Mohammad Baqer Majlesi ( – 29 March 1699; ), also known as

Allamah ''Allamah'' () is an Islamic honorary title for a profound scholar, a polymath, a man of vast reading and erudition, or a great learned one. The title is carried by scholars of Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence) and philosophy. It is used as an hon ...

Majlesi or Majlesi Al-Thani (Majlesi the Second), was an influential Iranian

Akhbari Akhbarism () is a branch of Twelver Shia Islam, whose adherents do not perform imitation ( ''taqlid'') of an islamic jurist ( ''marja''). Akhbaris rejects the use of intercessory reasoning via trained Islamic jurists to derive verdicts in ...

Twelver Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the Islamic schools and branches, largest branch of Shia Islam, Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twel ...

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

scholar and thinker during the

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

era. He has been described as "one of the most powerful and influential Shi'a

ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

of all time", whose "policies and actions reoriented Twelver Shia'ism in the direction that it was to develop from his day on." He was buried next to his father in a family mausoleum located next to the

Jamé Mosque of Isfahan The Jāmeh Mosque of Isfahān or Jāme' Mosque of Isfahān ( ''Masjid-e-Jāmeh Isfahān''), also known as the Atiq Mosque () and the Friday Mosque of Isfahān (), is an historic congregational mosque (''Jāmeh''), located in Isfahan, Iran. The m ...

Early life and education

Born in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

in 1627, his father, Mulla Mohammad Taqi Majlesi (''Majlesi-ye Awwal''—Majlesi the First, 1594 -1660), was a cleric of

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

. The genealogy of his family is at times traced back to Abu Noaym Ahmad ibn Abdallah Esfahani (d. 1038 AD), the author, inter alia, of a History of Isfahan, entitled Zikr-i akhbar-i Isfahan. However, his first definitive, attested ancestor appears to be Kamal al-Din Darvish Mohammad ibn Hasan Ameli. Ameli, of Lebanese extraction, was the first scholar to propagate the science of (Shi'ite) Hadith in Isfahan following the establishment and rise of the Safavids. Ameli later adopted two ''nisbas'', that is, Natanzi ("from

Natanz Natanz () is a city in the Central District of Natanz County, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is south-east of Kashan. Demographics Population At the time of the 2006 National Census, th ...

") and Esfahani ("from Isfahan"). Majlesi himself also used these nisbas and even signed some of his ''ejazat'' as "al-Esfahani al-Natanzi al-Ameli". Majlesi's father Mohammad Taqi was the first of the line to bear the epithet "Majlesi". By the age of 25, Baqer Majlesi gained certification of "riwāyat" from

Mulla Sadra Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā (; ; c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persians, Persian Twelver Shi'a, Shi'i Islamic philosophy, Islamic mystic, philosopher, Kalam, theologian, a ...

to teach. He is said to have completed studies under 21 masters (''ustadh''). He is reported to have trained 181 students to become masters themselves.

Influence and beliefs

In 1687, the Safavid king,

Sultan Husayn Soltan Hoseyn (; 1668 – 9 September 1727) was the Safavid shah of Iran from 1694 to 1722. He was the son and successor of Shah Suleiman (). Born and raised in the royal harem, Soltan Hoseyn ascended the throne with limited life experience a ...

, appointed Majlesi as " Sheikh ul-Islam" (Chief Religious Leader of the Land) in

, the capital of the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

. In this influential position, he was given a free hand by the Sultan to encourage and to punish as he saw fit. "The three inter-related areas in which Majlisi exerted his efforts were": the suppression of

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

mystical philosophies, philosophic views known as

Falsafah Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—''falsafa'' (), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, mathematics, and p ...

that he claimed were contrary to Islam and "the suppression of

Sunnism Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mus ...

and other religious groups." According to scholar Moojan Momen, Majlisi's era marked a breaking point, as he successfully undercut the influence of Sufism and philosophic rationalism in Shiism. "Up to the time of Majlisi, Shiism and Sufism were closely linked and indeed Sufism had been a vehicle for pro-Shii sentiment among the Sunnis. Even the most eminent members of the Shii ulama in the preceding centuries had come under the influence of Sufiism." After the death of Majlisi, "this process continued among the succeeding generations of ulama" so that Sufism became "divorced from Shiism and ceased to influence the main stream of Shii development. Philosophy was also down-graded and ceased to be an important part of studies at the religious colleges."

