Allama Muqdis Ardbeli

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ALLAMA MUQDIS ARDBELI

Name: Mohammed ibne Ahmed

Born : On : Not known At: Ardbel, Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Died : Safar 993 H At: Najaf e Ashraf

Title : Muqdis

The family to which Muqdis Ardbeli belonged was not very well known. Therefore his date of birth and other particulars are not available. Therefore the historians are unable to record his exact age. But the date when he demised has been recorded in history becuse he rose to be an eminent scholar, Mujtahid and Marja..

Muqdis Ardbeli was recognized as the Marja after the martyrdom of Shaheed e Saani.

The prominent mentors of Muqdis Ardbeli were the disciples of Shaheed e Saani. Among the disciples of Muqdis Ardbeli were so many Mujtahids that beside sheik Toosi none had this number of eminent disciples. Among the most erudite disciples of Muqdis Ardbeli was the author of “Mu- Aalim”, the son of Shaheed e Saani. This is a book on the principles of Fiqh and is on the curricula of all the Shia Seminaries in the world. The Mujtahids who pass edict (Fatwas) refer to this book as a basis for their decisions. Not only Muqdis Ardbeli left behind his brilliant disciples to perpetuate his good work but also his own monumental writings. He wrote the book “Zabdat al Bayan” that deals with all the verses of the Holy Quran that have relation with the matters of Fiqh. He also wrote “Hadiqat al Nadiya” on the lives of the Fourteen Infallibles (a.s). Incidentally, this book has been recently translated into Urdu. People have been benefiting from the works of Muqdis Ardbeli for the past 450 years.

As we have already mentioned that Muqdis Ardbeli was born in Ardbel and died in Najaf e Ashraf and was interred in a corner of the mausoleum of Hazrat Amir al momineen (a.s), near the left minaret of the building. As the person enters the mausoleum from the left, there is a room, which was the treasury of the Imam (a.s)is also interred this treasure of the Shias, Muqdis Ardbeli!



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THE GREATNESS OF MUQDIS ARDBELI

Let us now consider the greatness of Muqdis Ardbeli. Muqdis Ardbeli was ackmowledged as the Marja of his times when his contemporaries were men of caliber like Mir Baqir Damad who is recognized as the greatest philosopher in the history of Islam and also Sheik Bahai. The biggest achievement of Muqdis Ardbeli.is that he put a new life into the seminary at Najaf e Ashraf. This seminary established by Sheik Toosi is working for more than thousand years and has produced umpteen numbers of Mujtahids. After about a hundred years of its foundation, the center of Shia learning moved to Hilla and shifted to Najaf e Ashraf again when Muqdis Ardbeli became the Marja after the martyrdom of Shaheed e Saani. Muqdis Ardbeli was a man of such piety that it is believed that he was met by the Imam e Zamana (a.s) several times. Our eminent Ulema have been having one or two meetings with the Imam (a.s). But the greatness of Muqdis Ardbeli is that he had this privilege time and again. It is said that whenever he met with difficulty in finding answers to intricate problems, he would get the solutions by making access to the Rouza of Hazrat Amir al Momineen (a.s). This was the result of his piety that throughout his life he didn’t do even one Mubah (permissible) act and he did only Wajib (mandatory) or Mustaheb (the Optional) acts. It is believed that for full forty years he didn’t relax his limbs for sleeping or for sitting. The eminent Mujtahids like Allama Majlisi (the author of Bahar al Anwaar), Mirza Hussain al Noori (author of Mustadrak al Wasael), Sayed Nemat Allah Jazaeri (author of Anwaar Nomania) and the authors of Lulu Bahrain and Rauzaat al Janaat have all one sentence praising the piety of Muqdis Ardbeli. It is said that his piety was like the manners of the Prophet (s.a), the valor of Hazrat Amir al Momineen (a.s), and the magnanimity of Hatim Tai.



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THE SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENTS
OF MUQDIS ARDBELI

We can gauge the scholastic capabilities of Muqdis Arbeli from the very fact that he succeeded Shaheed e Saani as the Marja of the Shias despite of such scholars as Sheik Bahai and Mir Baqir Damad as his contemporaries. His scholastic prowess can also be gauged from the roster of his eminent disciples who benefited from his erudition. The erudition of Muqdis Ardbeli has been confirmed by the Prophet (s.a) who came into his dream, sitting along with Moosa Kaleem Allah (a.s). As recounted by Muqdis Ardbeli himself that when, in his dream, he sat in the company of the two infallibles, Hazrat Moosa (a.s) looked at him and asked the Prophet (s.a), “Who this person is?” The Prophet (s.a) replied, “This is one of the scholars from my Ummat!” One should note that the Prophet (s.a) himself is mentioning of him as a scholar. Then Hazrat Moosa (a.s) said, “O’ Habib! If you agree, I shall ask him some questions!” The Prophet (s.a) agreed. Hazrat Moosa (a.s) came close to Muqdis Ardbeli and asked, “O’ person! Tell me what is your name?” Generally long discussions are started in this manner. Miqdis Ardbeli said, “ My name is Mohammed ibne Ahmed and I am from a place called Ardbel. These days I am residing at Najaf e Ashraf and my house is situated in one of the lanes there.” Thus he made a short introductory remark for five to seven minutes. Surprised, Hazrat Moosa asked, “I have just asked your name! Why did you give such a lengthy introduction?” Muqdis Ardbeli said, “O Kaleem Allah (a.s)! I am asking you a question! I draw your attention to the verses of Surat al Taha, in the beginning of which, there is mention of your passing through a wilderness with your spouse. It was a dark night and you needed light. All of a sudden you saw a fire buring on the hill. You asked your spouse to wait and also told her that you would go up the hill and fetch some fire. Once you reached the top you saw that the fire was burning behind some bushes. Suddenly there came a voice from the bushes, ‘O’ Moosa! I am your God!’ Then there are the verses (of Surat al Taha) mentioned by me. Allah asked you, ‘O’Moosa! What is in your right hand?’ You replied, ‘In my right hand there is my staff. I take its support while I sit on the ground! With it I herd my sheep and there are several other uses of this staff of mine!’ Now Muqdis Ardbeli asked Hazrat Moosa (a.s), in his dream, ‘O Prophet Moosa! Allah had asked you only one question (What is in your right hand?). You could have only said,”My staff!” What was the need to say that you sit with its support and herd the animals with it and that there were many uses of the staff for you? Hazrat Moosa (a.s) replied, “O person! It was my first opportunity of conversing with Allah. My heart was telling me to prolong the conversation as long as possible! Therefore I prolonged my reply!’ Now Muqdis said, ‘O Allah’s Prophet (a.s)! I am conversing with you for the first time! Therefore my heart told me to prolong the talk as much as I could!” Now Hazrat Moosa (a.s) went away saying, ‘Now I have no ned of asking you any further questions. He wnet near the Prophet (s.a) and said, ‘You had very rightly said that the Ulema in your Ummat are like the prophets of Bani Israel!’



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