As most of you are aware, Al-Kulaini’s “Al-Kafi” is accepted by Shia scholars as their most authentic book of hadith. Amazed by the length of the book and the high number of narrations, I went over to the local Shia hadith bookshop and purchased myself a copy. After going through a few pages, I noticed the lack of hadiths narrated by the Prophet (pbuh). So, I decided to count them and made a couple of discoveries.
In Kitabul Ilm (Book of Knowledge), I counted a hundred and seventy seven hadiths (177). Of those, only twenty four (24) were attributed to the Prophet (pbuh).
Then, I went over to Mir’aatul Uqool by their master muhaddith Al-Majlisi, and looked up his commentary on those hadiths. Pretty much all of them were either weak, mursal, or marfu’u (the word in Shia hadith terminology is equal to munqati’i in ours).
However, there were two that he considered to be saheeh and one that he considered hasan.
The hasan hadith was one of Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Qumi’s narrations, and he believed in tahreef al-Qur’an. Perhaps the hadith was considered to be hasan instead of saheeh for this reason… because there was a kafir in the chain, that is.
I haven’t checked out the chains of the other two narrations according to our books of rijal because we all know how that is going to turn out.
So, yes, out of 177 narrations, 24 are narrated by the Prophet (pbuh), 2 are saheeh, and one is hasan.
A little while later, I looked up Saheeh Al-Bukhari. About twenty seconds into it, I figured that it was a grossly unfair comparison. Heck, the only book that comes to mind that would come even close would be Mawdoo’aat Ibnul Jawzi.
Here are a few:
28 علي بن الحكم، عن هشام بن سالم(2)، عن أبي عبدالله عليه السلام قال: إن القرآن الذي جاء به جبرئيل عليه السلام إلى محمد صلى الله عليه وآله سبعة عشر ألف آية(3).
“Verily the Qur’an which Jibraeel (alayhis salam) brought to Mohammed consists of seventeen thousand ayats.”’
The hadith is authenticated by Al-Majlisi mind you.
The following chapter is pretty interesting as well:
al-shia. org /htm/eng/books / hadith / al-kafi / part4 / part4 - ch35 .htm
No one collect all of the Holy Quran except the Imams (a.s.) and that they have the knowledge of all of the Holy Quran
H 607, Ch. 35, h 1
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Mahbub from ‘Amr ibn abu al-Miqdam from Jabir who has said that he heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.) say the following. “No one from the people has claimed to have collected the whole of the Holy Quran (in a book form) as it was revealed. If anyone would come up with such a claim, he is liar. No one collected this Holy Book and memorized as Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High revealed it except Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) and the Imams after him.”
H 608, Ch. 35, h 2
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn has narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Hassan from Muhammad ibn Sinan from ‘Ammar ibn Marwan from al-Munakhkhal from Jabir from abu Ja‘far (a.s.) who has said the following. "No one is able to claim that with him is the whole of the Holy Quran; its apparent and hidden essence, except the executors of the will of the Holy Prophet (s.a.).
H 609, Ch. 35, h 3
Ali ibn Muhammad and Muhammad ibn al-Hassan have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from al-Qasim ibn al-Rabi‘ from ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Abdallah ibn abu Hashim al-Sayrafi from ‘Amr ibn Mus‘ab from Salma ibn Muhriz who has said that he heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.) say the following. "Of the knowledge that we have received is the interpretation of the Holy Quran and its laws, the knowledge of the changes of time and the happenings therein. When Allah wants good for a people, He makes them to understand. If He would make to understand one who does not want to understand such a person turns away as if he has heard nothing. The Imams (a.s.) paused, briefly, then said, “Had we found keepers and trusted people for our knowledge, we would have said it (all to him). Allah is the best supporter.”
H 610, Ch. 35, h 4
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn from Muhammad ibn 'Isa from abu ‘Abdallah al-Mu‘min from ‘Abd al-A‘la Mawla ’Ala Sam who has said that he heard abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) say the following. "I swear by Allah that I know the Holy Quran from the beginning to end as if it is in the palm of my hand. In it there is the news of the heavens and the earth, the news of what has been and the new of what will come into being. Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, has said, “In it there is the explanation of all things.” (16:89)
H 611, Ch. 35, h 5
Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn abu Zahir from al-Khashshab from Ali ibn Hass’an from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Kathir from abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) who recited the following verse. "The one who had knowledge from the Book said, “I can bring it to you before you even blink your eye. . . .” (27:40). The narrator has said that the Imams (a.s.) opend his two fingers and placed them on his chest and then said, “With us, I swear by Allah, is the knowledge of the whole of the Book.”
H 612, Ch. 35, h 6
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father and Muhammad ibn Yahya from Muhammad ibn al-Hassan from those he mentioned, both of them from ibn abu ‘Umayr from ibn ’Udhayna from Burayd ibn Mu‘awiya who has said that he asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.) about the meaning of the following verse. “. . . Say, ‘God and those who have the knowledge of the Book are sufficient witness (to my prophet-hood).’” (13:43) The Imam (a.s.) said, “It is a reference to us. Ali (a.s.) is the first among us and the most virtuous and the best among us after the Holy Prophet (s.a.)”