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Al-Kafi, Volume 8 of 8: English Translation
Al-Kafi, Volume 8 of 8 (Al-Rawdah min al-Kafi) - Compiled by Thiqatu al-Islam, Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Ya’qub al-Kulayni; English Translation by Shaykh Muhammad Sarwar. Al-Kafi - The first and foremost comprehensive book of Hadith of the Holy Prophet, with his Ahl al-Bayt as narrators, dealing with issues of theology and ethics, practical laws such as laws of taharat (cleanliness), laws of worship (prayer, zakat, fasting, hajj and jihad), laws of business, laws of family and social relations, and judicial laws.
370 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2015
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April 5, 2017
This is volume 8 of an 8 volume series.
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
What is there to say that I haven't touched on in the previous 7? There were little glimmers of questions, like the question of how much light does the moon reflect from the sun, before they were snuffed out by demands to not think about them. Direct orders are given to keep your eyes(/lips/legs) closed if you think you might see something that would weaken your faith, which severely limits the ability of Shi'as to embrace the universe as it is and to get out of the rut that their religion is. Like in previous volumes it shows a worldview that revers authority, in particular patriarchal authority and a system of slavery that is kind of hard to stop once it takes hold :
"O you people! Surely, Adam as did not give birth to a slave or a
bondmaid, and that all of the people are free, but Allah azwj Made some to be in
authority over the others. So the one who had an affliction and he bore it patiently in
goodness so he should not consider by it as a favour to Allah azwj Mighty and
Majestic.""
Slavery kept the ancient greeks from developing industrial capacity, and kept humankind from developing rocketry capable of getting us off this rock. The incentives were very much backwards, and you can see that Shi'a islam is right at home in situations where the incentives to long-term human survival are backwards.
Predictably it views the close enemy (Sunnis) as apostates and somehow worse than Jews (that Jews are the measuring point of comparison here shouldn't even raise your eyebrow by this point). It would be comical how simplistic they view the outcome of the then ongoing power struggle ("our asws Shiites are the privileged ones, and the rest of the people like of infidels’."...this among other statements carry about as water as Queen's "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions").
Things you will find in this volume : smallpox and floods are messages from Allah sent to punish sinners. Curses are a thing and astrology is real. All kinds of sex is promised in the afterlife but touching your private parts for your own pleasure is frowned upon. Special attention is brought to the prophecy of the Shi'a eradicating the Jews completely. Animals can talk if Allah wills it. Double standards ahoy (...so when persia wins against rome, it's a crying shame and no one to blame, but when islam wins against persia it's because of allah). Infighting is Allah's will. The flu is the body fighting off vitiligo/leprosy. Not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 angels sent to the People of Lot to bring their downfall...when killing the gays you've gotta be THAT SURE that they are dead apparently. Dreams are interpreted by someone, and depending who interprets them determines to some extent the outcome in real life which quickly follows, and is predicted by the dream.
In short: the Al Kafi, more generally, is not Complete anything, except possibly a complete waste of time of the modern reader. It shows Shi'a Islam to be a giant farce (but a politically powerful and dangerous farce), it shows Shi'as to be suckers willing to accept anything as long as they are told their imams said so, something that seems to have stayed consistent over long periods of time.
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
What is there to say that I haven't touched on in the previous 7? There were little glimmers of questions, like the question of how much light does the moon reflect from the sun, before they were snuffed out by demands to not think about them. Direct orders are given to keep your eyes(/lips/legs) closed if you think you might see something that would weaken your faith, which severely limits the ability of Shi'as to embrace the universe as it is and to get out of the rut that their religion is. Like in previous volumes it shows a worldview that revers authority, in particular patriarchal authority and a system of slavery that is kind of hard to stop once it takes hold :
"O you people! Surely, Adam as did not give birth to a slave or a
bondmaid, and that all of the people are free, but Allah azwj Made some to be in
authority over the others. So the one who had an affliction and he bore it patiently in
goodness so he should not consider by it as a favour to Allah azwj Mighty and
Majestic.""
Slavery kept the ancient greeks from developing industrial capacity, and kept humankind from developing rocketry capable of getting us off this rock. The incentives were very much backwards, and you can see that Shi'a islam is right at home in situations where the incentives to long-term human survival are backwards.
Predictably it views the close enemy (Sunnis) as apostates and somehow worse than Jews (that Jews are the measuring point of comparison here shouldn't even raise your eyebrow by this point). It would be comical how simplistic they view the outcome of the then ongoing power struggle ("our asws Shiites are the privileged ones, and the rest of the people like of infidels’."...this among other statements carry about as water as Queen's "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions").
Things you will find in this volume : smallpox and floods are messages from Allah sent to punish sinners. Curses are a thing and astrology is real. All kinds of sex is promised in the afterlife but touching your private parts for your own pleasure is frowned upon. Special attention is brought to the prophecy of the Shi'a eradicating the Jews completely. Animals can talk if Allah wills it. Double standards ahoy (...so when persia wins against rome, it's a crying shame and no one to blame, but when islam wins against persia it's because of allah). Infighting is Allah's will. The flu is the body fighting off vitiligo/leprosy. Not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 angels sent to the People of Lot to bring their downfall...when killing the gays you've gotta be THAT SURE that they are dead apparently. Dreams are interpreted by someone, and depending who interprets them determines to some extent the outcome in real life which quickly follows, and is predicted by the dream.
In short: the Al Kafi, more generally, is not Complete anything, except possibly a complete waste of time of the modern reader. It shows Shi'a Islam to be a giant farce (but a politically powerful and dangerous farce), it shows Shi'as to be suckers willing to accept anything as long as they are told their imams said so, something that seems to have stayed consistent over long periods of time.
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