1000 Doors of Knowledge

Based on Authentic Sh`ah Hadth

Nader Zaveri
29th Sha`bn 1433

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
a (Authentic) Adth ............................................................................................................................................... 4
a #1......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
a #2......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
a #3......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
asan (Good) Adth..................................................................................................................................................... 7
asan #1 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Muwaththaq (Reliable) Adth ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Muwaththaq #1 ............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Muwaththaq #2 ............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Muwaththaq #3 ............................................................................................................................................................. 9
Muwaththaq #4 ........................................................................................................................................................... 10
Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................. 11

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

Introduction

.

) (
All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, and seek from His aid, and His forgiveness, and His guidance. And we seek
refuge in Allah from the impurity that is in ourselves and that which results from our evil actions. Whomever Allah guides,
then he cannot go astray. And whomever He lets go astray, cannot then be guided.
And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, He is the One without a partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad is
his slave and messenger, He chose him for his guardianship, and distinguished him with His message, and blessed him
with the prophet-hood; (he was) a trustee of His veiled, and a mercy unto the worlds the blessings of Allah upon him Muhammad and his family )(

One of the commonly known things of both the Sh`ahs and Sunns is the great knowledge of Imm `Al
)( . Even Sunns acknowledge that Imm `Al ) ( was one of the most knowledgeable, if not the
most knowledgeable companion of the Prophet Muammad )( .
This article will analyze one of the most famous adth that shows the reason for the vast knowledge of
Imm `Al )( . The narration I am talking about is before the death of the Prophet )( ,
he ) ( brought Imm `Al ) ( close and Imm `Al ) ( says that the Prophet
) ( taught him a door (of knowledge), and that door opens a 1000 more doors, which in turn
opened up a 1000 more doors. This is seen in both the Sh`ah and Sunn books.
The focus of this article is to analyze the narrations that are found in al-adqs al-Khil, all of these
narrations are from his al-Khil. We have analyzed the chains of narrators in depth, and have placed them into
three categories.
1. a (Authentic) A connected chain of narrators which contains trustworthy Immiyyah Sh`ah
2. asan (Good) A connect chain of narrators which contains one or more praised individuals who do
not have tawthq (proof of trustworthiness), but are praised.
3. Muwaththaq (Reliable) A connect chain of narrators which contains at least one or more nonImmiyyah Shee`ahs

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

1000 Doors of Knowledge

a (Authentic) Adth
a #1

Narrated to us my father1 and Muammad b. al-asan2 and Amad b. Muammad b. Yaya al-`Ar3 ()
from them, they said Sa`ad b. `Abd Allh4 narrated to us from Ya`qb b. Yazd5 from Muammad b. Ab `Umayr6 from
Murzim b. Hukaym al-Azd7 from Ab `Abd Allh said,

The Messenger of Allh taught `Al 1000 doors, in which each door opens 1000 (more) doors

My father means al-adqs father, he is `Al b. al-ussayn b. Bbuwayh al-Qumm and he is thiqah (trustworthy) according to alNajsh, al-Tss Rijl and al-Fihrist (See: al-Najsh, Rijl, pg. 261, person # 648; al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 432, person # 6191 (in book); als, al-Fihrist, pg. 273, person # 393)
2
Muammad b. al-asan b. Amad b. al-Wald, better known as Ibn al-Wald, is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See:
al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 383, person # 1042), and al-s (See: al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 439, person # 6273 & al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 442,
person # 709)
3
Amad b. Muammad b. Yaya is majhl (unknown) (See: al-Khoei, Mu`jam Rijl al-adth, vol. 3, pg. 120, person # 931). He is
unknown even though al-adq gave tara (saying ( )( after his name. According to al-Khoei, al-adqs saying of (
( after his shuykhs name does not entail trustworthiness or praise. It does not matter if he is majhl, because there is a ( and)
in between the names of al-adqs shuykh, which means he heard it from all of them.
4
Sa`ad b. `Abd Allh b. al-`Ashar al-Qumm is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najshi al-s (See: al-Najsh, Rijl, pg. 178,
person # 467; al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 427, person # 6141; al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 75, person # 306)
5
Ya`qb b. Yazd is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, Rijl, pg. 450, person # 1215), al-s (See: al-s,
al-Rijl, pg. 393, person # 5797 & al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 508, person # 807), and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 186, person # 1)
6
Muammad b. Ab `Umayr is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 326, person # 887), al-s
(See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 404, person # 618 & al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 265, person # 5413), al-ill (See: al-ills al-Khulah, pg. 140,
person #16).
7
Murzim b. ukaym al-Azd is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 424, person # 1138), al-s
(See: al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 342, person # 5105), and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 170, person # 7)

