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Twelver Shi'ism
The Fourteen Infallibles Muhammad Fatimah The Twelve Imams Ali Hasan Husayn al-Sajjad al-Baqir al-Sadiq al-Kazim ar-Rida al-Taqi al-Naqi al-Askari al-Mahdi
Principles Monotheism Justice Prophethood Imamate Judgement Day
Other beliefs Imamate of the Family Angels Mourning of Muharram Intercession Occultation Wilayat al-Faqih Usul al-fiqh Ijtihad Taqlid Irfan
Practices Salat Sawm Hajj Zakat Khums Jihad Amr bi-l maʿrūf Nahy ani l-Munkar Tawalli Tabarri
Other practices Mourning of Muharram Arba'een Pilgrimage Intercession
Holy cities Mecca Medina Najaf Karbala Mashhad Jerusalem Samarra Kadhimiya Qom
Groups Ja'fari Usuli Akhbari Alevi Shaykhi
Other related sects and groups Alawites Sufism and Alevism Qizilbash Safaviyya Bektashism and folk religion Malamatiyya Qalandariyya Hurufism Bektashism Rifa`i Galibi Ni'matullāhī
Scholarship Law Marja' (list) Hawza Ayatollah (list) Allamah Seghatoleslam Hojatoleslam Ijtihad
Hadith collections The Four Books Kitab al-Kafi Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih Tahdhib al-Ahkam Al-Istibsar Other hadith collections Book of Sulaym ibn Qays Bihar al-Anwar Wasā'il al-Shīʿa Reality of Certainty Nahj al-Balagha Mafatih al-Jinan Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya Al-Amali
Sources of ijtihad and jurisprudence Qur'an Hadiths of The Infallibles Consensus Reason
Related topics List of Twelver Shia books Criticism of Twelver Shi'ism
Shia Islam portal
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Part of a series on
Hadith
Hadith studies Terminology Types (categories) Biographical evaluation Musannaf Israʼiliyyat
Collections Sunni1 Kutub Al-Sittah ("The Six Books") Sahih al-Bukhari صحيح البخاري Sahih Muslim صحيح مسلم Sahih al-Tirmidhi صحيح الترمذي Sunan Abu Dawood سنن أبي داود Sunan al-Nasa'i سنن النسائي Sunan ibn Majah سنن ابن ماجه Others Al-Adab al-Mufrad Kanz al-Ummal Kitab al-Athar Mu'jam al-Kabeer Mu'jam al-Awsat Mu'jam al-Saghir Mustadrak ala al-Sahihayn At-Targhib wat-Tarhib Majma al-Zawa'id Musnad Abu Hanifa Musnad_al-Bazzar Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal Musnad al-Shafi'i Musnad al-Siraj Musnad al-Firdous Musnad Abu Ya'la Musnad al-Tayalisi Musnad Abu Awanah Musnad Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh Musnad Humaidi Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah Muwatta Imam Malik Sahih Ibn Hibban Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah Sahifah Hammam ibn Munabbih Shama'il al-Muhammadiyya Sunan al-Kubra Bayhaqi Sunan al-Wusta Bayhaqi Sunan al-Daraqutni Sunan al-Darimi Sunan Nasa'i al-Kubra Sunan Sa'id ibn Mansur Shu'ab al-Iman Tahdhib al-Athar Jami ul Kamil Shia Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah ("The Four Books") Kitab al-Kafi الكتاب الكافي Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih من لا يحضره الفقيه Tahdhib al-Ahkam تهذیب الاحکام Al-Istibsar الاستبصار Others Al-Wafi Wasa'il al-Shia Mustadrak al-wasa'il Bihar al-Anwar Nahj al-Balagha The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya Risalah al-Huquq Sahifah of al-Ridha Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah Da'a'im al-Islam Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha Haqq al-Yaqeen Ain Al-Hayat Al-Ghadir Ibadi Jami Sahih Tartib al-Musnad 1 - Books also revered by Ahmadiyya
Related topics Ahl al-Hadith Criticism Sheikh al-Hadith
Islam portal • Category
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The Four Books (Arabic: ٱلْكُتُب ٱلْأَرْبَعَة, al-Kutub al-ʾArbaʿah), or The Four Principles (al-Uṣūl al-Arbaʿah), is a Twelver Shia term referring to their four best-known hadith collections:

Shi'a Muslims use different books of hadith from those used by Sunni Muslims,^[b] who prize the six major hadith collections. In particular, Twelver Shi'a consider many Sunni transmitters of hadith to be unreliable because many of them took the side of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali instead of only Ali (and the rest of Muhammad's family) and the majority of them were narrated through certain personalities that waged war against Ahlul Bayt or sided with their enemies such as Aisha that fought Ali at Jamal, or Muawiya who did so at Siffin. Hussain (grandson of Muhammad and son of Ali ibn Abi Talib) was martyred at the Battle of Karbala.^[2] Shia trust traditions transmitted through the Imams, Muhammad's descendants through Fatima Zahra.^[3]