Al-Shaykh al-Saduq: One of the Greatest Shiite Hadith Scholars

Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Ali bin Husayn ibn Musa ibn Babawayh Qomi popularly known as "Sheikh Saduq" was a Shiite jurist, muhaddith (scholar of hadiths), exegete, and scholar. According to historical sources Sheikh Saduq was born in the city of Qom around the 990s CE. Sheikh Sadouq is considered the most famous muhaddith and jurist of the theological and hadith-oriented school of Qom.

The Scholar of Islamic Theology

Sheikh Sadouq grew up in Qom and lived in this city for 20 years with his father, Abu al-Hasan Ali who was a great jurist and scholar of hadith. Sheikh Saduq studies the basics of religion under his father. In jurisprudence and hadith, he was a student of such scholars as Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Waleed, Muhammad ibn Ali Majiluyeh, Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Ibrahim Qomi. After living in Qom for 20 years, he left for Rey at the request of the people of that city from where he started traveling to other cities. He first went to Mashhad and then studied in Balkh, Bukhara, Medina, Kufa, Hamedan, and Baghdad under a number of great scholars of hadith of his era and became one of the leading Shiites scholars of that time. Today, his name is mentioned along with the most famous Shiite theologians and scholars of the hadith-oriented school of Qom. It is said that Sheikh Saduq had written 300 books the most important of which is the book “Man la Yahdara al-Faqih”, which is one the four most reliable hadith sources of hadith referred to as “Kutub al-Arbaah" and consists of about 6000 hadiths on such subject as jurisprudence and practical rulings.

Sheikh Saduq’s Thoughts

As mentioned above, Sheikh Saduq is considered to be one of the most famous Shiite theologians and scholars of the hadith-oriented school of Qom. He believed that man always needs divine inspiration or divine proof in order to know God. He emphasized that reason cannot know God and discover religious knowledge in the absence of revelation.

The Most Traversed Path

The book “Madinah al-Elm” is the most comprehensive and complete work of Sheikh Saduq, which has been lost due to unknown reasons and no trace of it is left. According to Sheikh Al-Tusi, the book of “Madinah al-Elm was bigger than “Man la Yahdara al-Faqih”. Ibn Shahr Ashub narrates that “Man la Yahdara al-Faqih” has four parts and Madinah al-Elm comprised 10 parts.

May 4, is named "Sheikh Saduq Commemoration Day" in Iran’s national calendar.

Sheikh Saduq strongly believed that reason cannot know God and discover religious knowledge in the absence of revelation.