Tahdhib al-ahkam is a collection of hadiths by Abu Ja’far Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi (d. 460 A.H./ 1068) popularly known as Shaykh al-Ta’ifa and al-Shaykh al-Tusi. For Imami-Shia, it is one of the most reliable collections of hadiths and one of al-Kutub al-Arba’a (the Four Books).
About the Author
Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. ‘Ali b. al-Hasan (b. 385/995 – d. 460/1066) known as al-Shaykh al-Ta’ifa and al-Shaykh al-Tusi was the author of the two books of Tahdhib and al-Istibsar from the Four Books of Shia hadiths references. He is regarded among the greatest hadith and Shia jurist. He had influential works in theology and the Qur’an exegesis.
At the age of 23, he went to Iraq from Khurasan and benefited from great scholars there including al-Shaykh al-Mufid and al-Sayyid al-Murtada. Al-Shaykh al-Tusi authored the book before writing his al-Istibsar. It is pertinent to mention that Tahdhib al-ahkam includes only hadiths related to the laws of sharia.
About the Book
The book is one of the most reliable and accredited collections of Shiite hadiths and the third book among the Four Books (al-Kutub al-Arba’a), trusted by all Shiite scholars and jurists. Tahdhib al-ahkam contains hadiths in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and the Islamic laws narrated from the pure Ahl al-Bayt (a).
Al-Shaykh al-Tusi wrote the book as an exposition of al-Muqni’a by his master al-Shaykh al-Mufid. Tahdhib al-ahkam contains hadiths about the laws of Sharia, providing many hadiths required for ijtihad or inquiry about such laws. The book contains many issues in fiqh, usul al-fiqh (the principles of the Islamic jurisprudence), ‘ilm al-rijal and other fields.
In this book, al-Shaykh al-Tusi did not concern himself with issues in the principles of Shiite beliefs, restricting himself to issues related to all areas of fiqh or laws of sharia, from kitab al-tahara (the book of cleanliness) to kitab al-diyat (the book of blood money).
Parts or books of fiqh in this books are organized in the same way as al-Muqni’a. The sources appealed to by al-Shaykh al-Tusi in this book are the Qur’an (the apparent or explicit meaning or connotations or implications thereof), absolutely authentic hadiths (such as al-khabar al-mutawatir, that is, frequently narrated hadiths, or ones with assuring evidence for their authenticity), consensus by Muslims or by Shiite scholars, and hadiths that are well-known among the companions of Imams (a).
Moreover, al-Shaykh al-Tusi has also cited contradicting hadiths, pointing to how to reconcile them with other hadiths or to weakness in them such as unreliability of their chains of narrators or the companions of Imams (a) refusing to act upon them.
The book contains 393 sections and 13590 hadiths. In the epilogue of the book, al-Shaykh al-Tusi cites his mashikha, that is, people from whom he narrated the books that he cited in his book.
The Number of its Parts
In his autobiography in his al-Fihrist, al-Shaykh al-Tusi enumerates 23 main parts or books of fiqh, saying that al-Istibsar and al-Nahaya have the same number of parts. However, the parts of al-shahadat (witnessing or testimony) and al-at’ima wa al-ashriba (eating and drinking) are only independently discussed in the latter two books.
Moreover, Tahdhib al-ahkam contains an independent book of al-ziyarat (pilgrimages) that is absent in the other two works. Therefore, Tahdhib al-ahkam contains 21 parts or books of fiqh, and the ones mentioned in al-Fihrist are combinations of parts contained in Tahdhib al-ahkam, al-Nahaya and al-Istibsar.
According to enumerations of the published version of book in Najaf, the book contains 409 sections (28 of which are repetitive) and 13988 hadiths, but according to enumerations of Muhaddith al-Nuri, the book contains 393 sections and 13590 hadiths. The difference is rooted in mistakes in enumerations or disputes about some parts or hadiths being independent or not.
Purpose for Writing
In the preface to Tahdhib al-ahkam, al-Shaykh al-Tusi writes that one of his friends talked to him about apparently contradictory hadiths in Shiite sources, pointing that this has led to strong criticisms by opponents of Shiism and disbelieving Shiism by some ignorant Shiites.
Thus, he asked al-Shaykh al-Tusi to write a well-argued exposition for al-Shaykh al-Mufid’s al-Muqni’a, which contains the grounds of each problem in widely accepted hadiths as well as contradictory hadiths, showing how to resolve the contradiction or interpret them away or showing in what ways they should not be relied upon. In response to this request, Tahdhib al-ahkam was compiled and authored. Thus the book has an apological motivation.
