Shaikh al-Tūsi, “AbūJa`far”
Muhammed ibn al-Hassan (385 -
460 A.H./995 - 1068 A.D.), is
one of the greatest literary
figures in Islamic history, a
scholar the scope of whose
knowledge encompassed Islamic
history, fiqh
and hadīth. He is called “Tūsi”
after his birthplace, the city
of Tūs, Khurasan, Iran.
After Tūsi’s demise, Tūs
expanded in area, gradually
becoming a center of knowledge
and culture especially after
Imām Ali ibn Mūsa al-Rida had
resided in it. The Imām’s
presence attracted scholars and
seekers of knowledge from all
the corner of the then Islamic
world.
Imam Ali ibn Mosa al-Al-Rida is
the eighth in the series of
Infallible Imams. He was born in
the holy city of Medina on the
eleventh of Thul-Qa`da, 148
A.H./765 A.D. and was given the
titled “Al-Rida" which means
that Allh Almighty and His Holy
Messenger are pleased with him.
The Imam
Ais
also considered as the Greatest
Learned and Erudite) of the Holy
Ahlul Bayt Al-Ma’mūn (ruled from
198 – 218 A.H./813 – 833 A.D.)
(younger son of caliph Haron
“al-Rashīd” who ruled from 170 –
193 A.H./786 – 809 A.D.), the
then Abbasid caliph, appointed
him as his crown prince but
later poisoned him in Sanabad,
Tus, in the Iranian region of
Khurasan on the last day of the
month of Safar 203 A.H./August
818 A.D. where he was buried.
After the burial of Imam
al-Rida ¡in this place, Sanabad
was soon transformed into a
metropolis.
The holy shrine of Im¡m al-Rida
in the holy city of Mashhad is
also one of the most extensively
visited pilgrimage centers in
the world: Annually, more than
25 millions pilgrims and lovers
of Holy Ahl al-Bayt from all
parts of the world visit it.
Alhamdu-Lillāh, I translated a
book about this great Imam which
the late Sheikh Muhammed-Jawād
Fadlallah, the famous Lebanese
scholar, had written, and you
can review my translation
Sheikh al-Tūsi was taught by the
greatest scholars of his time
who included Sheikh al-Mufīd,
Sayyid al-Sahreef al-Murtada,
brother of al-Sharīf ar-Radi,
compiler of Nahjul-Balāgha, who
kept company with Sheikh al-Tūsi
for twenty-eight years,
directing and helping the growth
of his academic talents, so much
so that Sheikh al-Tūsi became a
candidate for leading the nation
after the demise of his mentor,
and this is exactly what took
place.
Students and seekers of
knowledge went in hordes to the
residence of Sheikh al-Tūsi in
order to learn from him, so his
house in Baghdad embraced
seekers of knowledge whose
number was estimated to be no
less than three hundred renown
mujtahids from among the Shi`a
faith in addition to countless
Sunnis who attracted them with
his own method and convincing
style, presenting his evidence
and treating everyone with the
most lofty of Islamic ethical
standards. The former rector of
al-Azhar, the revered Shaikh
Abdul-Majeed Saleem, has been
quoted as saying that he very
much admired Shaite fiqh after
someone had given him a copy of
the book
titled Al-Mabsoot by Sheikh al-Tūsi
as a gift. He liked the book so
much that he made statements
saying that he reviewed this
book prior to issuing any fatwa,
binding religious edict; so,
whenever he found in this book
what convinced him that it was
the best viewpoint, he adopted
it without any hesitation, an
open-mindedness
which has now become so rare…
Al-Qā’im bi Amrillāh was the
ruler of his time. Recognizing
the distinction of Sheikh al-Tūsi,
he ordered a special chair to be
designed and made for the
scholar, a chair which came to
be known
as that of scholarship and
tutorship, one of its kind at
the time.
Sheikh al-Tūsi, therefore, used
to sit on that chair and deliver
his
sermons and speeches. This went
on till the year 447 A.H./1055
A.D. when the flames of
sectarianism swept Baghdad
brought by
Turkish Saljukes who burnt the
Sheikh’s house, library and
chair.
