Shaykh al-Mufid
 Tomb of Al-Shaykh al-Mufid in the Shrine of al-Kazimayn (a) | |
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Nuʿmān al-ʿUkbarī al-Baghdādī |
| Nickname | Al-Shaykh al-Mufid |
| Birth | Dhu l-Qaʿda 11, 336 or 338 AH / 948-950 CE |
| Demise | Friday, Ramaḍān 3, 413 AH / 6 Desember 1022 |
| Burial Place | Shrine of al-Kazimayn |
| Academic Information | |
| Teachers | Al-Shaykh al-Ṣadūq • Ibn Junayd al-Iskāfī • Ibn Qūlawayh al-Qummī |
| Students | Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī • Al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā • Al-Sayyid al-Raḍī • Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Najāshī |
| Works | Al-Muqniʿa • Awāʾil al-maqālāt • Al-Irshād fī maʿrifat ḥujaj Allāh ʿalā l-ʿibād |
| cultural information | |
| Field of Activity | Fiqh • Kalām |
| Reason for Notability | Ability in theological debates |
Al-Shaykh al-Mufid (336 or 338-413 AH) is considered one of the most prominent Shiʿa jurists and theologians of the fourth and fifth centuries AH.
In various sources, Al-Shaykh al-Mufid has been called the greatest theologian of his time. He has been praised for his pioneering and versatile knowledge in sciences, his ability in kalām, his mastery in debating opponents, and his asceticism in practice.
Al-Shaykh al-Mufid is counted among the famous authors of fourteen centuries after Ghadir who have authored two or more books concerning Ghadir. Two treatises on Ghadir, titled Risāla fī maʿnā l-mawlā and Aqsām al-mawlā fī l-lisān, are included in Al-Shaykh al-Mufid's numerous works (more than two hundred small and large treatises). Another aspect of Al-Shaykh al-Mufid's activities regarding Ghadir is considered to be his debates with opponents of Ghadir and his victory over them.
Status
Al-Shaykh al-Mufid is considered one of the most prominent Shiʿa jurists and theologians of the fourth and fifth centuries AH.[1] Ibn al-Nadīm, the famous bibliographer of the fourth century AH who was a contemporary of Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, described him as follows: He currently presides over the Shiʿa theologians and is superior to all in kalām. He possesses keen insight and sound thoughts. I saw him and found him to be very knowledgeable.[2]
Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, a student of Al-Shaykh al-Mufid and one of the great Shiʿa jurists of the fourth and fifth centuries AH, described his teacher as follows: He was among the Imami theologians who held leadership of this group in his era. He was a pioneer in religious sciences, including kalām and fiqh, in his time. He was a scholar with a good memory, sharp intellect, and quick wit.[3]
In some Sunni sources, Al-Shaykh al-Mufid has also been praised for his pioneering and versatile knowledge in sciences, his ability in kalām, his mastery in debating opponents, and his asceticism in practice.[4]
Biography
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Nuʿmān al-ʿUkbarī al-Baghdādī, known as Ibn al-Muʿallim and Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, was born on Dhu l-Qaʿda eleven, 336 or 338 AH, in ʿUkbarā, near Baghdad.[5]
It is said that he became known as Ibn al-Muʿallim because his father was a teacher, and the title Mufid was given to him by one of the Sunni scholars.[6]
According to Abū l-Qāsim Gurjī (d. 1389 SH), a jurist and professor at the University of Tehran, Al-Shaykh al-Mufid began his studies in childhood, learning the Qurʾan and preliminary sciences from his father. He then went to Baghdad to continue his education, benefiting from the presence of great Shiʿa and Sunni scholars, and attained a high level of knowledge; so much so that at a young age, the Buyid Sultan, ʿAḍud al-Dawla al-Daylamī, would visit his home to honor his scholarly status.[7]
Al-Shaykh al-Mufid lived in the Karkh neighborhood of Baghdad, and the famous Burāthā Mosque was his teaching place.[8] It is said that Al-Shaykh al-Mufid engaged in debates with followers of different beliefs.[9] He gave abundant charity and was very humble, prayerful, and fasting.[10] Al-Shaykh al-Mufid passed away in 413 AH in Baghdad, and his body was buried in his home with a large funeral procession of both Shiʿa and Sunni. After two years, it was transferred and buried in Maqābir Quraysh (Shrine of al-Kazimayn (a)) next to his teacher Ibn Qūlawayh.[11]