The Date of Writing
In the preface of the book and frequently in the first volume and twice at the beginning of the second, al-Shaykh al-Mufid has been mentioned together with the phrase “ayyada-ha Allah” (meaning: may God support him) which implies that al-Shaykh al-Mufid was alive then, but after this, he is mentioned with the phrase “rahima-ha Allah” (meaning: may God bless him) which implies that al-Shaykh al-Mufid was no longer alive. Thus, it implies that the writing of the book started when al-Shaykh al-Mufid was still alive and went on after his death (Ramadan, 413 A.H./ December 1022).
The Methodology
The book is basically organized in the same way as al-Muqni’a, elaborating all its problems by an appeal to reliable sources (the Quran, al-khabar al-mutawatir, hadiths with assuring evidence and consensus), referring to widely accepted hadiths among Imamiyya, where contradicting hadiths are interpreted away or dismissed as unreliable.
In this method, in terms of which most of the part on taharat (or cleanliness) is written, the author occasionally appeals to sources such as what later came to be called combined consensus (al-ijma’ al-murakkab), the views of senior scholars and some reasoning.
It has also cited some hadiths from Sunni sources without mentioning their chains of narrators. In this part of the book, there are various Quranic and literary issues (related to Arabic grammar and lexicology) as well as views in usul al-fiqh.
However, the book would have been too lengthy and digressed from its main purpose (writing a work in hadith) had the rest of it been written with the same method. Therefore, the author changed his method in the rest of the book, resting content with citing Shiite hadiths and reconciling their conflicts.
He then decided to cite all or almost all hadiths regarding the laws of sharia regardless of issues raised in al-Muqni’a. This is why he added the sections on ziyara (pilgrimage) in the first three volumes of the book. Therefore, the book was written with two different methods that differ in their elaboration as well as in the way they cite hadiths.
Position of the book
Tahdhib al-ahkam counts as the most important source of ijtihad for Imamiyya in virtue of its containing much more hadiths in comparison with the rest of the Four Books (al-Kutub al-Arba’a).
Its Importance in Fiqh
According to Bahr al-‘Ulum, with this book a scholar of fiqh does not usually need to refer to any other collection of hadiths; a feature lacked by the rest of the Four Books. Sayyid b. Tawus took al-Kafi and Tahdhib al-ahkam to be the greatest books in fiqh, and ‘Allama al-Hilli took the book to be the origin of fiqh, which is, together with al-Muqni’a, one of the greatest sources in fiqh.
In many parts or books of fiqh, al-Shaykh al-Tusi’s views in Tahdhib have been considered as his fatwas that are frequently cited and discussed. Some of his fatwas in this book are unique to him or are held by few other scholars. Sometimes his fatwas in this book or in al-Istibsar differ from his fatwas in the rest of his work in fiqh.
Its Importance in Hadith
In addition to its contribution to fiqh, Tahdhib is also significant as a collection of hadiths. In addition to catalogues or bibliographies that have always mentioned the book, the subsequent works in hadiths have always cited the book.
Ibn Tawus has very frequently cited the book in his work. Ibn Idris cited a selection of hadiths in Tahdhib at the end of his al-Sara’ir.
Some Akhbari scholars made an appeal to a remark by al-Shaykh al-Tusi in his al-‘Udda fi usul al-fiqh and held that all hadiths in Tahdhib (as well as in the rest of the Four Books) are reliable. However, since al-Shaykh al-Tusi has made it explicit that some contradictory hadiths in his book are unreliable, the view was rejected by other scholars.
Chains of Narrations of Hadiths
In his second method for writing the book, al-Shaykh al-Tusi begins the chains of narrations with the names of the authors of his sources, and then he added an appendix to the book, under mashikha, to connect his own chain to the authors of those books, and for more details he refers the readers to his al-Fihrist.
At first pass, it seems that he cites hadiths from the narrators mentioned at the beginning of his chain, but there is ample evidence showing that he did not cite them immediately, but since the people in between were well-known, he did not mention them.
Sources of Tahdhib al-Ahkam
The most important source of Tahdhib is al-Kafi by al-Kulayni. In addition to cases in which Kulayni is mentioned at the beginning of chains of narrations (often as Muhammad b. Ya’qub), many hadiths with chains beginning with Kulayni’s immediate or mediate masters are from al-Kafi. Another source of Tahdhib is Man la yahduruh al-faqih by al-Shaykh al-Saduq.