The Sheikh’s library was known
as the Shah-pur Library which is
described by the great historian
Yāqūt al-Hamawi as the greatest
in
the entire Islamic world. The
Turks schemed to get the two
main
branches of Islam, the Sh¢`i and
the Sunni, to be at each other’s
throats. This forced Sheikh al-Tūsi
to migrate to the city that
houses
the Shrine of the Commander of
the Faithful Ali
A,
namely al-58
Najaf al-Ashraf, Iraq, where he
established a great university,
turning this city into a capital
for knowledge and a center for
scholars, one which has ever
since been attracting men of
virtue and
seekers of knowledge. Thousands
of senior faqīhs, jurists,
speakers,
virtuous exegetes and historians
have graduated from it and will
always continue to do so,
Inshā-Allāh.
After his death, the grave of
Sheikh al-Tūsi turned into a
lofty school
for disseminating Islamic
knowledge and a center for the
scholarly
hawza, theological seminary, and
for its most prominent religious
authorities.
The sectarian fire sparked by
the Turks in Iraq in 447
A.H./1055
A.D. consumed most, if not all,
the treasure of knowledge which
Sheikh al-Tūsi had spent years
researching and compiling.
Despite
that, the following list as been
compiled from various sources,
and
it introduces us to a drop in
the bucket of what Sheikh al-Tūsi
had written:
١ ـ يسوطلا لاجر ّ، باتكلا اذھ
ىمسيو ُ ) باوبلأا .
( Al-Abwāb: a book about
narrators of hadith
٢ ـ نم بذھ ـ لاجرلا ةفرعم رايتخا
ّباتك هللاخ) يشكلا لاجر ّ
.
( Ikhtiyār Ma`rifatal-Rijāl, a
critique of the famous work
Rijāl al-Kashi
٣ ـ هقفلا باوبأ ةيقب يف ثلاثلاو
،تادابعلا يف ناءزج ـ راصبتسلاا .
Al-Istibsār:Two Volumes about
rituals and a third in the rest
of aspects of fiqh
٤ اضيأ ىمسيو ،ثيدحلا يف ـ
يلاملأا ـ ً ُ ) سلاجملا .
( Al-Amāli fil Hadīth(also
called Al-Majālis): one of his
most famous works
٥ نآرقلا ريسفت يف نايبتلا ـ .
Al-Tibyān fīTafsīr al-Qur’ān: a
book of exegesis
٦ لصأو ،ةماملإا يف ـ يفاشلا
صيخلت ـ ىضترملا فيرشلل ه )
يفاشلا .
( Talkhīs Al-Shāfi: a summary of
the book titled Al-Shāfiby al-Sharīf
al-Murtada, and it deals with
the subject of imāmate.
٧ ىضترملا باتكل حرش ـ لوصلا
ديھمت ـ ) لمعلاو ملعلا لمج َ
ُ .( Tamhīd al-Usūl: an
explanation of the book titled
Jumal al-`Ilm wal `Amalby al-Murtada
٨ ماѧكحلأا طابنتѧسا رادѧم اѧھيلع
يѧتلا ةѧعبرلأا بتكلا نم ،تادلجم
رشع ـ ماكحلأا بيذھت ـ
ّ
ةيعرشلا ّ . Tahthīb al-Ahkām:Ten
Volumes and one of four books
used as references for deriving
rulings relevant to the Sharī`a,
the Islamic legislative system
٩ ـ سلبارط يضاق نم بلطب هفلأ
،تادابعلا يف ـ دوقعلاو لمجلا ٍ
ّ
ُ . Al-Jumal wal `Uqūd: a book
in rituals which he wrote after
being requested by the judge of
Tripoli of the time to do so
١٠ ـ نيفلاخملا هيف رظان ،ماكحلأا
يف ـ فلاخلا َ
َ
. نيدلجم يف ﱠ . Al-Khilāf: a
book in two volumes that deals
with the ahkam, religious
rulings, in which he debates
those who dispute with his
School of Thought
١١ ـ هباتكل حرش ـ لوقعلا ةضاير )
لوصلأا ملع يف ةمدقم ّ .
