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SHEIKH AL-TŪSI
by Dr. Yasin Al-Jibouri
(Excerpted from the Introduction to his translation of Nahjul
Balagha)
Shaikh al-Tūsi, “Abū Ja`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 Musa 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 is also considered as the 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 “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, 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 Imam 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 Online by clicking on this Link:
http://www.al-islam.org/al-rida/index.html.
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 Sh`ite fiqh after someone had
given him a copy of the book titled Al-Mabsootby 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`ia 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, 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 has 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 hadīth
٢ ـ نم بذھ ـ لاجرلا ةفرعم رايتخا ّباتك هللاخ) يشكلا لاجر ّ
.( Ikhtiyār Ma`rifat al-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 fī Tafsīr 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 of the 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
ﱠ ّ
ُ ُ . 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 ـّ. 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 ـ
ّ
. 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 ـ ّ .
Maqtal al-Imām
al-Hussain Alaihis-Salām: a narrative of the epic of 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 ّ .
Hidāyatal-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,
1313
A.H./1895 A.D.).
Al-Fihrist, Al-Najaf al-Ashraf, Iraq.
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