A Shiites Anthology

Selected and with a Foreword by: Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Tabatabai

Translated with Explanatory Notes by: William C. Chittick

Under the Direction of and with an Introduction by: Seyyed Hussein Nasr

Description:

The Shi'ite hadith literature includes all the sayings of the Prophet of Islam accepted by Shiites as well as the traditions of the twelve Imams from 'Ali ibn Abi talib to the Mahdi(a.s). This collection is thus considered to be, after the Holy Quran, the most important body of religious texts for Shiites. As in Sunni Islam, so in this case: the Hadith forms along with the Revealed Book the basis of all the religious sciences, including of course the Shari'ah as well as religious life in both its intellectual and devotional aspects. No aspect of the life and history of the Shiites community would be comprehensible without a consideration of this body of inspired writings.

http://al-islam.org/anthology/index.htm