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

a #2

Narrated to us my father8 and Muammad b. al-asan9 () , they said `Abd Allh b. Ja`far al-Himyar10 said
Muammad b. al-ussayn b. Ab al-Khab11 from Ja`far b. Bashr al-Bajal12 from Dhuray al-Murab13 from Ab `Abd
Allh ) ( said,

The Messenger of Allh ) ( covered `Al with a robe (or, cloak), then he taught him 1000
words.

a #3

Narrated to us Muammad b. al-asan b. Amad b. al-Wald14 ) ( said, Muammad b. al-asan al-affr15
from Ya`qb b. Yazd16 and Ibrhm b. Hshim17 from Muammad b. Ab `Umayr18 from Manr b. zim19 from Ab
amzah al-Thuml20 from `Al b. al-ussayn ) ( said,

Refer to footnote 1.
Refer to footnote 2.
10
`Abd Allh b. Ja`far al-imyar is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 219-220, person # 573),
al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 294, person # 440 & al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 400, person # 5859), and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah,
pg. 106, person # 20)
11
Muammad b. al-ussayn b. Ab al-Khab is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 334,
person # 897), al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 400, person # 608 & al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 379, person # 5615), and al-ill (See: alill, al-Khulah, pg. 141, person # 19)
12
Ja`far b. Bashr al-Bajal is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 119, person # 304), al-s
(See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 109-110, person # 142), and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 31-32, person # 7)
13
Dhuray (b. Muammad) al-Murab is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 189, person # 279)
14
Refer to footnote 2.
15
Muammad b. al-asan al-affr is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 354, person # 948),
and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 167, person # 2)
16
Refer to footnote 5.
17
Ibrhm b. Hshim is mamd (praised) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 413, person # 1101), and al-ill (See:
al-ills al-Khulah, pg. 5, person #9). Even though is praised, since there is an and in between him and Ya`qb b. Yazd, this
adth is still considered a.
18
Refer to footnote 6.
19
Manr b. zim is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 16, person # 18)
9

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

The Messenger of Allh ) ( taught `Al a thousand words, in which each word opens up 1000 (more)
words, and the thousand words, each words opens up a 1000 (more) words.

20

Ab amzah al-Thuml, is Thbit b. Dnr, and he is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 115,
person # 296), al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 105, person # 138), and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 29, person # 5)

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

asan (Good) Adth

asan #1

Narrated to us my father21 and Muammad b. Msa b. al-Mutawakkil22 and Muammad b. `Al Mjuluwayh23 and Amad
b. `Al b. Ibrhm b. Hshim24 and amzah b. Muammad b. Amad al-`Alaw25 and al-ussayn b. Ibrhm b. Ntnah26
and al-ussayn b. Amad b. Hishm al-Muaddab27 and Amad b. Ziyd b. Ja`far al-Hamadn28 ()
they said `Al b. Ibrhm b. Hshim29 from his father30 from `Abd Allh b. al-Mughrah31 from Ab Ja`far Muammad b.
`Al al-Thn ) ( that he heard him say,

The Messenger of Allh ) ( taught `Al 1000 words, each word opens up a 1000 (more)
words.

