The Four Books
The Four Books, or The Four Principles, is a Twelver Shia term referring to their four best-known hadith collections:
| Name | Collector | No. of hadith | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kitab al-Kafi | Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni al-Razi | 16,199 | Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih | Muhammad ibn Babawayh | 9,044 | Tahdhib al-Ahkam | Shaykh Muhammad Tusi | 13,590 | Al-Istibsar | Shaykh Muhammad Tusi | 5,511 |
Shi'a Muslims use different books of hadith from those used by other Muslims, who prize the six major hadith collections. The Shi'a countries consider many Sunni transmitters of hadith to be unreliable because many of them took the side of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali instead of only Ali and the majority of them were narrated through certain personalities that waged war against Ahlul Bayt or sided with their enemies such as Aisha that fought Ali at Jamal, or Muawiya who did so at Siffin. Hussain was killed at the Battle of Karbala. Shia trust traditions transmitted through the Imams, Muhammad's descendants through Fatima Zahra.
The Four Books have been praised by many, but not all, notable Shia scholars. This is what some have said:
- Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi said: "Al-Kafi, Al-Istibsaar, Al-Tahzeeb and Mun La Yahduruhu Al-faqeeh are Mutawatirah and agreed on the accuracy of its contents, and Al-Kafi is the oldest, greatest, best and the most accurate one of them.“
- Al-Tabarsi said: "Al-Kafi among the 4 shia books is like the sun among the stars, and who looked fairly would not need to notice the position of the men in the chain of hadiths in this Book, and if you looked fairly you would feel satisfied and sure that the hadiths are firm and accurate."