( Riyādat al-`Uqūl:
an explanation of his own book
titled Muqaddima fī`Ilm al-Usūl
(Introduction in the Science of
Principles)
١٢ هقفلا لوصأو نيدلا لوصأ يف ـ
ةدعلا ـ ُّ . Al-`Udda: deals
with the
principles ofthe creed and of
those of fiqh
١٣ يدھملا ماملإا ةبيغ يف ـ
ةبيغلا ـ ّ
َ ) هجرف ىلاعت ﷲ لجع َ َ .( Al-Ghaiba:
deals
with the occultation of Imām
al-Mahdi (may Allāh Almighty
hasten
his ease)
١٤ او بتكلا باحصأ ركذ يف ـ
تسرھفلا ـ لوصلأ . Al-Fihrist: a
bibliography of
major books and authors who
wrote in the science of usul,
principles
of the Islamic faith
١٥ ملاكلا ملع يف ـ للعي لا امو
للعي ام ـ
MāYu`allal wamālāYu`allal (what
can be explained and what
cannot): a book in the science
of
logic
١٦ هقفلا بتك لجأ نم ـ طوسبملا ـ
. لاصف نيعبس ىلع لمتشي ً .
Al-Mabsoot(refer
to the text above): one of the
most prestigious books of fiqh;
it contains seventy chapters.
١٧ لأا بѧѧتك لѧѧجأ نѧѧم وѧѧھو
،ةنسѧѧلا لاѧѧمعأ يѧѧف ـ
دѧѧجھتملا حابصѧѧم ـ
ﱠ ّ لاѧѧمعلأاو ةѧѧيعد .
Misbāh al-Mutahajjid: a book of
recommended acts of the Sunnah,
one of the greatest books of
supplications and acts of
worship
١٨ ةمھملا راثلآا نم وھو ،ةماملإا
يف ـ حصفملا
. Al-Mufsih: deals with the
subject of Imāmate, and it is
one of the important sources in
this topic.
١٩ ملاسلا هيلع نيسحلا ماملإا
لتقم .
Maqtal al-Imām al-Hussain
Alaihis-Salām: a narrative of
the epicof heroism of Imam al-Hussain’s
martyrdom
٢٠ نيدلا لوصأ يف ـ داشرلإا نم
داجتسملا ـ ةسمخلا .
Al-Mustajād minal
Irshād: deals with the five
principles of the creed
٢١ لمعلا درجم يف ـ جحلا كسانم ـ
Manāsik al-Hajj: deals with
pilgrimage-related rituals
٢٢ ىوتفلاو هقفلا يف ـ ةياھنلا ـ
.. ىلع يوتحي ٢٢ و لاصف ً ٢١٤
اباب ً .
Al-Nihāya: book about
fiqhand issuing fatwas, edicts
and contains 22 parts and
214 chapters
٢٣ تادابعلاو ةيعدلأا يف ـ
دبعتملا ةريصبو دشرتسملا ةيادھ ـ
ّ .
Hidāyat
al-Mustarshid wa Basīrat al-Muta`abbid:
a book of supplications
and acts of adoration
From this list of precious
books, we have selected these
few works
for the reader only because they
are available at libraries,
providing
you with their place of
publication; unfortunately, the
name of
publisher or press house is
omitted from existing editions:
Kitāb al-Ghaiba, Al-Najaf al-Ashraf,
Iraq.
Misbāh al-Mutahajjid, Qum, Iran.
Al-Tibyān, Al-Najaf al-Ashraf,
Iraq.
Al-Amāli, Al-Najaf al-Ashraf,
Iraq, 1384 A.H./1964 A.D. (Iran,
1313A.H./1895 A.D.).
Al-Fihrist, Al-Najaf al-Ashraf,
Iraq.__.
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