Hadith of the Ark ""perished whoever turned away from it"" also comes along." And in his another book, Al-Heithami indicates this hadith as authentic (sahih). According to Dahlan, the authenticity of this hadith is confirmed by different sources. The hadith implies the absolute priority of "Ahl al-Bayt" to all others, otherwise Muhammad would have forbidden to follow them. According to Shia scholars, the only path to salvation is by following the "Ahl al-Bayt", so they must be infallible ("Ma'sum"), otherwise they will mislead their followers. If they are infallible, they must be Imam definitely. According to this hadith, they are the criterion of distinguishing
Introduction to the Science of Hadith authored an abridgement: The following have set "Introduction" to verse, adding some content in the process: The numerous editions of the "Introduction" in its original Arabic include two of the more reliable: The "Introduction" has been translated into English and published as "An Introduction to the Science of Hadith", by Eerik Dickinson, as part of the Great Books of Islamic Civilization series. The translator has provided a biography of Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ derived from numerous sources, in addition to copious footnotes throughout. It is published by Garnet Publishing Limited, Reading, 2006, 356 pgs. Introduction to the Science of Hadith (Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ's)