Ibn Babawayh

Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Babawaih al-Qummi محمد بن علي بن بابويه القمي
Title	Al-Shaykh al-Saduq
Born	Muhammad c. 923 AD / 310 A.H. Qom, Khorasan
Died	991 AD / 380 A.H. Rey
Era	Islamic golden age
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Shia
Jurisprudence	Ja´fari fiqh
Main interest(s)	Fiqh and Hadith
Notable work(s)	Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih
Influenced by Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni
Influenced Shaykh al-Mufid

Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Babawaih al-Qummi (Persian: ابو جعفر محمد بن علي بن بابويه القمي; c. 923-991 ), referred to as Ibn Babawayh or Al-Shaykh al-Saduq (the truthful scholar) was a PersianShi'te Islamic scholar whose work, entitled Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih, forms part of the The Four Books of the Shi'ite Hadith collection.

The patronymic, Ibn Babawayh indicates a Persian origin, as Babawayh is an Arabic form of the Persian name Babuyah. For some length of time, unknown, the family had been devout adherents of Shi'ite Islam. Ibn Babawayh's father, Ali ibn Babawayh Qummi (d. 939 CE) was a leading figure among the Islamic scholars of Qom.

The exact date of Ibn Babawayh's birth is not known. Shi'ite scholars consider his birth to be after the year 305 A.H. (probably 306 A.H.) He was born and raised in Qom, a town about 125 kilometres (78 mi) south west of Tehran in modern-day Iran. Ibn Babawayh was educated by his father. He was taught by local scholars of Shi'ite Islam. Qom was a centre of study of Shi'ite traditions and it was this form of religious learning to which Ibn Babawayh adhered.

In 966 CE, Ibn Babawayh left Qom for Baghdad. He travelled widely, learning about the tradition of Islam. Ibn Babawayh later emphasized the importance of tradition over speculative theology. His works reflect this interest in traditions and nearly all of them take the form of compilations of traditions. However, Ibn Babawayh did write a creed of Shi'ite Islam al-I'tiqadat. His pupil, the al-Shaykh al-Mufid, revised this creed in Tashih al-i'tiqad, critiquing several points.

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