21

Refer to footnote 1.
Muammad b. Msa b. al-Mutawakkil is thiqah (trustworthy) according to Ibn ws (See: Ibn ws, Fal al-Sil, pg. 158)
23
Muammad b. `Al Mjuluwayh is majhl (unknown) (See: al-Khoei, Mu`jam Rijl al-adth, vol. 18, pg. 58-59, person # 11429),
even though he is al-adqs shuykh and he has said ) ( after his name. As stated earlier, al-Khoei rejects the notion that
being the tara (saying ) )( or taraum (saying ) )( does not imply trustworthiness or praise for the narrator.
Even though he is majhl (unknown), it does not hurt this specific narration since al-adq has taken this adth from his thiqah
shuykh.
24
Amad b. `Al b. Ibrhm b. Hshim is majhl (unknown) (See: al-Khoei, Mu`jam Rijl al-adth, vol. 2, pg. 164, person # 678). Even
though he is majhl (unknown), it does not hurt this specific narration since al-adq has taken this adth from his thiqah shuykh.
25
amzah b. Muammad b. Amad al-`Alaw is majhl (unknown) (See: al-Khoei, Mu`jam Rijl al-adth, vol. 7, pg. 292, person #
4068). Even though he is majhl (unknown), it does not hurt this specific narration since al-adq has taken this adth from his
thiqah shuykh.
26
al-ussayn b. Ibrhm b. Ntnah is majhl (unknown) (See: al-Khoei, Mu`jam Rijl al-adth, vol. 6, pg. 190, person # 3253). Even
though he is majhl (unknown), it does not hurt this specific narration since al-adq has taken this adth from his thiqah shuykh.
27
al-ussayn b. Amad b. Hishm al-Muaddab is majhl (unknown) (See: al-Khoei, Mu`jam Rijl al-adth, vol. 6, pg. 189-190,
person # 3251). Even though he is majhl (unknown), it does not hurt this specific narration since al-adq has taken this adth
from his thiqah shuykh.
28
Amad b. Ziyd b. al-Hamadn is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-adq (See: al-adqs Kaml al-Dn, vol. 2, pg. 369) and alill (See: al-ill, al-Khulsah, pg. 19, person # 37)
29
`Al b. Ibrhm b. Hshim al-Qumm is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 260, person # 680)
and al-ill (See: al-ills al-Khulah, pg. 100, person #45)
30
Ibrhm b. Hshim is mamd (praised) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 16, person # 18), al-s (See: al-s,
al-Fihrist, pg. 12, person # 6) and al-ill (See: al-ills al-Khulah, pg. 5, person #9)
31
`Abd Allh b. al-Mughrah al-Bajal is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 215, person # 561)
and al-ill (See: al-ills al-Khulah, pg. 110, person # 34). According to al-Khoei, he believes that `Abd Allh b. al-Mughrah was a
th
th
th
companion of the 6 , 7 and the 8 Imms )( . He did not make `Abd Allh a companion of Imm Jawd )( , who is
the Imm ) ( of this adth. In this adth, `Abd Allh uses a specified form of transmission from the Imm )( , he says
that he heard him. Since he is a trustworthy companion, and he is specified how he has transmitted this adth, it is safe to say
that he was a companion of Imm Jawd as well.
22

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

Muwaththaq (Reliable) Adth

Muwaththaq #1

Narrated to us my father 32) ( said Sa`ad b. `Abd Allh33 narrated to us from Muammad b. `sa b. `Ubayd34
from Amad b. amzah al-`Aduw35 from Abn b. `Uthmn36 from Zurrah37 from Ab Ja`far ) ( said,

The Messenger of Allh taught `Al a door, which opens 1000 doors, in which each door opens a 1000
doors.38

Muwaththaq #2

32

Refer to footnote 1.
Refer to footnote 4.
34
Muammad b. `sa b. `Ubayd al-`Ubaydi is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najshs al-Rijl (See: al-Najsh, Rijl, pg. 333334, person # 896), and also al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 141-142, person # 22)
35
According to al-Khoei, this Amad b. amzah is the same Amad b. amzah b. al-Yas`. (See: al-Khoei, Mu`jam Rijl al-adth, vol.
2, pg. 114, person # 544). Amad b. amzah al-`Adaw is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg.
90, person # 224), al-s (See: al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 383, person # 5631 (in book), and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 14, person
# 5).
36
Abn b. `Uthmn al-Amar is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Kash (See: al-Kash, Ikhtiyr Ma`arifah al-Rijl, pg. 375, saying #
705(. Abn b. `Uthmn is not an Immiyyah (12er Sh`ah(, rather he was of the Nwsiyyah sect according to a a report in alKashs Ikhtiyr Ma`arifah al-Rijl, pg. 352, saying # 660:

Muammad b. Mas`d said `Al b. al-asan (b. Fal( narrated to me and said, Abn is from the people of Barah, and he
was a client of the Bajlah (tribe(, he lived in al-Kfah, and he was from the al-Nwsiyyah.
Since Abn b. `Uthmn is a confirmed non-Imm, this drops the grading of this narration from a (Authentic) to Muwaththaq
(Reliable).
37
Zurrah is Zurrah b. A`yan and he is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 175, person # 463),
al-s (See: al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 337, person # 5010 (in book))
38
This adth is Muwaththaq (Reliable), even if just one of the narrators is a non-Imm
33

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Narrated to us Muammad b. al-asan b. Amad b. al-Wald39 ) ( said Muammad b. al-asan al-affr40 from
Ya`qb b. Yazd41 and Ibrhm b. Hshim42 from Muammad b. Ab `Umayr43 from Ibrhm b. `Abd al-umayd44 from Ab
amzah al-Thuml45 from Ab Ja`far ) ( said, `Al ) ( said,

The Messenger of Allh ) ( taught me 1000 doors which (each door) opened up 1000 doors.