Teachers
Al-Sayyid Muḥsin al-Amīn al-ʿĀmilī (d. 1371 AH), a biographer and author of Aʿyān al-Shīʿa, introduced fifty-six of Al-Shaykh al-Mufid's teachers from both Shiʿa and Sunni scholars;[12] The most famous among them are listed as follows:
- Al-Shaykh al-Ṣadūq (d. 381 AH)
- Ibn Junayd al-Iskāfī (d. 381 AH)
- Ibn Qūlawayh (d. 369 AH);
- Abū Ghālib al-Zurārī (d. 368 AH)
- Muḥammad b. ʿImrān al-Marzubānī (d. 384 AH)
- Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-Jaʿābī (d. 355 AH)
- Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī al-Jaʿal al-Baṣrī (d. 369 AH)
- ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā al-Rummānī (d. 384 AH)[13]
Students
According to Gurjī, Al-Shaykh al-Mufid is one of the great Shiʿa scholars at whose lessons prominent figures attended;[14] including:
- Al-Sayyid al-Murtaḍā (d. 436 AH)
- Al-Sayyid al-Raḍī (d. 406 AH)
- Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī (d. 460 AH)
- Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Najāshī (d. 450 AH)
- Sallār al-Daylamī (d. 463 AH)
- Abū l-Fatḥ al-Karājikī (d. 449 AH)
- Abū Yaʿlā Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-Jaʿfarī (d. 463 AH)[15]
Works
According to Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Al-Shaykh al-Mufid had more than two hundred small and large works.[16] It is said that many of them have been lost.[17] Among them, the following have been mentioned:
- Al-Muqniʿa
- Al-Irshād fī maʿrifat ḥujaj Allāh ʿalā l-ʿibād
- Al-Jamal wa l-nuṣra li-sayyid al-ʿitra fī ḥarb al-Baṣra
- Al-Amālī
- Al-ʿUyūn wa l-maḥāsin
- Awāʾil al-maqālāt fī l-madhāhib wa l-mukhtārāt
- Aḥkām al-nisāʾ
- Mukhtaṣar al-tadhkira bi-uṣūl al-fiqh
- Taṣḥīḥ al-iʿtiqādāt al-Imāmiyya
- Masār al-Shīʿa fī mukhtaṣar tawārīkh al-sharīʿa
- Naqḍ faḍīlat al-Muʿtazila
- Al-Ifṣāḥ fī l-Imāma
- Kitāb al-mazār
- Al-Masāʾil al-Sarwiyya
- Al-Masāʾil al-Ṣāghāniyya[18]
Al-Shaykh al-Mufid and Ghadir
Al-Shaykh al-Mufid undertook various activities concerning Ghadir throughout his life, some of which are mentioned in sources:
Writings on Ghadir
Some researchers have counted al-Shaykh al-Mufid among the famous authors who, fourteen centuries after Ghadir, authored two or more books on Ghadir.[19] It is said that from the fourth century AH, research into the text and chain of transmission of Hadith al-Ghadir began, and the main part of the al-Ghadir Sermon (Whoever I am his master, 'Ali is his master[notes 1]) was raised in debates and subjected to rijali and sanadi scrutiny.[20] The books of Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, al-Shaykh al-Mufid, and Sayyid al-Murtada are considered evidence for this claim.[21]
Among the books authored concerning the text of Hadith al-Ghadir are Aqsam al-Mawla fi l-Lisan and Risala fi Ma'na al-Mawla, both attributed to al-Shaykh al-Mufid:
- Risala fi Ma'na al-Mawla: This book is a debate between al-Shaykh al-Mufid and the Mu'tazili theologian "Bahshamiyya." This individual had denied Imamate by raising three objections against the word "mawla" signifying Imamate and claiming that this meaning was not intrinsic to the word. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, by answering his objections and proving that this meaning is intrinsic to the word, established the Imamate.[22]
- Aqsam al-Mawla fi l-Lisan (book): In the introduction to this book, Sayyid Muhammad Rida Jalali (d. 1403 SH), a Shi'i researcher, explains al-Shaykh al-Mufid's principles regarding "mawla." The original book is seventeen pages long and proves that the intended meaning of "mawla" is awla bi l-nafs (having more authority over oneself). The topics discussed in this book are: ten meanings for mawla in linguistics; an analysis of the Ghadir event and the application of the meaning awla bi l-nafs among the ten meanings to the words of the Prophet (s); evidence from the poetry of eloquent Arabs regarding the correct meaning of "mawla" and the establishment of the Imamate of Amir al-Mu'minin (a).[23]
