Who is responsible for the sermon (introduction) at the beginning of volume one of *Uṣūl al-Kāfī*? It does not seem to be the book’s author, since there is such profound wisdom woven into the lines.
The Arabic text begins with the words “قال علیهم السلام,” but does not name the speaker. For example, this passage seems to have been spoken for the very situation facing Shi‘is today:
“Whoever takes his religion from the Qur’an and in accordance with the Sunnah of God’s Prophet: even if a mountain were to move from its place, his faith would not depart before it. But whoever takes his religion from people’s mouths will be turned away from his religion by those very people.
Whoever cannot understand our Imamate through the Qur’an will be unable to withstand the trials.
That is why corrupt sects and abhorrent schools of thought have gained power over the people of our time—those that embody every condition of disbelief and idolatry. All this comes about through God Almighty’s granting of success—or withholding it.”