Muwaththaq #3

Narrated to us my father46 and Muammad b. al-asan (Ibn al-Wald)47 and Amad b. Muammad b. Yaya al-`Ar48
( ) from them, they said that Sa`ad b. `Abd Allh49 narrated to us, he said Amad b. al-asan b. `Al b.
Fal50 from al-asan b. `Al b. Fal51 from `Abd Allh b. Bukayr52 from `Abd al-Ramn b. Ab `Abd Allh53 said, I
heard Ab `Abd Allh ) ( say,

39

Refer to footnote 2.
Refer to footnote 15.
41
Refer to footnote 5.
42
Refer to footnote 17.
43
Refer to footnote 6.
44
Ibrhm b. `Abd al-umayd al-Asad, is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 16-17, person # 12).
Also, according to al-s Ibrhm b. `Abd al-umayd is a Wqif (See: al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 332, person # 4947 & pg. 351, person #
5195(. Ibrhm being part of the Wqifiyyah does not hurt this narration, because he is still thiqah. It does lower the status of the
narration to Muwaththaq (Reliable).
45
Refer to footnote 20.
46
Refer to footnote 1.
47
Refer to footnote 2.
48
Refer to footnote 3.
49
Refer to footnote 4.
50
Amad b. al-asan b. `Al b. Muammad b. `Al b. Fal is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl,
pg. 80-81, person # 194), and al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 58, person # 72). He is said to be of the Fa madhhab, which lowers
the rank of this adth to Muwaththaq (Reliable).
51
al-asan b. `Al b. Muammad b. `Al b. Fal is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 34,
person # 72), al-s (See: al-s, al-Rijl, pg. 354, person # 5241 & al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 123-124, person # 164). He is also said to
be of the Fa madhhab.
52
`Abd Allh b. Bukayr b. A`yun is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 304, person # 464), and al-ill
(See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 106-107, person # 24). He is also said to be of the Fa madhhab.
53
`Abd al-Ramn b. Ab `Abd Allh is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 30, person # 62), and
al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 113, person # 3)
40

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1000 Doors of Knowledge

The Messenger of Allh taught `Al a door, which opens for him 1000 doors, every door opens for him 1000
(more) doors

Muwaththaq #4

Narrated to us my father54 and Muammad b. al-asan55 and Amad b. Muammad b. Yaya al-`Ar56 ()
from them, they said Sa`ad b. `Abd Allh57 narrated to us from Amad b. Muammad b. `sa and Ibrhm b. Hshim 58
from al-asan b. `Al b. Fal59 from Ab al-Mughr Humayd b. al-Muthanna al-`Ajal60 from Dhuray b. Muammad b.
Yazd al-Murab61 said, I heard Ab `Abd Allh ) ( say,

We are the inheritors of the Prophets, then he ) ( said, The Messenger of Allh covered `Al with a
robe (or, cloak), then he taught him 1000 words, each word opens up a 1000 (more) words.

54

Refer to footnote 1.
Refer to footnote 2.
56
Refer to footnote 3.
57
Refer to footnote 4.
58
Refer to footnote 17.
59
Refer to footnote 51.
60
Ab al-Mughr umayd b. al-Muthanna al-`Ajal is thiqah (trustworthy) according to al-Najsh (See: al-Najsh, al-Rijl, pg. 133,
person # 340), al-s (See: al-s, al-Fihrist, pg. 154, person # 236), and al-ill (See: al-ill, al-Khulah, pg. 58-59, person # 1)
61
Refer to footnote 13.
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al-ill. al-Khulah al-`Aqwl. 1st ed. 1 vols. Qum: , Dr al-Dukhir, 1411.
al-Kash. Ikhtiyr Ma`arifah al-Rijl. Ed. Dr. asan al-Muafaw. Mashhad: Muassasah al-Nashr f Jmi`ah, 1390.
al-Khoei. Mu`jam Rijl al-Hadth. 5th. 24 vols. 1413.
al-Najsh. Rijl. Ed. Musa al-Shabiri al-Zanjani. 5. 1 vols. Qum: Muassasah al-Nashr al-Islm, 1416.
al-adq. al-Khil. 2nd. 1 vols. Qum: Mu'assasah al-Nashr al-Islami, 1403.
. Kaml al-Dn. 2nd. 2 vols in 1 vols. Qum: Dr al-Kutub al-Islmiyyah, 1395/1975.
al-s. al-Fihrist. Najaf: al-Maktabah al-Raawiyyah, n.d.
. al-Rijl. 1st. Qum: Muassasah al-Nashr al-Islm, 1415.
ws, Ibn. Fal al-Sil. 1st ed. 1 vols. n.d.

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