Foreword
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Sheikh al-Mufid wrote nearly 194 books and treatises, out of which few have survived passage of time, and meticulously planned destruction of the Shia resources. Among the surviving ones, we have his "AL AMAALI" which is also known as "AL-MAJAALIS". His student al-Najashi has mentioned it as "AL-AMAALI AL-MUTAFARRIQAAT".
These were sessions held in the month of Ramadhan where al-Mufid read the traditions giving the chain of narration ending up to himself and the students wrote them down. Those who were absent wrote down from the recording of their colleagues, and then got it ratified by reading the text over to him.
The session began in the month of Ramadhan, 404 Hijra at the residence of one of his students Dhamrah Abul Hasan Ali b. Muhammad Ibn Abd al Rahman al-Farsi who lived in Baghdad. It ended in the month of Ramadhan 411 Hijra, just two years before his death. It has 42 sessions of varying durations.
With his profound insight of the subject matter, familiarity with all the other works of the author, and mastery of both Arabic and English languages, Mulla Asgharali M.M.Jaffer has renderd this work with much flair and lucidity. The comprehesive contents pages with subject subtitles will make this a useful publication for the lay reader as well as the serious researcher. We hope that this first attempt at publishing the translation of an ancient resource on Hadith will be well received.
Hasnain Walji
Secretariat
World Federation of KSI Muslim Communities.
Shabaan, 15, 1419/December, 4, 1998