Machine summary:
"Shi‘ite Authorities in the Age of Minor Occultation Part II: Muhammad ibn Ya‘qūb Kulayni Ali Naghi Zabihzadeh Kulaynī’s personality1 and his book Al-Kāfī As we know, a few years after the formation of theoretical and scientific foundations of Shi‘a thought, Imam Sādiq (a) expounded the doctrines of Twelvers in a well-reasoned and demonstrated way on different subjects of theology, the Qur’ānic exegesis, jurisprudence, hadith, history, and ethics in an appropriate schedule through courses, discussions, and responses to the questions.
Against the illegitimate Abbasid caliphate, Kulayni narrated many hadiths in "Kitāb al-Hujjah" from Al-Kāfī on the rights and authroity of the infallible Imams (a), the necessity of their existence and their appointment by God. Some of these examples are mentioned in the following hadiths: Muhammad ibn Muslim says: I heard that Imam Bāqir (a) stated: ‘For the one who seeks to be closer to God by an act of devotion for which he makes effort, if he has no Imam appointed by God, his efforts are not accepted…’ The hadith continues up to where Imam (a) likens such a person to a sheep that is far away from its flock in the evening and passes all night and day wandering among other flocks and there it is ignored.
20 In the sixth hadith of the same section, ‘Īsā ibn al-Sarā ibn al- Yasa‘ says that he asked Imam Sadiq (a) about the pillars of Islam, and Imam replied: They consist of a testimony to God's Oneness, belief in the prophetic mission of Muhammad (s), acknowledging what he has brought from God, admission of alms that is due to God in one's property, and admission of the authority of the Household of Muhammad (s) that God has issued."