Moojan Momen Moojan Momen (b. 1950) is a retired physician and historian specializing in Baháʼí studies who has published numerous books and articles about the Baháʼí Faith and Islam, especially Shia Islam, including for Encyclopædia Iranica the British ...

, ''Introduction to Shi'i Islam'' (Yale University Press, 1985) (p.116)

Legalism

He also reestablished clerical authority under his leadership, "and renewed the impetus for conversion from Sunni to Shi'a school."''Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World'', (2004), p.425 Majlesi is "credited with propagating numerous Shi'a rituals that Iranians regularly practice", such as mourning ceremonies for the fallen

Twelve Imams The Twelve Imams (, '; , ') are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam, including that of the Alawite and Alevi. According to Twelver theology, the Twelve Imams are exemp ...

, particularly the martyrdom of

Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd a ...

at Karbala, and pilgrimages to shrines of imams and their families. Majlesi "fervently upheld the concepts of 'enjoining the good' and 'prohibiting evil, and in so doing endeavoured to provide

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

(judgements) for "all of the hypothetical situations a true believer could or might face." In one "exposition of virtues of proper behavior", he gave directions on everything from how to "wear clothes to sexual intercourse and association with females, clipping fingernails, sleeping, waking, urination and defecation, enemas, sneezing, entering and leaving a domicile, and treatments and cures for many illnesses and diseases." More controversially, Majlesi defined "science" very narrowly as "knowledge of the clear, secure ''ayat''; of the religious duties and obligations which God has fixed in His Justice; and of the Prophetic Traditions (

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

), which are valid until the

day of Resurrection In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgement Day ( or ), is when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, and "all people" are "called to account" for their deeds and their faith during their life on Earth. It has been called "the do ...

." Beyond this, he warned, the seeking of knowledge is "a waste of one's life," and worse would "generally lead to

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

and

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

, in which case the likelihood of salvation is remote." He opposed the school of mystical philosophy developed by

Mir Damad Mīr Dāmād () (c. 1561 – 1631/1632), known also as Mir Mohammad Baqer Esterabadi, or Asterabadi, was a Twelver Shia Iranian philosopher in the Neoplatonizing Islamic Peripatetic traditions of Avicenna. He was a scholar of the traditional Is ...

and

, who argued that the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

was always open to reinterpretation, and valued insights that came from intuition and ecstasy rather than reason.

Work and contribution

Allamah Al-Majlisi's most important field of interest was the hadith. He popularized his teaching by writing numerous works in an easily understandable style, in which he summarized the essential doctrines for the common people. Allamah Majlisi was also a very prolific writer. He wrote more than 100 books, both in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. Some of his more famous works are: *''

Bihar al-Anwar () is a comprehensive collection of hadith (''pl.'' ahadith) compiled by Shia scholar Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (). It is the secondary Shi'ite hadith verification source after the Four Books. Overview ''Bihar al-Anwar'' is the most comprehensive ...

'' ("Seas of Light") in 110 volumes. *'' Reality of Certainty'' *'' Mirror of Intellects'', a 26-volume commentary. *''Shelter of the Upright People'', a 16-volume commentary. *''Provisions for the Hereafter'' *''A Gift for the Pilgrims'' *'' Essence of Life'' *''Adornment of the Pious''The title has been translated in various forms. Different translations are ''Countenance of the Pure'' or ''The Adornment of the God-fearing'' or ''Ornament of the God-Wary'' *''Al-Fara'edh al-Tarifah''

Notes

References

External links

Bio of the Majlesi familyEncyclopaedia Iranica, MAJLESI, Mohammad-Baqer
*http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/hadith-science/1.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi Shia clerics from Isfahan Hadith compilers Safavid theologians 1627 births 1699 deaths 17th-century Iranian writers 17th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Critics of Sunni Islam Iranian people of Lebanese descent 17th-century Twelvers