Al-Majlisi about Al-Kafi

Question:

Did Al-Majlisi classify the traditions of Al-Kafi as authentic (Sahih)?

Answer:

Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi writes:

قوله بالآثار الصحيحة استدل به الأخباريون على جواز العمل بجميع اخبار الكافي وكون كلها صحيحة وإن الصحة عندهم غير الصحة باصطلاح المتأخرين وزعموا أن حكمهم بالصحة لا تقصر عن توثيق الشيخ أو النجاشي أو غيرهما رجال السند بل ادعى بعضهم أن الصحة عندهم بمعنى التواتر والكلام فيها طويل وقد فصلنا القول في ذلك في المجلد الآخر من كتاب بحار الأنوار وخلاصة القول في ذلك والحق عندي فيه أن وجود الخبر في أمثال تلك الأصول المعتبرة مما يورث جواز العمل به لكن لابد من الرجوع إلى الأسانيد لترجيح تبعضها على بعض عند التعارض فان كون جميعها معتبرا لا ينافي كون بعضها أقوى

“As for the statement of Al-Kulaini: “The traditions that are authentic (Sahih).” Thus, the traditionalists (Akhbariyyah) derive from this the evidence that the following of all the traditions in Al-Kafi is allowed and that they have all have been narrated authentically (Sahih). In their view, authenticity is not based on the authenticity of the classifications by the later scholars and they claim that their judgement of authenticity is not invalidated, by those narrators which were judged as trustworthy (thiqah) by At-Tusi or An-Najashi or others besides them. Rather, some of them even claim that these have the degree of authenticity that has reached the level of multiple and unbroken chains of transmission (mutawatir). The treatises on this are long and we have already explained this statement in detail in the last volume of the work Bihar-ul-Anwar and also the result about the view on it. In my opinion, it is true that following a narrated tradition that is in the authentic original works such as these is permissible, but if there is a contradiction, one should certainly consider the chains of transmission to give some reports the preference over others, because although all the chains of narrations are authentic (mu’tabar), it is not unreasonable to assume that the authenticity of some of them is stronger than that of others.” [Mir’at-ul-Uqul, Volume 1 Page 21 – 22]