ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Qur'an and Hadith The Style of Ahadiths Books The recording of traditions varied in size and style as follows: A narrator would record one long tradition on one subject. For example, SALMAN recorded the HADITH of literature was of this type. Others collected the AHADITH of one subject in one booklet. During the period of Imams (a.s) thousands of such booklets were written.

The collection was usually known by the subject; such as "KITABU 'S-SALAH- the Book of Prayer", "KITABU 'L-HAJJ- the Book of Pilgrimage" etc. Some narrators collected AHADITH of different subjects in one volume. Such collections were called "AN-NAWADIR". Many companions noted down whatever HADITH they heard from Imams, without any distinction of subject and without dividing them into chapters. Such collections were known as "ASL" (pl. USUL), foundation.

Four hundred such USUL were prevalent among the SHI'AS at the time of the death of Imam HASAN AL-'ASKARI (A.S.). These four hundred USUL were most popular of all collections and they formed the main source of the tenets, beliefs and laws of SHI'A ITHNA ASHARI faith. However, there were many difficulties in relation to the above-mentioned four styles of HADITH collection: Firstly, as there was no press in those days, those USUL and other HADITH literature were not easily available everywhere.

The persecution of the SHI'AS compounded the problem by making the owners extraordinarily cautious: they did not give their copies except to those whom they fully trusted. Secondly, none of those four hundred USUL contained AHADITH concerning all aspects of religion in one place. Moreover, they were not divided according to subject. This resulted in great difficulty for anyone trying to find the relevant HADITH.

Thirdly, there was a danger that these treasures of religious knowledge would be lost forever due to the persecution of the SHI'AS and also because of the difficulty in obtaining and preserving the four hundred USUL. THE FOUR BOOKS (AL-KUTUBU'L-ARB'AH). These problems warranted the need for a new style in recording in which the AHADITH from all available sources be collected and arranged subject-wise, divided into chapters and sections. Such collections were called "KITAB-Book".

However, the words ASL and KITAB are usually interchangeable. The need for this type of HADITH collection was felt by the SHI'A scholars after the death of Imam HASAN AL-ASDARI (A.S.).