Chapter 7-History of the Twelve Imams (‘a) from the 5th to 8th Centuries
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Chapter 7
History of the Twelve Imams (‘a) from the 5th to 8th Centuries
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A very early work entitled TÄrÄ«kh al-A’immah or TÄrÄ«kh al-MawÄlÄ«d wa WafayÄt Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) is available. It mentions the dates of birth and martyrdom of the Infallible Imams (‘a) on the authority of Imam Baqir (‘a), Imam SÄdiq (‘a), Imam RizÄ (‘a) and Imam ‘AskarÄ« (‘a). This book is variously attributed to Ibn KhashshÄb, Nasr bin ‘AlÄ« JahzamÄ«, Ahmad bin Muhammad FaryÄbÄ« and Ibn AbÄ« al-Thalj. Whoever happens to be its author it should be considered among the oldest books in this field that has survived from the 3rd century AH.[32] Another book entitled Zuhrat al-Muhaj wa TawÄrÄ«kh al-Hujaj on the lives of the Imams (‘a) has been referred to by Ibn TÄwus, but there is no further information on this book at hand.[33]
Exclusive books were written on the life of the Twelve Infallible Imams (‘a). The earliest surviving work in this field that has discussed this issue in detail is al-IrshÄd fÄ« Ma‘rifah Hujaj-AllÄh ‘alÄ al-‘IbÄd by Shaykh MufÄ«d. The author has dedicated the first part of his book to a detailed account of AmÄ«r al-Mu’minÄ«n (‘a) and has practically dealt with the life and qualities of Prophet Muhammad (S) by emphasising on the prime position of Imam ‘AlÄ« (‘a) right from the beginning of the Prophetic mission. The second part of al-IrshÄd deals with the life of the other eleven Imams and mainly contains historical and kalÄmÄ« discussions. Although Shaykh MufÄ«d has not mentioned his sources in every case, it is evident that he has used credible and important sources. Basically the major characteristic of Shaykh MufÄ«d in this regard is that he was well acquainted with books available in Iraq which were compiled by IraqÄ« historians. MasÄr al-ShÄ«‘ah by Shaykh MufÄ«d also gives us information on the life of the Imams (‘a).
The next important work in this field is the book I‘lÄm al-WarÄ bi A‘lÄm al-HudÄ, on the characteristics of the Prophet and his infallible progeny (‘a). In its section on the Imams (‘a) the book contains historical-kalÄmÄ« issues proving their Imamate, as is the case in al-IrshÄd. The author AbÄ« ‘AlÄ« Fazl ibn Hasan al-TabrisÄ« has accurately recorded his sources and in this way added to the book’s value. He has also incorporated important parts from AbÄn ibn ‘UthmÄn’s biography of the Prophet, a valuable Shi‘ite work which is not extant today.
Another immortal book is ManÄqib Al-i AbÄ« TÄlib by Muhammad bin ‘AlÄ« Ibn Shahr Ashub al-SarvÄ« al-MÄzandarÄnÄ«. This important and detailed work has been compiled with reference to hundreds of books and the author has given the work special value by quoting different sources and mentioning their names. The greater part of the book includes the life of AmÄ«r al-Mu’minÄ«n (‘a) and his merits as found in Sunni sources. But before that Ibn Shahr Ashub has dwelt in detail on the life of the Prophet and after the account of Imam ‘AlÄ« (‘a) has focused on merits of the other Imams.
The book Rawzah al-WÄ‘izÄ«n by FattÄl NayshÄburÄ« (d. 508) is also an important work which without mentioning its sources has dealt with the lives of the Twelve Imams (‘a). Another remaining work from the seventh century is Mukhtasar AhwÄl al-NabÄ« wa al-A’immah al-ThÄnÄ« ‘Ashar (‘a) by Shaykh RashÄ«d bin IbrÄhÄ«m bin IshÄq BahrÄnÄ«. The only extant copy of this book is being kept at the Markaz IhyÄ’ al-TurÄth al-IslÄmÄ« (Center for Revival of the Islamic Heritage) in Qum. Muntajab al-DÄ«n al-Babawayh in his al-Fihrist has also referred to a book entitled SÄ«rah al-AnbiyÄ’ wa al-A’immah by Shams al-Islam Hasan bin Husayn bin Babawayh al-QummÄ« who lived in Rayy, but there is no trace of this book today.[34] He has also mentioned another book named al-MaghÄzÄ« wa al-Siyar by Sayyid AbÄ« al-QÄsim Zayd bin IshÄq Ja‘farÄ« which shows the Shi‘ite community’s interest in this particular field. Shaykh AbÄ« al-Hasan bin ‘AlÄ« bin HibatullÄh bin ‘UthmÄn MusilÄ« wrote a book named al-AnwÄr fÄ« TÄrÄ«kh al-A’immah al-AbrÄr.[35]
Another important work of the seventh century is Kashf al-Ghummah fÄ« Ma‘rifah al-A’immah by ‘AlÄ« bin ‘IsÄ ArbilÄ«. This book which has been compiled from diverse Shi‘ite and Sunni sources, and has been written in an extremely moderate style, played a very important role in spreading Shi‘ism in the world of Islam and has been translated into Persian several times. This book describes the lives of the 14 Infallibles (‘a). We have elaborated on this work and its sources in an exclusive book.
During the 7th century several books were written on the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (‘a) and the tragedy of KarbalÄ’. Ibn TÄwus (d. 664) has written two books entitled KitÄb al-Luhuf ‘alÄ QatlÄ al-Tufuf and al-Masra‘ al-Shayn fÄ« Qatl al-Husayn. A common book named Maqtal, Abu Mikhnaf is also believed to probably the work of Ibn TÄwus (Etan Kohlberg: A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work – Ibn TÄwus and his Library, pp. 42, 43).
Notes:
[32] This book has been researched by Sayyid Muhammad HusaynÄ« JalÄlÄ« and published under the title TÄrÄ«kh Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) by the Mu’assasah Al al-Bayt li IhyÄ’ al-TurÄth, Qum. The introduction discusses in detail the name of the book, the name of its author and other issues related to the book.
[33] Kohlberg, Etan, A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work - Ibn TÄwus and his Library, p. 386.
[34] Muntajab al-DÄ«n, al-Fihrist, p. 47.
[35] Ibid, p. 76.