Whenever we quote a hadith from the Imams...

Whenever we quote a hadith from the Imams, it is not actually from themsel­ves, instead it is the hadith of the Prophet which they had preserved as the true successors of the last messenger of Allah.

Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (as) says, “My hadith is the hadith of my father, the hadith of my father is that of my grandfather, the hadith of my grandfather is that of al ­Husayn [bin 'Ali], the hadith of al-Husayn is that of al-Hasan [bin 'Ali], the hadith of al-Hasan is that of Amiru '1-mu'minin ['Ali bin Abi Talib] (as), the hadith of Amiru '1-mu'minin is that of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w), and the hadiith of the Messenger is a statement…