Al-Saduq began teaching and narrating hadith from a young age, and continued to do so during his travels. He had many students, and many scholars narrate hadith on his authority. Some of his famous students are Al-Sharif al-Murtada, al-Shaykh al-Mufid and al-Talla'ukbari. He is buried in Rey.

Life

Al-Saduq was born in either Qom or Khorasan, but was brought up in Qom, where he studied with his father and other leading Shi'a scholars. At some point - perhaps after 343/945 - he left Qom for Rey, the capital of the Buyid dynasty. He then traveled to Mashhad, and held teaching sessions in Nishapur. In the course of his life he also undertook a journey to Mecca for Hajj and then to the holy shrines in Iraq, and another journey to Mashhad and Transoxiana. In all of his travels, he visited many cities and was able to hear hadith from a vast number of scholars. He spent the last years of his life in Rey, where he is buried.

Teachers

Due to his numerous travels, al-Shaykh al-Saduq was able to benefit from nearly 260 teachers. A survey of his works and the hadith he has narrated shows that his father, 'Ali b. Babawayh al-Qummi, and, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ben al-Hasan ben Ahmad ben al-Walid al-Qummi, another faqih of Qom, were his two most influential teachers. Ahmad b. 'Ali b. Ibrahim ben Hashim al-Qummi, Abu l-Hasan Ahmad ben Muhammad ben 'Isa, and Muhammad ben Musa ben al-Mutawakkil were also among his well-known teachers.

Al-Shaykh al-Saduq was a prolific writer. According to his own statement, by the year 368/978 he had written 245 books and treatises. Although many of his works no longer exist, a considerable number of them have reached us. The following is a list of his published works:

Kitab man la yahduruh al-faqih (The book for the one who does not have a Faqih before him); one of the Four Books of the Shi'a, and al-Saduq's most famous work. As its title implies, the book is mainly concerned with hadithrelating to fiqh.

Kamal al-din wa tamam al-ni'mah (The Perfection of the Religion and the Fulfillment of the Blessing); a defense of the belief in Imam al-Mahdi (a) and his occultation.

Al-Tawhid; a compilation of hadithabout tawhid, divine attributes, divine actions and other theological issues.

Al-Muqni' (The Convincer); a compilation of hadith concerning legalmatters.

'Ilal al-sharayi' (The Causes of the Rulings); an explanation of the philosophy behind different Islamic rulings.

Al-Amali (Dictations); a compilation of hadith which he dictated to some of his students.

Al-I'tiqadat (The Beliefs); a treatise of Shi'a beliefs.

Ma'ani al-akhbar (The Meanings of the Narrations); an explanation of the deeper meanings of some hadith and Qur'anic verses.

'Uyun akhbar al-Rida (The Springs of the Narrations of al-Rida); a compilation of hadith from Imam al-Rida (a).

Al-Khisal (The Clusters); a collection of hadith categorized according to the stress that each lays on a specific number.

Thawab al-a'mal wa 'iqab al-a'mal (The Reward of Deeds and the Punishment of Deeds; a description of righteous deeds and their rewards and evil deeds and their punishments.

Al-Hidaya (The Guidance); a collection of hadith related to beliefs and fiqh.

Death

Al-Shaykh al-Saduq died in Ray in 381/991-992. He is buried in a cemetery known today as Ibn Babawayh Cemetery.

It is reported that when the cemetery was under construction in 1238/1822, a devastating flood destroyed his tomb, and people were astonished to see that his body had remained intact after so many years.