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04-19-2009, 02:16 PM
An Introduction to Imamiyyah Scholars
part -2
Written by Wahid Akhtar
Al-Tawhid Vol. IV, No. 4 (1407 AH)
The fourth and fifth/tenth and eleventh centuries are considered to form the golden age of Muslim intellectual and cultural developments. In Imamiyya thought, these two centuries, together with the sixth/twelfth century, constitute the era of the flowering of the Shi`i mind. We have selected only a few scholars as representatives of the general scholarly tradition among the Imamiyya, but many of those who are lefi also deserve the historian's attention. Paucity of literature about Imamiyya scholars is the main obstacle in the way of a comprehensive study of many a scholar. Almost all early works on the rijal of the Shi`a remain in Arabic and even the most important of them have not yet been translated into any other language. Despite their authenticity, these books, for instance al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim and al-Tusi and the Rijal of al-Najashi, give only very brief accounts of the scholars. If one wishes to form a comprehensive picture of various scholars' works in different fields, one has to refer to a large number of books in Arabic and Persian. Most of the works of the Imamiyya scholars, like those of other Muslim schools, were written in Arabic and were destroyed in the course of wars, invasions of the Muslim world, and intersectarian riots. The Imamiyya scholars were more unfortunate than others in this respect. Approximately ninety per cent of the works listed in early biographies have totally disappeared, and those that are extant are scattered all over the Muslim world in obscure libraries and corners. This is a factor that had been responsible for the paucity of material on Imamiyya scholarship.
For political reasons and extra-academic motives, orientalists have been mainly interested in the study of the majority sect of the Muslims. The Shi`i school has been systematically neglected and, at the same time, maligned by non-Shi`i scholars and the orientalists. It is still the main target of the hostile Wahhabi petro-Dollar propaganda machinery. In an unbiased and objective view of the issue of Islam, the differences between the Sunnis and the Shi`a, apart from the issue of the Imamate, concern subsidiary and secondary issues, mostly of historical and political nature. The points of difference between the two in matters of fiqh are no more pronounced than those among the officially accepted four schools of Sunni fiqh. A comparative study of the five schools of fiqh (the four Sunni and the Ja`fari) is essential for a better understanding of Islam. This study requires as a prerequisite a general survey of the work done by Imamiyya scholars in different areas of Islamic learning. The present study is a beginning in this direction - an attempt to fill up some obvious gaps. If one ignores polemical writings on controversial issues, one would find a spirit of co-operation and mutual appreciation among Sunni and Shi`i scholars of the early centuries in developing various Islamic sciences. Imamiyya thought is a part of general Islamic thought and needs to be studied in this perspective.
With this introduction I present brief accounts of a few selected Imamiyya scholars of the fifth/eleventh century. A similar survey of the scholars of the earlier centuries is also essential for a better and more comprehensive understanding of Islam.
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part -2
Written by Wahid Akhtar
Al-Tawhid Vol. IV, No. 4 (1407 AH)
The fourth and fifth/tenth and eleventh centuries are considered to form the golden age of Muslim intellectual and cultural developments. In Imamiyya thought, these two centuries, together with the sixth/twelfth century, constitute the era of the flowering of the Shi`i mind. We have selected only a few scholars as representatives of the general scholarly tradition among the Imamiyya, but many of those who are lefi also deserve the historian's attention. Paucity of literature about Imamiyya scholars is the main obstacle in the way of a comprehensive study of many a scholar. Almost all early works on the rijal of the Shi`a remain in Arabic and even the most important of them have not yet been translated into any other language. Despite their authenticity, these books, for instance al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim and al-Tusi and the Rijal of al-Najashi, give only very brief accounts of the scholars. If one wishes to form a comprehensive picture of various scholars' works in different fields, one has to refer to a large number of books in Arabic and Persian. Most of the works of the Imamiyya scholars, like those of other Muslim schools, were written in Arabic and were destroyed in the course of wars, invasions of the Muslim world, and intersectarian riots. The Imamiyya scholars were more unfortunate than others in this respect. Approximately ninety per cent of the works listed in early biographies have totally disappeared, and those that are extant are scattered all over the Muslim world in obscure libraries and corners. This is a factor that had been responsible for the paucity of material on Imamiyya scholarship.
For political reasons and extra-academic motives, orientalists have been mainly interested in the study of the majority sect of the Muslims. The Shi`i school has been systematically neglected and, at the same time, maligned by non-Shi`i scholars and the orientalists. It is still the main target of the hostile Wahhabi petro-Dollar propaganda machinery. In an unbiased and objective view of the issue of Islam, the differences between the Sunnis and the Shi`a, apart from the issue of the Imamate, concern subsidiary and secondary issues, mostly of historical and political nature. The points of difference between the two in matters of fiqh are no more pronounced than those among the officially accepted four schools of Sunni fiqh. A comparative study of the five schools of fiqh (the four Sunni and the Ja`fari) is essential for a better understanding of Islam. This study requires as a prerequisite a general survey of the work done by Imamiyya scholars in different areas of Islamic learning. The present study is a beginning in this direction - an attempt to fill up some obvious gaps. If one ignores polemical writings on controversial issues, one would find a spirit of co-operation and mutual appreciation among Sunni and Shi`i scholars of the early centuries in developing various Islamic sciences. Imamiyya thought is a part of general Islamic thought and needs to be studied in this perspective.
With this introduction I present brief accounts of a few selected Imamiyya scholars of the fifth/eleventh century. A similar survey of the scholars of the earlier centuries is also essential for a better and more comprehensive understanding of Islam.
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