''ʿAbdullāh ibn Ṣāliḥ as Samāhijī'' (1675–1722) ( ar, عبد الله بن صالح السماهيجي) was a Bahraini Shia Islamic scholar who lived during the

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

period. He was born in the village of

Samaheej Samaheej ( ar, سماهيج ''Samāhīj'') is a village in Bahrain on the northern coast of Muharraq Island. Al Dair village lies to its northwest, while Galali lies to its southeast. It is north of Bahrain International Airport. Samaheej ( '' ...

Muharraq Island Muharraq Island (), formerly known as Moharek, is the second largest island in the archipelago of Bahrain after Bahrain Island. It lies east of the capital, Manama, on Bahrain Island. History It is named after Muharraq City, the former capital ...

, and like many of his Bahraini contemporaries, he was a follower of the

Akhbari The ʾAkhbāri's ( ar, أخباریون, fa, ‌اخباریان) are a minority of Twelver Shia Muslims who reject the use of reasoning in deriving verdicts, and believe in Quran and Hadith. The term ʾAkhbāri's (from ''khabāra'', news or r ...

theological school—although his father was a pure Usuli who detested Akhbaris. Among his teachers was ''Sulaymān ibn ʿAbdullāh al Maḥūdhī''. After the

1717 Omani invasion of Bahrain 1717 Omani invasion of Bahrain was the invasion of Bahrain in 1717 by the Sultanate of Oman, bringing an end to the 115-year rule by the eroding Safavid dynasty. Following the Afghan invasion of Iran at the beginning of the 18th century which wea ...

, as Samāhijī fled to

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

where he briefly served as the

Sheikh ul-Islam Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

. Andrew J. Newman
The Nature of the Akhbārī/Uṣūlī Dispute in Late Ṣafawid Iran. Part 1: 'Abdallāh al-Samāhijī's "Munyat al-Mumārisīn
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 55, No. 1 (1992), pp. 22-51 He then settled in Behbehan where he died in 1722. Among his works is ''Munyat al Mumārisīn'' in Arabic, which includes an examination of the

- Usuli dispute.

References

Rival Empires of Trade and Imami Shiism in Eastern Arabia, 1300-1800
Juan Cole, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2, (May, 1987), pp. 177–203 Bahraini Shia clerics Twelvers Bahraini Shia Muslims 1675 births 1723 deaths Bahraini ayatollahs {{shia-stub

See also

References