Al-Kafi · Hadith 3

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · The Feeble-minded People · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 172, Hadith 3

Original Arabic text

3ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنِ ابْنِ رِئَابٍ عَنْ زُرَارَةَ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) عَنِ الْمُسْتَضْعَفِ فَقَالَ هُوَ الَّذِي لا يَسْتَطِيعُ حِيلَةً يَدْفَعُ بِهَا عَنْهُ الْكُفْرَ وَلا يَهْتَدِي بِهَا إِلَى سَبِيلِ الإيمَانِ لا يَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ يُؤْمِنَ وَلا يَكْفُرَ قَالَ وَالصِّبْيَانُ وَمَنْ كَانَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاءِ عَلَى مِثْلِ عُقُولِ الصِّبْيَانِ.

Published English translation

3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from ibn Mahbub from ibn Ri’ab from Zurara who has said the following: “Once I asked abu Ja’far (a.s.) about the feeble-minded people. The Imam said, ‘They are those who are not able to defend themselves against disbelief or find the means to the way in the direction of belief. They are not able to have belief and do not disbelieve.’ The Imam said, ‘Children and those of men and women who are of children’s mental condition are among such people.’”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف على المشهور معتبر عند ي

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (1/209)

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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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 2, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
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