The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays

The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays (Arabic: كِتَاب سُلَيْم ٱبْن قَيْس‎) is the oldest known Shia Hadith collection by Sulaym ibn Qays, who entrusted it to Aban ibn Abi Ayyash.

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Related topics Ahl al-Hadith Criticism
Category Book

According to Shias, the book "has received endorsement from five Infallible Imams." The author researched and verified events before he penned them so that their authenticity is incontrovertible. The book was entrusted to only one person, Aban ibn Abi Ayyash who was held to a solemn oath not to talk of the book during Sulaym's lifetime and that after his death he would give the book only to trustworthy Shia.[1]

Some Shia scholars consider the authenticity of the book to be valid, whilst others like Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid question its authenticity "This book (Kitab Sulaym) is not reliable, and it is not permissible to act upon most of it, and confusion and tadlees has occurred in it, so the pious should not act upon everything that is in it (at all), and not rely on what is written in it or imitate its narrations."[2]

The author is also regarded as a trustworthy narrator to some such as Ibn al-Nadim, the famous 10th century CE book publisher, said that the book was among the well known Shia books.[3] Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi has mentioned the book and the author in his book, Al-Ghaibah. In fact, the book is known among some Shia books of hadith and rijal (commentary on the life and trustworthiness of the hadith narrators) have regarded both the book and its author with high esteem.

Currently, several variant manuscripts of this book exist, and it has been suggested that content was added to it and altered in it over time.[4] Hossein Modarressi writes that the oldest, preserved and intact version of the Kitab Sulaym ibn Qays comes from the final years of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik's reign.[5]