al-Sheikh al-Mufid

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Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Hārithī ( Arabic محمد بن محمد الحارثي, DMG Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥāriṯī ), best known by his honorary title al-Sheikh al-Mufīd ( Arabic الشيخ المفيد, DMG aš-Šaiḫ al-Mufīd ) (born around 948 or 950 in ʿUkbarā ; died 1022 in Baghdad ), was one of the leading Shiite theologians of the Twelve Shiites of his time, who today is mainly responsible for his book of guidance ( Kitāb al-Iršād ) , a work on the life and work of the twelve imams . It is historically significant primarily because of its adoption of the Kalām methods and their further development within the framework of Shiite doctrine.

Life

Al-Mufīd moved to Baghdad with his father as a child and began his training there with teachers such as Ibn Qūlūya (d. 978/79), with whom he studied the traditional collection of al-Kulainī , Ibn Bābawaih , his doctrine and often “blind “Trust in traditions was later very critical of al-Mufid, and especially of the many scholars who were close to the Muʿtazila .

As an advocate of the Imāmīts, al-Mufīd quickly gained reputation and influence under the protection of the Buyids and worked on Dar al-ʿIlm, founded in 993 in the Karch district, which is mainly inhabited by Shiites, where he gathered a large number of students, including Sharīf al -Murtadā (d. 1044) and at-Tūsī . Here he also led public discussions with the Ashʿarite al-Bāqillānī and the Muʿtazilite ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Ahmad .

Ibn an-Nadīm , a contemporary of al-Mufīd, lists him in his Kitāb al-Fihrist and claims to have met him personally. He describes him as a quick-witted and intelligent leader.

As a result of increasingly violent conflicts between Sunnis and Shiites, al-Mufid was temporarily forced to leave Baghdad. However, he returned there before his death in 1022. His lasting importance for was also recognized by ideological opponents such as al-Chatīb al-Baghdādī (1002-1071), who attested to him that thanks to his erudition he had succeeded in “corrupting” many people through his “heresy” before God did Finally redeemed humanity from him.

Works

Only a few of al-Mufid's numerous writings have survived, some in full, some in the form of extensive quotations from the works of other authors, which also suggest his great importance. His best-known work, The Book of Guidance , is an annotated collection of traditions about the twelve imams .

literature

  • Tamima Bayhom Daou: Shaykh Mufid . Oneworld Publications, Oxford 2005.
  • W. Madelung: "al-Mufīd" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. VII, pp. 312-313.
  • Martin J. McDermott: The Theology of al-Shaikh al-Mufīd . Dar el-Machreq, Beirut 1978.
  • Dominique Sourdel: L'Imamisme vu par le Cheikh al-Mufīd . In: Revue des Études Islamiques XL, 1972, pp. 217–96.

Individual evidence

  1. Martin J. McDermott: The Theology of al-Shaikh al-Mufīd . Dar el-Machreq, Beirut 1978, p. 9.
  2. ^ Paul Sander: Between Charisma and Ratio. Developments in Early Imāmitic Theology . Klaus Schwarz, Berlin 1994, p. 83.
  3. ^ A b Moojan Momen: An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Yale University Press, New Haven 1985, p. 317.
  4. Tamima Bayhom Daou: Shaykh Mufid . Oneworld Publications, Oxford 2005, p. 270.
  5. Madelung: "al-Mufīd" in EI² Vol. VII, p. 312a.
  6. Bayard Dodge (transl.): The Fihrist of al-Nadīm. A Tenth-Century Survey of Muslim Culture . Columbia University Press, New York 1970, p. 443.
  7. Martin J. McDermott: The Theology of al-Shaikh al-Mufīd , p. 8.