Imam was residing there, but he( the representative) was doing dissimulation (taqayyah), so much so that the ordinary Muslims considered him to be their alim, and his orders and writings were much respected, even in the court of the king.

His Books: Ruqatul Aimma (a collection of letter penned by the Aimma (as)), Kitab al-rijal( a book about the transmitters of ahadeeth), Kitab tabeer ar-ruya( a book on the interpretation of dreams. It is said that a better book on this topic has not been written till today). Kitab al madh al Aimma( a collection of poetry in praise of the Aimma),Kitab rad al Qaramata(a book denouncing a sect who had invaded the Kaaba, robbed the Hajar e Aswad, and kept it in their land for 17 years). However, his greatest contribution is the Al-Kafi. 

Al-Kafi: This book is Kulaini greatest contribution. It is a collection of 16,199 ahadeeth. One of the principal features of the work is that the traditions are presented systematically in chapters according to their subject matter. The Kafi is divided into 3 parts: 2 volumes of Usool e Kafi, comprising ahadeeth on beliefs, 5 volumes of Furoo e kafi containing ahadeeth on jurisprudence, and 1 volume of Rawdhatul Kafi. Rawdha means garden. It is a type of shia encyclopaedia, containing ahadeeth not covered in the other volumes. Thus it contains assorted ahadeeth about, eg, the life and times of our Aimma (as) and their opponents. 

It should be noted that till the time of the 11th Imam, the Shias were not overly concerned about preserving ahadeeth, because whenever they were faced with a problem an Imam was there to solve it. Even during the initial stages of the minor occultation, they had recourse to the Imam through his nominated representatives. But when Janab Husain bin Rouh (ar) was appointed the representative, the Shias grew concerned as their Imam was in occultation and Janab Hussain bin Rouh (ar) was in taqayyah on the orders of the Imam. It was at this time that Shaikh Kulaini (ar) migrated to Baghdad , and since he was the Shaykh ul Fuqaha, it fell upon his shoulders to assume the responsibility of collecting and preserving the ahadeeth. 

First he collected whatever he could of the 400 books of Usool. Then he sorted them topic-wise. Next, Shaikh Kulaini (ar) himself traveled all over the Islamic world to collect ahadeeth. As soon it would come to his notice that a person in a particular village knows a hadeeth, he would go to that village, even if it entailed journeying over great distances, to hear it from him personally and write it. He refused to appoint anyone else to go in his stead, so that he could be sure that the written hadeeth tallied word for word with what was related by that person. This process went on for 20 years. Thus the kafi came into existence. After Shaikh Kulaini (ar) , this type of work was done by others too, but Shaikh Kulaini (ar) was the first to undertake this task. Today no mujtahid can issue a fatwa without studying every hadeeth of the Kafi. He compiled the book and gave it to his students. During those times writing was not popular, because it was very difficult to get paper and ink. Thus the preferred method was oral transmission. Hence, Shaikh Kulaini (ar) would read out the ahadeeth to his students and they would memorize them. Then the students would recite the ahadeeth and he would hear them. When he was satisfied that a student had learnt all the ahadeeth, he would give the student permission to narrate them on his authority. This permission was called Ijaza e Riwayat, and was an important permission in those days. Thus his students were instrumental in spreading these ahaheeth, till such a time when printing became popular and books began to be printed. 
History chronicles about 15 of his eminent students, although innumerable seekers of knowledge benefited from his company. Of the 15 eminent students there are three who were instrumental in bringing the Usool al Kaafi to the posterity. These illustrious students of Shaikh Mohammed Kulaini (ar) are Janab Ahmed ibne Ahmed Katib Toofi (ar), Janab Mohammed ibne Ibrahim (ar) and Janab Abu Abdallah Safwani (ar) who was from the progeny of Janabe Safwan-e-Jammal (ar)- a companion of the Seventh Imam  who refrained from  giving his camels on hire to the tyrannical ruler on the instructions of the Seventh Imam (as).

This was the only book of ahadeeth compiled during minor occultation. Thus it was compiled in the presence of the nominated representatives of the Imam. The 4th and last representative of Imam died shortly after Shaikh Kulaini’s (ar) own death. And, of course the Imam himself was well aware of the existence of this book and also knew that this was going to become a basic book of the Shias. If there was something very wrong about this book, the Imam would have pointed it out or would have forbidden the compilation. But we find that nothing of this kind happened.

May Allah give us taufeeq  to seek the lesson of hard work from our scholars.