A Comparison of his Two Books
After writing his Tahdhib, al-Shaykh al-Tusi wrote al-Istibsar concerning apparently contradictory hadiths, whose parts and organization are very similar to Tahdhib.
All hadiths in al-Istibsar are also cited in Tahdhib, though their chains of narrations are sometimes different; for example, in the first volume of Al-Istibsar, there are over 200 hadiths whose chains of narrations in Tahdhib are complete, but are partially mentioned in al-Istibsar.
On the contrary, in 80 hadiths, only al-Istibsar contains complete chains of narrations. In the first volume of Tahdhib most hadiths are cited through al-Shaykh al-Mufid, but in al-Istibsar, other masters are also cited, and the way through a person other than al-Shaykh al-Mufid is preferred if it has some advantages such as shorter chains of narrations or a greater number of narrators.
Most hadiths in al-Istibsar have their sources in Tahdhib, and only in few cases the sources are different. The author’s explanations about hadiths and the ways of resolving their contradictions in al-Istibsar are often the same as what he had said in Tahdhib, though there are verbal differences between the two.
Commentaries and Expositions
Aqa Buzurg Tihrani has mentioned 16 expositions and 20 commentaries for Tahdhib al-ahkam, mentioning four books as commentaries on the Four Books. Other people have mentioned other commentaries on the book, such as those of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa’i, Mir Damad and Jami’ al-hawashi.
There are expositions of Tahdhib’s Mashikha (on its own or together with the mashikha of Man la yahduruh al-faqih), such as Hadiqa al-anzar by Muhammad ‘Ali b. Qasim Al Kashkul. Risala fi al-jam’ bayn ahadith bab al-ziyadat min al-tahdhib by Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa’i is a sort of an exposition of Tahdhib.
Of these, only Maladh al-akhyar by ‘Allama al-Majlisi has been published, which is a complete exposition of Tahdhib in 16 volumes. This books cites other expositions of Tahdhib, particularly those of Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi and ‘Abd Allah Tustari.
Other Works Concerning Tahdhib al-Ahkam
- A translation of Tahdhib al-ahkam into Persian by Muhammad Taqi Gilani
• Another translation of the book by Muhammad Yusuf Gurakani
• Mukhtasar mazar kitab al-Tahdhib (a summary of Tahdhib’s mazar) by Muhammad Jawjani
• A selection of Tahdhib by Muhammad Baqir Bihbudi
• Tanbih al-arib wa tadhkira al-labib fi idah rijal al-Tahdhib by Al-Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani and its selection, Intikhab al-jayyid min tanbihat al-sayyid, by Hasan Damistani.
• Risala fi asanid al-Tahdhib (an essay on Tahdhib’s chains of narrations) by Fakhr al-Din Turayhi
• Tashih al-asanid by Mirza Muhammad al-Ardabili, the author of Jami’ al-Ruwat
• Tartib asanid kitab al-Tahdhib (the order of Tahdhib’s chains of narrations) by Sayyid Husayn Burujirdi hand-written by Hasan Nuri Hamadani published as Tanqih asanid al-Tahdhib.
Manuscripts of Tahdhib
- The main manuscript of the book written by al-Shaykh al-Tusi that was held by his progeny, Al Tawus.
- A manuscript of the book written by the author whose son read it to him, and was held by ‘Ali b. Muhammad al-Bayadi.
- A manuscript of the first part of the book in the library of ‘Allama Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i; one of the owners of the manuscript who was contemporary to al-Shaykh al-Baha’i has written that al-Shaykh al-Baha’i took this to be written by al-Shaykh al-Tusi himself.
- The oldest manuscript of Tahdhib al-ahkam with a date on it (575 A.H./ 1180), including the fourth and the fifth volumes of the book. This is held in the Library of Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Rida Gulpayigani in Qum.
Tahdhib al-ahkam was first lithographically printed in two folio-size volumes, edited by Ahmad Shirazi and Baqir Quchani in 1317 and 1318 S.H. (1938-1939).
Other publications of the book are in ten volumes in the octavo size: one is edited by Sayyid Hasan Musawi Khurasan in Najaf, another edited by Muhammad Ja’far Shams al-Din in Beirut and another one edited by Ali Akbar Ghaffari in Tehran.
The article is extracted from Tadhi al-Ahkam in Wikishia (https://en.wikishia.net/view/Tahdhib_al-ahkam_(book))
