Summary Article
A Study of Al-Shifa› Wa Al-Jala› Fi Al-Gaiba by Abu Abas Ahmad bin Ali Al-Razi Al-Eiadi
(A Fourth Century Figure)
Shekh Amer Al-Jaberi
Translated by: Mujtaba Al-Helu
The subject of the Occultation of Imam Al-Mahdi has been conquering the mind of various scholars since the ٤th century (A.H). The heated debates have been a result of the numerous writings of the scholars concerning this subject at that time; yet unfortunately, a great majority of those works were lost due to the oppressive regimes of the time.
Sheikh Abu Abas Ahmad bin Ali Al-Razi Al-Eiadi was one of the prominent scholars who lived in the ٤th century (A.H). He was from Ray, one of the greatest Islamic cities at that time. It was also the capital of Rukn Al-Dawla Al-Bowaihi.
As a matter of fact, Sheikh Al-Eiadi was one of the first scholars who encountered the issue of the Occultation of Imam Al-Mahdi. He wrote Al-Shifa Wa Al-Jala’ Fi Al-Gaiba. Although this book was lost, sheikh Al-Toosi saved a great account of the book’s narrations.
This research, in essence, strives to extract those narrations from Al-Gaiba by sheikh Al-Toosi, as an attempt of reviving sheikh Al-Eiadi’s book.
As an initiating step, the biography of sheikh Al-Eiadi may be tackled, leading also to another critical factor. In fact, he was accused of over-exaggeration concerning the status of Ahlulbait. Another obstacle is that there is only a very short biographical account about this author.
Accordingly, in order to overcome this challenge, this research attempts to study the biography of the author through perceiving the nature of the narrated Hadiths in his book. In this process, various biographical aspects of his life would be revealed, such as the historical context of his life, his masters, pupils, and belief. Moreover, this process would be a shield against all the false accusations.
In this respect, this research is divided into two parts: a. encountering the biography of Ahmad bin Ali Al-Razi Al-Eiadi; b. a study of the text of Al-Shifa Wa Al-Jala’ extracted from sheikh Al-Toosi’s Al-Gaiba.
