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HASAN IBN YUSUF IBN ALI IBN MUTAHHAR AL-HILLI (R.A.)
Allama Hilli was born in 648 AH (1250 AD) in the town of Hilla,
Iraq. He started to receive religious education at an early age
from his father and uncle in Hilla, which was the center of
Shiite doctrines in the days of Abbasid Caliphate. His teachers
were: al-Qazwini at the observatory at Maraghah in Azerbaijan,
Nasir al-Din Tusi in astrology and philosophy, and Maytham
al-Bahrani in fiqh.
He was considered the leading mujtahid in Hilla at the age of
28, after the death of his uncle, Muahaqqiq al- Hilli.
He moved to Persia, Iran in 1305 AD. He was known for his wit
and wisdom. He had a solid knowledge of Shiite doctrines. He had
contributed to the wide spreading of the teachings and
philosophy of AhlulBayt (a.s.). He was able to convert the ruler
of Persia into Shi’ism which led to the proclamation of Shiite
Islam as state religion.
His masterly handling of different problems became famous
especially when the ruler of Persia had divorced his beloved
wife three times. The ruler had invited other religious scholars
belonging to other school of thoughts and who were determined to
sabotage Allama Hilli. In the royal court, Allama Hilli showed
eloquence and prudence superior to the rest of the scholars
present.
His knowledge and wit at a young Age:
Once Muhaqqeq Hilli was taking a class and Allama Hilli, who was
6 or 7 years then, was sitting near him. The child played some
prank and Muhaqqeq Hilli got up to reprimand him. Allama Hilli
ran and the Muhaqqeq pursued him. When he thought that the
teacher was about to get him, he suddenly recited an Ayah from
Noble Qur’an where prostration is mandatory. Muhaqqeq Hilli
immediately fell into prostration. Allama Hilli got a chance to
run. He knew that since he was not of the age when prostration
is mandatory, he was able to continue running. After the
prostration, the teacher again pursued the student! He again
recited another Ayah that required prostration. Now the teacher
again prostrated and his anger dissipated and he smiled at the
cleverness of his student. He went forward and hugged him and
said that the child would reach a stage in learning that the
people would forget the teacher!
Meeting with Imam-e-Zamana:
As a student in Hilla, Allama Hilli learned that if any one
supplicated for 40 nights of Juma’a in Karbala near the grave of
Imam Hussayn (a.s.), he would meet the Imam-e-Zamana. When
students got vacations, Allama Hilli rode on his mule from Hilla
to Karbala and spent 39 nights of Friday supplicating near the
grave of Imam Hussayn (a.s.). On the 40th
completes the supplication, he would be able to meet the Imam.
During his journey, a scholarly question came to his mind. There
were many Traditions saying that if someone cried with the
thought of hardships faced by Imam Hussayn (a.s.), all his sins
would be condoned by Allah. He was not able to understand this
Tradition; how only crying could get condo nation of sins for a
person.
He was riding with this thought in his mind when he came across
an Arab riding on a horse. He came near Allama Hilli and started
riding side by side and asked him where he was going. Allama
Hilli explained and also told the Arab about the question in his
mind. The Arab told him about a king who was out hunting, lost
his way and reached a small hut in which an old woman lived
alone with her sheep. The king was thirsty and the
woman served milk from the sheep. Later, the king complained of
hunger. The woman slaughtered her only possession and served the
king.
While leaving, the king told her who he was and asked her to
meet him whenever she visits the capital. The Arab asked Allama
Hilli how much the king should serve the woman to compensate for
her services she provided to the king in his time of dire need.
Allama Hilli replied that even if the king gave her his entire
government it would not be sufficient. The Arab asked again,
“Why not ten sheep, fifty sheep or hundred sheep?”
Allama Hilli said that the woman parted with her only possession
purely on humanitarian grounds without knowing his status.
The Arab said that the answer to his question lies in that. Imam
Hussayn sacrificed every thing he had for the sake of Allah. It
would only make sense that in return for his sacrifice, Allah
would give everything in his universe for Imam Hussayn. The Arab
told Allama Hilli that the answer to his second question was
that the Twelfth Imam was in front of him. Allama Hilli got the
blessing of meeting the Imam as return for his supplications for
40 nights. Now, when he turned to look, the Imam had already
left.
Books:
Some 500 works are attributed to him. According to some sources,
Allama Hilli wrote some 1,000 works (including short treatises
and epistles) on Islamic law, jurisprudence, and theology and
Qur’anic commentary. Of these about 60 are still available. Yet,
only 8 of these are published. They are regarded by “Imami
Shiite as the most authentic expositions of their dogma and
practice.” He is known to be the first Shiite Imamia scholar to
have used the term “Ijtihad”
One of his most famous theological works is “The Eleventh
Chapter” (Al-Bab al-Hadi ‘Ashar, which he composed towards the
end of his life as a concise summary of
Shiite doctrines for the learned lay persons. In the year 1928,
William McElwee Miller
had translated it in English.
The following books have been translated into Urdu:
(a) Al-fain on logic
(b) Tehzeeb Aal-e-Muhammad on morals
(c) Ahsan ul Aqaid on beliefs
(d) Sharae al-Islam on Jurisprudence
(e) Hidayat ul-Waee on dua
Names of his other famous books are available on line.
Jurisprudence:
Allama Hilli’s role in shaping Shiite Jurisprudence is of great
importance. He produced a voluminous legal Corpus. Of this, two
of the most important works are “The Disagreement” and “The
End”. He also produced a “Summarized Legal Manual” Allama Hilli
died in the year 1325 A.D.
References:
The Shiapedia
Wikipedia
Ziaraat.com
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