Ma’ani al-Akhbar: Difference between revisions

Al-Shaykh al-Saduq finished Ma’ani al-Akhbar in 331/942 after he had authored Kitab al-Tawhid and 'Ilal al-sharayi'. Aqa Buzurg Tihrani writes: Sayyid b. Tawus has mentioned in his book, al-Tara'if, that al-Shaykh al-Saduq wrote Ma’ani al-Akhbar in 331/942. <ref>Aqā Buzurg Tihrānī, al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-Shīʿa, vol. 21, p. 204. </ref>

The content of Ma’ani al-Akhbar has been organized in five different Hadith groups: Qur'anic exegetical Hadiths, jurisprudential Hadiths, theological, ethical and historical Hadiths. Proportionate part of the book is dedicated to the first category, i.e. Qur'anic exegetical Hadiths. <ref>ʿAbd Allāhī ʿĀbid, Ṣamad. Shaykh Ṣadūq, Maʿānī al-akhbār wa sabk-i nigārish-i ān, no 20. </ref> The total number of the compiled Hadiths in this book is 809, classified in 429 different sections, ranging from a single Hadith in a section to hundred in the other.  

• He discusses the chains of transmission of the Hadiths. <ref>ʿAbd Allāhī ʿĀbid, Ṣamad. Shaykh Ṣadūq, Maʿānī al-akhbār wa sabk-i nigārish-i ān, no 20. </ref>

the distinctive importance of this book among other works of al-Shaykh al-Saduq, rests in its unique subject. For this book aims to clarify the ambiguities and problems of the Hadiths through the explanations given by the Ahl al-Bayt (a) themselves… the history has not witnessed similar work in this particular field and no other book is compiled in this fashion and its merits are not to be found anywhere else. <ref>Ṣadūq, Maʿānī al-akhbār, p. 4. </ref>

Ma'ani l-akhbar, like other works of al-Shaykh al-Saduq, has always been at the center of attention and consideration by Shi'a great scholars and jurists, and is regarded as one of the most authentic Shi'a narrative sources and many of its Hadiths have been adopted by great Shi'a Hadith compilers in chief collections of Shi'a Hadiths, like: the Four Books, Bihar al-anwar <ref>Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 1, p. 7. </ref> and Wasa'il al-shi'a. <ref>Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 1, p. 53, 60, 69. </ref>

Aqa Buzurg Tihrani has attributed a book to Dawud b. Hasan b. Yusuf Awali al-Bahrani, wherein he arranged the content of Ma’ani al-Akhbar according to alphabetical order. <ref>Aqā Buzurg Tihrānī, al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-Shīʿa, vol. 21, p. 226. </ref> Also there is a commentary of Ma’ani al-Akhbar authored by Mulla 'Abd al-Nabi Tassuji. <ref>Aqā Buzurg Tihrānī, al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-Shīʿa, vol. 14, p. 72. </ref> This work has been translated to Persian language by Aqa Muhammad Ibrahim b. Muhammad Ali Abadi Yazdi <ref>Aqā Buzurg Tihrānī, al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-Shīʿa, vol. 26, p. 203. </ref> and 'Abd al-'Ali Muhammadi Shahrudi. Hamid Rida Shaykhi translated this book to the Persian language as well. <ref>Ḥamīd Riḍā Shaykhī, Maʿānī al-akhbār</ref>

• A manuscript in Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi Library. <ref>Ṣadūq, Maʿānī al-akhbār, introduction of the book. </ref>