The Influence of Predecessors on Kulayni in Compilation and Codification of Usul al-Kafi (Case Study: The Books “Reason and Ignorance”, “Faith and Disbelief”, and “The Contention”)

In the current study it has been tried to, by investigating the dominant structure and framework of “Usul al-Kafi”, explore the influence of the predecessors on Kulayni in the compilation and codification of this book. With the same goal and the use of the descriptive-analytical method, the dominant structure of the narrations arrangement and the “adaptation” or “initiative” theory of Kulayni in the compilation of Usul al-Kafi have been investigated. The author in the current study has tried to indicate that the subject-oriented method of Kulayni in the arrangement of the Hadiths even in innovative cases have been most impressed by its predecessors. In this regard, Kulayni has utilized the books “Al-Mahasin” by Ahmad Ibn Khalid Baraghi, and “Basaaer Al-Darajaat” by Muhammad Ibn Hassan Saffar. Also, the investigation of ideas of some orientalists who consider the compilation of Ususl Al-Kafi to be influenced by the rationalist approach of the Baghdad hadith school shows that this book has been a manifestation of the textual approach of the Qom hadith school.