Allamah ''Allāmah'' ( ar, عَلَّامة, Urdu and , meaning "learned"), also spelled ''Allāma'' and ''Allama'' and “ Allameh “, is an Islamic honorary title for a profound scholar, a polymath, a man of vast reading and erudition, or a great ...

Sheikh 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 ...

Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Fahad al-Hilli al-Asadi (; 1355–1438), famously known as Ibn Fahad al-Hilli (), was an eminent Iraqi Shia jurist and religious authority. He was known for his works on religious ethics, supplications and spirituality.

Early life and education

The whereabouts of his birthplace are unknown. He lived for a while in Hillah, which was one of the first center of Shi'a scholars such as ibn Fahd. He studied at the Zaynabiyah school, and was taught by the students of Fakhr al-Muhaqiqeen and al-Shaheed al-Awwal. Agha Bozorg al-Tehrani believes that he was among the students of al-Shaheed al-Awwal. Al-Hilli received his ijaza in 1421, from the son of al-Shaheed al-Awwal when he visited

Jabal Amel Jabal Amil ( ar, جبل عامل, Jabal ʿĀmil), also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila, is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Musl ...

, and

Jezzine Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a town in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 950 m (3 ...

. After that, he moved to Karbala, and found its religious seminary. His move played an important role in establishing Karbala, as the religious Shia kernel at the time.

Impact on the Qara Qoyunlu state

In 1436,

Ispend bin Yusuf Ispend, Aspand or Isfahan was the son of Qara Yusuf and ruled over Baghdad and its environs for twelve years. During reign of Qara Yusuf His first mention was in 1410, when he commanded left flank of Kara Koyunlu army against Ahmad Jalayir. He w ...

, the ruler of Baghdad, invited al-Hilli, so that he may debate his faith with Sunni scholars. In the debate, al-Hilli and his consortium of Shia scholars, debated with the Sunnis and were able to beat them, and convince Ispend to convert to Shi'ism. Through his move, Ispend declared Shi'a Islam as the official religion of his state and struck coins with the names of the

twelve Imams The Twelve Imams ( ar, ٱلْأَئِمَّة ٱلْٱثْنَا عَشَر, '; fa, دوازده امام, ') are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Islam, including that of the Alawi ...

Works

He wrote books on different aspects of Islamic sciences such as

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and other religious spheres. Some of them include: * ''Al Awiyah va Al Fatum'' * ''Istekhraj Al Havadeth'' (predicting some events, such as appearance of Safavid dynasty and Mongol's Attack by Ali ibn Abi Talib * ''The Mysteries of Praying'' * ''Tahsin fi Sefat al Arefin'' * ''Iddat Al Daei''

Death and shrine

He died in Karbala, and was buried in his home. Over time, a shrine was erected over his tomb. The ground floor of his home became a mosque, and an inn for the pilgrims of Karbala. The upper levels became a religious seminary, known as the Ibin Fahad school. In 1939, a library was built in the shrine, and was named the Rasool al-Adham library. In the 1964, Sayyid Muhammad al-Shirazi and his brother, Sayyid

Hassan al-Shirazi Ayatollah Sayyid Hassan al-Husayni al-Shirazi. ( ar, حسن الحسيني الشيرازي; fa, ; 1935–May 2, 1980) was an Iraqi-Iranian Shia scholar, thinker, and poet. He was assassinated in Beirut at the hands of the Baathist intelligence. ...

strived to renovate the seminary, and managed to do so by gathering donations from some of the notables of Karbala, and this was all done under the supervision of the supreme religious authority of the time, Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim. His shrine lies on the ''Qibla'' street, approximately 500 metres from the Imam Husayn shrine. After the US invasion of Iraq, the

Shiite Endowment Office The Shiite Endowment Office is an Iraqi administration created by the Iraqi Governing Council after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. It was created from the dissolution of the Ministry of Awqaf and religious Affairs in former Baath rule, separa ...

appointed Aref Nasrallah as the commissioner of the shrine and seminary. pp. 157–8.

References

{{Reflist Date of birth missing Date of death missing Muslim mystics Writers of the medieval Islamic world Islamic culture Muslim scholars of Islamic jurisprudence 14th-century births 15th-century deaths 14th-century Muslim scholars of Islam 15th-century Muslim scholars of Islam

Early life and education

Impact on the Qara Qoyunlu state

Works

Death and shrine

See also

References