Man La Yahduruhu Al-faqih
This work is included in the four major books of the traditions of Shi'ite Islam. Despite the fact that many of his other works are extremely important, this book is regarded as his most important work. However some authorities maintain that there were five major books of traditions and they include another of al-Shaykh al-Saduq's works, Madinat al-'ilm, in this number. Al-Tusi mentions that the latter work was bigger than Man la yahduruhu al-faqih. It appears that this book is no longer existent. It seems to have been concerned with usual al-din (the principles of religion) rather than the furu', which are the practical regulations for carrying out the shari'a (Islamic law).
As its title implies Man la yahduruhu al faqih (English:) was concerned with furu'. It has been neatly translated by E. G. Brown as "Every man his own lawyer". In his introduction to the book al-Shaykh al-Saduq explains the circumstances of its composition and the reason for its title. When he was at Ilaq near Balkh, he met Sharif al-Din Abu 'Abd Allah known as Ni'mah whose full name was Muhammad ibn Al-Husayn ibn Al-Husayn ibn Ishaq ibn Musa ibn Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib. He was delighted with his discourses with him and his gentleness, kindness, dignity and interest in religion. He brought a book compiled by Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi entitled Man la yahduruhu al-Tabib or "Every man his own doctor" to the attention of al-Shaikh al-Saduq. He, then, asked him to compile a book on Fiqh (jurisprudence), al-halal wa al-haram (the permitted and prohibited), al-shara-i' wa-'l-ahkam (revealed law and ordinary laws) which would draw on all the works which the Shaykh had composed on the subject. This book would be called Man la yahduruhu al-faqih and would function as a work of reference.
In fact the work represents a definitive synopsis of all the traditions which al-Shaikh al-Saduq had collected and included in individual books on specific legal subjects. In the lists of books of al-Shaikh al-Saduq, individual works are attributed to him on every subject of the furu'; examples are such works as Kitab al-nikah ("Book of Marriage") or Kitab al-hajj ("Book of the Pilgrimage"). That this was the intention of both the author and the learned member of Ahl al-bait is emphasised by the author when he says that Sharif al-Din had asked him for this work despite the fact that he had copied or heard from him the traditions of 145 books.
Another element in the work that stresses that it was conceived as a reference book to help ordinary Shi'ites in the practise of the legal requirements of Islam is the general absence of the Isnads or traditions. The isnads - or the chain of authorities by which the tradition had been received from the Prophet or one of the Imams - was, and is, an all-important feature of the science of traditions. Therefore this book was not meant to be a work for scholars, who would want to check the authorities. Scholars could check the isnads in the numerous individual studies compiled by al-Shaykh al-Saduq. This book was a summary of the study of legal traditions by one of the great scholars of traditions. Al-Shaikh al-Saduq says that he complied with the request for him to compile the book:
"... because I found it appropriate to do so. I compiled the book without isnads (asanid) so that the chains (of authority) should not be too many (-and make the book too long-) and so that the book's advantages might be abundant. I did not have the usual intention of compilers (of books of traditions) to put forward everything which they (could) narrate but my intention was to put forward those things by which I gave legal opinions and which I judged to be correct.
Al-Shaykh al-Saduq also gives an account of some of the earlier works which he referred to. These works were the books of Hariz ibn 'Abd Allah al-Sijistani - he died during the lifetime of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq; the book of 'Ubaid Allah ibn 'Ali al-Halabi - who was also a contemporary of Imam Ja'far; the books of Ali ibn Mahziyar - who took traditions from Imam Ali Al-Ridha, Imam Muhammad al-Jawad and Imam al-Hadi; the books of al-Husayn ibn Sa'id - who also heard traditions from those three Imams; the Nawadir of Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Isa (died 297 A.H.) and also heard traditions from those three Imams; the Kitab nawadir al-hikma of Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn 'Imran al-Ash'ari; Kitab al-rahma of Sa'd ibn 'Abd Allah (died 299 or 301 A.H.); the Jami' of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan - who was one of the teachers of the Shaykh and died in 343 A.H.; the Nawadir of Muhammad b. Abi 'Umayr (died 218 A.H.); the Kitab al-Mahasin of Ahmad ibn Abi 'Abd Allah al-Barqi (i.e. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Barqi, died in 274 or 280 A.H. - this book has been published in Teheran); and the Risala which his father had written to him. The Shaikh goes on to mention that he also consulted many other works whose names occur in the book-lists. This inclusion of the list of some of the works consulted is useful evidence that the works of both al-Shaykh al-Saduq and his predecessor, al-Kulayni, who compiled the first of the four major books of Shi'ite traditions, al-Kafi, represent the culmination of works of traditions which had been compiled in a continuous process from the earliest times and at least from the time of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq.
In addition to these references which the author gives in his introduction he frequently refers to his own works during the course of the book. Thus at the end of his Bab nawadir al-hajj (Chapter of Exceptional Traditions of the Pilgrimage), he says: "I have published these nawadir with isnads with others in Kitab jami', nawadir al-hajj."
Another feature of the work is the method used by the author. He does not leave the traditions to speak for themselves but frequently draws rules from the traditions or explains their meaning. In a summary of the various traditions on the pilgrimage, he gives a long outline of all the rituals which should be performed by the faithful with very few traditions intervening in his outline.
The book covers most of the points concerned with the furu' (practices) of fiqh jurisprudence. It is not arranged in chapters (kutub) but in smaller sections (abwab), with the various categories such as fasting and pilgrimage following closely after each other. As indicated, its lack of isnads and al-Shaikh al-Saduq's own explanations make it an extremely useful compendium of law for ordinary Shi'ite Muslims of the period.
The book, naturally as one of the four major works of traditions, has had many commentaries written on it. Among the significant Shi'ite writers who have written such commentaries are al-Sayyid Ahmad b. Zain al-'Abidin al-'Alawi al-'Amili (died 1060 A.H.) and Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi al-Awwal (died 1070 A H ). The book itself has been recently published in four volumes in Teheran.
Read more about this topic: Shaykh Saduq