The Light of the Way
Attributed to Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq

An explication and translation of Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿah wa Miftāḥ al-Ḥaqīqah, by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi

Encompassing practical, spiritual, and intellectual teachings on a vast array of topics, Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿah wa Miftāḥ al-Ḥaqīqah is a renowned work attributed to the sixth Shia Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, an eminent theologian, compiler of ḥadith, and jurist (faqih) in Medina during the Umayyad and ʿAbbasid caliphates. Born in 83/702, Imām al-Ṣādiq was a leading scholar and teacher of Islamic religious sciences, the intellectual and transmitted sciences, and jurisprudence (fiqh), and his works eventually formed the basis for the Jaʿfarī school of law and doctrine that bears his name. Imām al-Ṣādiq assumed the imāmate upon the death of his father, the fifth Imām Muḥammad al-Bāqir (d. 117/735), and during his career made important and lasting contributions to many fields of knowledge, including Qurʾānic and ḥadīth sciences, law and jurisprudence, and natural philosophy. Many of his students went on to become noted scholars, including Zarārah, Hishām ibn Ḥakam, and Jābir ibn Ḥayyān, the renowned alchemist, as well as Abu Ḥanīfah, the founder of the Hanafi school of law, Sufyān Thawrī, and Qāḍī Sukūni, and four thousand scholars of ḥadīth and other sciences.

In The Light of the Way, the Dean of The Shīʿah Institute, Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi, presents the first reliable and authentic translation and explication of Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿah wa Miftāḥ al-Ḥaqīqah. Organised in one hundred chapters, each accurately representing the coherence, clarity, and structure of Imām al-Ṣādiq’s writings, The Light of the Way makes these profoundly ethical teachings accessible to a worldwide audience for the first time in an accurate and precise manner. Imām al-Ṣādiq’s pronouncements cover a diversity of topics, including: gnosis (ʿirfān), knowledge (ʿilm), fair and foul conduct, inward and outward purity (tahārah), and acts of worship (ʿibādāt). Dr Shah Naqavi’s clear translation and learned explication of Imām al-Ṣādiq’s teachings is grounded in decades of research on the intellectual and spiritual heritage of Islam and the Twelver Shia tradition. The Light of the Way will be a key source of instruction for scholars, students, and general readers alike.