Al-Shaykh al-Saduq Approach in Kamāl al-Din wa Tamām al-Nimah

Al-Shaykh al-Saduq is a Shia leading scholar with many works in different areas of religious knowledge among which Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Nimah ("the perfection of the religion and the end of the blessings") is regarded to be one of his most famous books. This book has been dedicated to Shia perspective about the occultation and age of Imam Mahdi including logical arguments along with many texts and Hadiths about occultation which are usually valid and well-ordered. The present study tries to introduce Al-Shaykh al-Saduq’s method in this book. After noting literal advantages of this book, his approach in quoting Hadiths are studied. Different traditions are also examined in terms of their context and validity. It is detected that al-Saduq has usually heard the Hadiths which are written in his book. He has also found to exercise special methods such as organizing traditions under proper headings, citing document series of all Hadith thoroughly, and stating traditions from different individuals’ view. In some cases, He employed Quranic verses to gain better understanding of traditions or described the meaning of Hadith, its vocabularies, and theological demonstration.