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{{Short description|Four canonical hadith collections of Shia Islam}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Four Books]] of Chinese [[Confucianism]]}}
{{Twelvers |Hadith collections}}
{{Hadith|Shi'ah}}

'''The Four Books''' ({{langx|ar|ٱلْكُتُب ٱلْأَرْبَعَة|translit=al-Kutub al-ʾArbaʿa}}) are the four canonical [[Hadith collections|hadith]] collections of [[Shia Islam]]. The term is used mostly by [[Twelver Shia|Twelver Shias]].

{| class="sortable wikitable"
!Name
!Collector
!No. of <br/>''[[hadith]]''
|-
| ''[[Kitab al-Kafi]]''&nbsp;{{efn|Divided into ''[[Usul al-Kafi]]'', ''[[Furu al-Kafi]]'' and ''[[Rawdat al-Kafi]]''.}} || [[Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni]] al-Razi {{smaller|(329&nbsp;[[Hijri year|AH]])}} ||align="right"| 16,199 </tr>
| ''[[Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih]]'' || [[Al-Shaykh al-Saduq|Muhammad ibn Babawayh]] || align="right"|9,044 </tr>
| ''[[Tahdhib al-Ahkam]]'' || [[Shaykh Tusi|Shaykh Muhammad Tusi]] || align="right"|13,590 </tr>
| ''[[Al-Istibsar]]''      || Shaykh Muhammad Tusi || align="right"|5,511 </tr>
| ''Total ahādith'' || align="right"|44,344 </tr>
|}

Shi'a [[Muslim]]s use different books of hadith from those used by Sunni Muslims,{{efn|However, for example [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi Shi'a]] also accept and hold Sunni Hadith collections in high esteem.<ref>Karimov, N.R., 2019. SOME BRIEF INFORMATION ON AL-SIHAH AL-SITTA. Theoretical & Applied Science, (5), pp.611-620.</ref>}} who prize the [[six major hadith collections]]. In particular, Twelver Shi'a 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 rest of [[Muhammad]]'s family) 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]] (grandson of Muhammad and son of Ali ibn Abi Talib) was martyred at the Battle of Karbala.<ref>[[Moojan Momen|Momen, Moojan]], ''Introduction to Shi'i Islam'', Yale University Press, 1985, p.28-31</ref> Shia trust traditions transmitted through the [[Imamah (Shi'a doctrine)|Imams]], Muhammad's descendants through [[Fatima Zahra]].<ref name=":0">[[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]], ''A young Muslim's guide to the modern world'', KAZI Publications, Inc Chicago, IL, 2003, p. 19</ref>

The content of most of the Hadiths in “Four Books” is nearly the same as that in [[Kutub al-Sittah|“Six Books]]”, the Sunni Hadith collections. Only differing in the chain of transmission in many cases.<ref name=":0" />

== See also ==
*[[List of Shi'a books]]
*[[Kutub al-Sittah]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Shia hadith literature|state=uncollapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Books}}
[[Category:Twelver Shi'ism]]
[[Category:The Four Books|*]]


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