Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni

Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni, one of the leading scholars and heads of the Shi'a, according to Ahmad Amin. He says that among the Shi'a he is like al-Bukhari among the Sunnis, and they call him "Thiqat al-Islam". ¹

He wrote the "al-Kafi" in three parts: the first on principles, and the second and third on branches. He says it contains sixteen thousand hadiths, which he divided into sound, good, strong and weak, and that its collection took him twenty years. ¹ See al-Kafi.

He died in Baghdad in 328 AH or 329 AH and was buried in Kufa, according to "Duha al-Islam". The year is disputed, and the Gregorian equivalent is derived and approximate. ²

The museum classes him among the Twelver Shi'a. Other views on "al-Kafi" are not yet set out here and need an additional source.