بِأَيِّهِمَا نَأْخُذُ قَالَ خُذُوا بِهِ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَكُمْ عَنِ الْحَيِّ فَإِنْ بَلَغَكُمْ عَنِ الْحَيِّ فَخُذُوا بِقَوْلِهِ قَالَ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عليه السلام إِنَّا وَ اللَّهِ لَا نُدْخِلُكُمْ إِلَّا فِيمَا يَسَعُكُمْ.

which of the two are we to act upon? He said: Act upon one of the two (act upon the hadith of the later Imam) until a statement reaches you from the living Imam; and when a statement reaches you from the living Imam, act upon it. Then he said: By God, we have brought you onto a path on which you are at ease. And in another report: Act upon the more recent hadith.

وَ فِي حَدِيثٍ آخَرَ خُذُوا بِالْأَحْدَثِ

And in another report: Act upon the more recent hadith.

«9»- كا، الكافي الْعِدَّةُ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ أَبِي أَيُّوبَ الْخَزَّازِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عليه السلام قَالَ: قُلْتُ لَهُ مَا بَالُ أَقْوَامٍ يَرْوُونَ عَنْ فُلَانٍ وَ فُلَانٍ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله لَا يُتَّهَمُونَ بِالْكَذِبِ فَيَجِی ءُ مِنْكُمْ خِلَافُهُ قَالَ إِنَّ الْحَدِيثَ يُنْسَخُ كَمَا يُنْسَخُ الْقُرْآنُ.

Al-Kafi: Muhammad b. Muslim said: I said to Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him: What of a people who are not accused of lying and who relate a hadith through an intermediary from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, but the opposite of it reaches us from you? He said: A hadith too is abrogated, just like the Qur'an.

«10»- كا، الكافي عَلِیٌّ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي نَجْرَانَ عَنِ ابْنِ حُمَيْدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ حَازِمٍ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عليه السلام مَا بَالِي أَسْأَلُكَ عَنِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ فَتُجِيبُنِي فِيهَا بِالْجَوَابِ ثُمَّ يَجِيئُكَ غَيْرِي فَتُجِيبُهُ فِيهَا بِجَوَابٍ آخَرَ فَقَالَ إِنَّا نُجِيبُ النَّاسَ عَلَى الزِّيَادَةِ وَ النُّقْصَانِ قَالَ قُلْتُ فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ أَصْحَابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله صَدَقُوا عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله أَمْ كَذَبُوا قَالَ بَلْ صَدَقُوا قُلْتُ فَمَا بَالُهُمُ اخْتَلَفُوا فَقَالَ أَ مَا تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ الرَّجُلَ كَانَ يَأْتِي رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله فَيَسْأَلُهُ عَنِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ فَيُجِيبُهُ فِيهَا بِالْجَوَابِ ثُمَّ يُجِيبُهُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ بِمَا يَنْسَخُ ذَلِكَ الْجَوَابَ فَنَسَخَتِ الْأَحَادِيثُ بَعْضُهَا بَعْضاً.

Al-Kafi: Ibn Hazim said: I asked Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him: How is it that I ask you about a matter and you give me an answer, and then another comes to you and you give him a different answer? He said: We answer people with more and with less (according to the measure of their understanding). I said: Tell me, did the Prophet's companions speak truthfully of him, may God bless him and his family, or did they ascribe lies to him? He said: They spoke truthfully. I said: Then why did they come to differ? He said: Do you not know that a man would come to the Prophet, may God bless him and his family, and ask him a question and he would answer him, and later he would give him an answer that abrogated the first? So some hadiths have abrogated others.

«11»- كا، الكافي عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ سَهْلٍ عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنِ ابْنِ رِئَابٍ عَنْ أَبِي عُبَيْدَةَ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ عليه السلام قَالَ: قَالَ لِي يَا زِيَادُ مَا تَقُولُ لَوْ أَفْتَيْنَا رَجُلًا مِمَّنْ يَتَوَلَّانَا بِشَيْ ءٍ مِنَ التَّقِيَّةِ قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُ أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ قَالَ إِنْ أَخَذَ بِهِ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَهُ وَ أَعْظَمُ أَجْراً.

Al-Kafi: Ziyad said: Imam al-Baqir, peace be upon him, said: If we give one of our friends a ruling out of dissimulation, what do you say! I said: May I be your ransom, you know better. He said: If he takes that very ruling, it is better for him and his reward is greater.

«12»- وَ فِي رِوَايَةٍ أُخْرَى إِنْ أَخَذَ بِهِ أُوجِرَ وَ إِنْ تَرَكَهُ وَ اللَّهِ أَثِمَ.

In another report it has come: If he takes that hadith he is rewarded, and if he abandons it, by God, he has sinned.

«13»- ل، الخصال أَبِی عَنْ عَلِيٍّ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ عُمَرَ الْيَمَانِيِّ وَ عُمَرَ بْنِ أُذَيْنَةَ عَنْ أَبَانِ بْنِ أَبِي عَيَّاشٍ عَنْ سُلَيْمِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ الْهِلَالِيِّ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عليه السلام يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ مِنْ سَلْمَانَ وَ الْمِقْدَادِ وَ أَبِي ذَرٍّ شَيْئاً مِنْ تَفْسِيرِ الْقُرْآنِ وَ أَحَادِيثَ عَنْ نَبِيِّ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله غَيْرَ مَا فِي أَيْدِي النَّاسِ ثُمَّ سَمِعْتُ مِنْكَ تَصْدِيقَ مَا سَمِعْتُ مِنْهُمْ وَ رَأَيْتُ فِي أَيْدِي النَّاسِ أَشْيَاءَ كَثِيرَةً مِنْ تَفْسِيرِ الْقُرْآنِ وَ مِنَ الْأَحَادِيثِ عَنْ نَبِيِّ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله أَنْتُمْ تُخَالِفُونَهُمْ فِيهَا وَ تَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ بَاطِلٌ أَ فَتَرَى النَّاسَ يَكْذِبُونَ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله مُتَعَمِّدِينَ

Al-Khisal: Aban b. Abi 'Ayyash related from Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali that he said: I said to the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him: O Commander of the Faithful, I hear from Salman, al-Miqdad and Abu Dharr things concerning the interpretation of the Qur'an and hadiths from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, other than what is in the people's hands, and then I hear from you a confirmation of what I heard from them; and I see in the people's hands many things concerning the interpretation of the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Prophet which you oppose and of which you are certain that all of them are false. Do the people deliberately ascribe lies to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, and interpret the Qur'an according to their own opinion? He said: 'Ali, peace be upon him, turned to me and said: You have asked; now understand the answer. Truly in the people's hands there is both truth and falsehood, both the true and the lying; and what is true has its abrogating and abrogated, its firm and its ambiguous, its preserved and its corrupted. In the Prophet's own time so many lies were ascribed to him that he stood up and delivered a sermon and said: O people, the liars against me have become many; whoever deliberately ascribes a lie to me, let his seat be filled with fire. And after him too lies were ascribed to him.