Debates to Prove Ghadir
In this regard, one of al-Shaykh al-Mufid's debates has been mentioned: The author of Hadiqat al-Shi'a (book) states: One day, al-Shaykh al-Mufid entered the assembly of 'Ali b. Musa al-Rammani. Coincidentally, someone asked al-Rammani: "What is your opinion about Hadith al-Ghadir and the story of the cave?" He replied: "The report of the cave is diraya (certain knowledge), and the report of Ghadir is riwaya (transmitted narration); meaning, the former is certain, and the latter is conjectural." When the attendees left the assembly, al-Shaykh al-Mufid asked al-Rammani: "What is your opinion about someone who rebels against his Imam of the time and fights him?" Al-Rammani said: "That person is a disbeliever." After that, he corrected himself: "No, he is a fasiq (transgressor)." Al-Shaykh al-Mufid asked: "What is your opinion about Imam 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a)?" He replied: "He is a just Imam." Al-Shaykh said: "What is your opinion regarding Talha and Zubayr and the Battle of Jamal?" Al-Rammani said: "They repented." Al-Shaykh stated: "The report of the battle is diraya, and the hadith of repentance is riwaya." Al-Rammani asked: "Were you present when they asked that question?" He replied: "Yes." Al-Rammani then said: "Your statement is valid and accepted," and he bestowed upon him the epithet "al-Mufid."[24]
Qazi Nurullah Shushtari (d. 1019 AH), a Shi'i jurist and theologian, narrates this story differently: One day, al-Shaykh al-Mufid was present in the assembly of Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar al-Mu'tazili, and coincidentally, a group of scholars from the four schools of thought were also present. The Qadi had heard al-Shaykh al-Mufid's name but had not seen him. Al-Shaykh, who was sitting at the lower end of the assembly, after a short while, said: "O honorable Qadi, may I ask a question if permitted?" The Qadi said: "Ask." Al-Shaykh said: "Is the report Whoever I am his master, 'Ali is his master[notes 2] authentic, or have Shi'i scholars fabricated it?" The Qadi said: "It is certainly authentic." Al-Shaykh asked: "What is meant by mawla?" The Qadi replied: "Mawla means awla (i.e., someone who has the right of wilaya and leadership over people)." Al-Shaykh said: "Then why is there so much disagreement and hostility among us?" The Qadi said: "O brother, that report is riwaya, and the caliphate of Abu Bakr is diraya, and wise people do not abandon diraya for the sake of riwaya." Al-Shaykh left that issue and asked: "What do you say about the report in which Prophet Muhammad (s) said: 'O 'Ali, war with you is war with me, and peace with you is peace with me'?" The Qadi said: "This is certainly a hadith." Al-Shaykh said: "Then, according to your statement, the companions of Jamal must have been disbelievers."
The Qadi said: "O brother, have you not heard that they repented?" Al-Shaykh said: "O Qadi! The report of the battle is diraya, and the hadith of repentance is diraya, and you stated in the previous hadith that the wise do not abandon diraya for the sake of riwaya." The Qadi bowed his head for an hour, and then raised it and asked: "Who are you, and with whom do you study?" Al-Shaykh said: "I am Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-Nu'man al-Harithi." The Qadi stood up, took al-Shaykh's hand, seated him in his own place, apologized, and said: You are truly the Benefactor[notes 3]. The scholars in the assembly fell into a commotion, and all were displeased with the Qadi. The Qadi said: "O scholars of religion, this man has cornered me, and I am at a loss for an answer. If any of you has an answer, please state it so that he may rise and return to his place."[25]
Footnotes
- ↑ Tārīkh fiqh wa fuqahāʾ, p. 143.
- ↑ Al-Fihrist, p. 332.
- ↑ Al-Fihrist, p. 238.
- ↑ Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, vol. thirteen, p. 96.
- ↑ Tārīkh fiqh wa fuqahāʾ, p. 143.
- ↑ Gudharī bar ḥayāt Shaykh Mufīd, pp. 7-9.
- ↑ Tārīkh fiqh wa fuqahāʾ, p. 143.
