Al-Kafi · Hadith 1

The Book about people with Divine Authority · Only an Imam has the Authority to Wash the Body of an Imam for Burial · Volume 1, book 4, chapter 92, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

1ـ الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُعَلَّى بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ الْوَشَّاءِ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ عُمَرَ الْحَلالِ أَوْ غَيْرِهِ عَنِ الرِّضَا (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُ إِنَّهُمْ يُحَاجُّونَّا يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ الامَامَ لا يَغْسِلُهُ إِلا الامَامُ قَالَ فَقَالَ مَا يُدْرِيهِمْ مَنْ غَسَلَهُ فَمَا قُلْتَ لَهُمْ قَالَ فَقُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِنْ قَالَ مَوْلايَ إِنَّهُ غَسَلَهُ تَحْتَ عَرْشِ رَبِّي فَقَدْ صَدَقَ وَإِنْ قَالَ غَسَلَهُ فِي تُخُومِ الارْضِ فَقَدْ صَدَقَ قَالَ لا هَكَذَا قَالَ فَقُلْتُ فَمَا أَقُولُ لَهُمْ قَالَ قُلْ لَهُمْ إِنِّي غَسَلْتُهُ فَقُلْتُ أَقُولُ لَهُمْ إِنَّكَ غَسَلْتَهُ فَقَالَ نَعَمْ.

Published English translation

1. Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad narrated from Mu'alla ibn Muhammad, from Al-Hasan ibn Ali Al-Washsha', from Ahmad ibn Umar Al-Hallal (or someone else), from Imam al-Ridha (as), who said: "I told him that they (al-Waqifiyya) argue with us, saying that no one can wash the body of an Imam except another Imam." Imam al-Ridha (as) replied, "How do they know who washed him (Imam al-Jawad)?" I then asked, "What should I say to them?" He instructed, "Tell them that if he (the Imam) said, 'My master, he washed him under the Throne of my Lord,' then he has spoken the truth. And if he said, 'He washed him in the depths of the earth,' then he has spoken the truth." Imam al-Ridha (as) added, "That's how it is." I asked, "So what should I tell them?" He replied, "Tell them that I washed him." I then asked, "Should I tell them that you washed him?" Imam al-Ridha (as) said, "Yes."

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف على المشهور

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (4/256)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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