- ↑ Mafākhir-i Islām, vol. three, p. 241.
- ↑ Shadharāt al-dhahab, vol. five, p. 72.
- ↑ Shadharāt al-dhahab, vol. five, p. 72.
- ↑ Al-Fihrist, p. 239; Rijāl al-Najāshī, pp. 403-404; Aʿyān al-Shīʿa, vol. nine, p. 420.
- ↑ Aʿyān al-Shīʿa, vol. nine, p. 421.
- ↑ Tārīkh fiqh wa fuqahāʾ, p. 143.
- ↑ Tārīkh fiqh wa fuqahāʾ, p. 143.
- ↑ Tārīkh fiqh wa fuqahāʾ, p. 143.
- ↑ Al-Fihrist, p. 238.
- ↑ Tārīkh fiqh wa fuqahāʾ, p. 143.
- ↑ Aʿyān al-Shīʿa, vol. nine, pp. 423-424.
- ↑ Chahardah Qarn ba Ghadir, pp. 135–152; Asrar-e Ghadir, p. 98.
- ↑ Chahardah Qarn ba Ghadir, pp. 135–152; Asrar-e Ghadir, p. 98.
- ↑ Chahardah Qarn ba Ghadir, pp. 135–152; Asrar-e Ghadir, p. 98.
- ↑ Ghadir dar Ayeneh-ye Ketab, p. 333.
- ↑ Ghadir dar Ayeneh-ye Ketab, p. 105.
- ↑ Ḥadīqat al-Shīʿa, vol. 1, p. 489.
- ↑ Majālis al-Muʾminīn, vol. 1, pp. 464–465.
References
- Asrar-e Ghadir; Muḥammad Baqir Anṣārī, Tehran: Nashr-e Tak, 1384 Sh./2005.
- Aʿyān al-Shīʿa; Sayyid Muḥsin Amīn al-ʿĀmilī, Beirut: Dār al-Taʿāruf li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1403 Q./1983.
- Tārīkh-e Fiqh wa Fuqahā; Abu l-Qāsim Gurjī, Tehran: Samt, 1379 Sh./2000.
- Ḥadīqat al-Shīʿa; Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Muqaddas Ardabīlī, edited by Ṣādiq Ḥasan-zāda and ʿAlī Akbar Zamānī-nijād, Qom: Intishārāt-e Anṣāriyān, 1425 Q./2004.
- Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ; Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī, Cairo: Manshūrāt Dār al-Ḥadīth, 1427 Q./2006.
- Shadharāt al-Dhahab fī Akhbār man Dhahab; ʿAbd al-Ḥayy b. Aḥmad (Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī), edited by Maḥmūd Arnāʾūṭ and ʿAbd al-Qādir Arnāʾūṭ, Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 1406 Q./1986.
- Ghadir dar Āyina-ye Kitāb; Muḥammad Anṣārī Zanjānī, Qom: Intishārāt-e Dalīl-e Mā, 1390 Sh./2011.
- al-Fihrist; Muḥammad b. Isḥāq (Ibn al-Nadīm), translated by Muḥammad Riḍā Tajaddud, Tehran: Chāpkhāna-ye Bānk-e Bāzargānī-ye Īrān, 1346 Sh./1967.
- al-Fihrist; Muḥammad b. Ḥasan Ṭūsī (al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī); edited by Jawād Qayyūmī, Qom: Muʾassasa-ye Nashr-e Faqāhat, 1417 Q./1996.
- Gudharī bar Ḥayāt-e Shaykh Mufīd; Sayyid Muḥammad Jawād Shubayrī Zanjānī, in Majmūʿa-ye Maqālāt-e Fārsī-ye Kungira-ye Jahānī-ye Hazāra-ye Shaykh Mufīd (vol. 55: Chahār Maqāla), Kungira-ye Jahānī-ye Hazāra-ye Shaykh Mufīd, 1372 Sh./1993.
- Majālis al-Muʾminīn; Sayyid Nūr Allāh b. Sharīf al-Dīn Ḥusaynī Shūshtarī, edited by Aḥmad ʿAbd Manāfī, Tehran: Intishārāt-e Kitābfurūshī-ye Islāmīya, 1377 Sh./1998.
- Mafākhir-e Islām; ʿAlī Davānī, Tehran: Intishārāt-e Amīr Kabīr, 1363 Sh./1984.