Shaykh Tusi

Life

Shaykh Tusi was born 995 AD in Tus, Iran, and by 1018 AD he was living under the rule of the Buyid dynasty. He started his education in Tus, where he mastered many of the Islamic sciences of that period. He later studied in Baghdad, where he entered into the learning circles of al-Shaykh Al-Mufid (949–1022) as the paramount teacher. attended the scholarly circle of Sunni scholars, and studied the Shafi'i school of fiqh.

Following the Seljuk capture of Baghdad in 1055, sectarian fighting erupted in the city among Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites, with the Seljuks failing to halt the sectarian fighting. Many Shi'i schools, mosques and libraries were destroyed in the process. Shaykh Tusi's house was burnt down, and subsequently many of his books which he had written in Baghdad. He relocated to Najaf, where a small number of Shiites were based at the time, and started a school. He eventually died in Najaf on 2 December 1067.

Influence

Tusi had an important role in the formation and revival of Shia jurisprudence and law, as his life coincided with the burning of books and libraries. It is even said that he revived hadith and Islamic jurisprudence. He defended the application of jurisprudence in respect to religious laws. One of his main accomplishments was that he was successful in propagation and making his methodology of argumentation and inference coherent: he had given to Shaykh Mufid a definite formulation of ijtihad. His dominance was unrivaled for a long time and nearly all Islamic jurisprudence was affected by Tusi's opinions. Some of Tusi's works show that he was influenced by precedent jurists like Sallar Deylami. Tusi's influence persisted until Ibn Idris al-Hilli, who criticized some of Tusi's views. He also produced biographies (ilm-rijal), traditions, and compendia of knowledge (Fihrist). He started developments that allowed Shia clerics to assume some of the roles previously permitted to only imams, such as collecting and distributing religious taxes, and organizing Friday prayers.

Usuli School

In conflict between the Akhbari and Usuli schools, Tusi defended the Usuli and claimed that the rival Akhbari were literalists. and wrote in the introduction to one of his works:

He compared the positions of the different legal schools of Islam and showed that there is little difference between them. Tusi, like his masters, refuted the legal analogy (Qiyyas Fiqhi) in his manual of Usul Fiqh.

Importance of reason

His emphasis was on the rational dimension of religion, underlining that principles like the commandment to good and prohibition of evil are indispensable according to reason. Shaykh Tusi also used rational arguments to validate consensus (ijma) as derived from the principle of lutf. According to lutf, God must provide believers with the conditions for religious obedience.

Najaf Seminary

According to some scholars, Tusi established the Hawzeh of Najaf after migrating from Baghdad.

Works

Tusi wrote over fifty works in different Islamic branches of knowledge such as philosophy, hadith, theology, biography, historiography, exegesis, and tradition. Of the four authoritative sources of the Shiites, two are by Tusi: the basic reference books Tahdhib al-Ahkam and Al-Istibsar. Both of them pertain to hadiths of Islamic jurisprudence. Other books include:

• Al-Nihayah
• Al-Tibyan Fi Tafsir al-Quran
• Al-Istibsar in 4 volumes
• Tahdhib Al-osul in two volumes
• Oddat Al-osul
• Al-fatawa
• Al-Mabsut
• Al-Iqtisad Al Hadi Ila Tariq Al Rashad
• Kitab al-Ghayba
• Ekhtiyar Ma'refat Al- Rijal

References

References

1. (1975). "The Cambridge history of Iran.". Cambridge U.P..
2. "Iraqi Shiite clerics maintain humility, influence".
3. Hassan Ansari, Nebil Husayn. (2023). "Caliphate and Imamate: Anthology of Medieval Muslim Texts on Political Theology". Cambridge University Press.
4. Hamid Dabashi. (1988). "Shi'ism: Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality". SUNY Press.
5. Abū al-Faz̤l ʻIzzatī. (2008). "Concise Description of Islamic Law and Legal Opinions".
6. (26 April 1989). "Expectation of the Millennium: Shi'ism in History". SUNY Press.
7. ʻAlī Nāṣirī. (28 February 2013). "An Introduction to Hadith: History and Sources". MIU Press.
8. Hamid Wahed Alikuzai. (October 2013). "A Concise History of Afghanistan in 25 Volumes". Trafford Publishing.
9. Imam Khomeini. (2003). "The greatest Jihad".
10. Devin J. Stewart, Islamic Legal Orthodoxy, 68–69.
11. (2013). "Twelver Shiism: Unity and Diversity in the Life of Islam, 632 to 1722". Edinburgh University Press.
12. Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi. "Prophecies about Occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (a.s.)". Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania.
13. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi. (1994). "The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam".
14. (1989). "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Brill Archive.
15. Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī: His Writings on Theology and their Reception* Hassan Ansari and Sabine Schmidtke,p.477
16. (31 August 2012). "Hawza-yi 'Ilmiyya, Shi'i Teaching Institution: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam". EWI Press.
17. (2004). "[[Moojan Momen]] in Holy people of the world : a cross-cultural encyclopedia".
18. (1 January 1980). "The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition: Supplement". Brill Archive.
19. Dr. Alsyyed Abu Mohammad Naqvi. (12 December 2013). "Shia Dissociation from Usuli School". AuthorHouse.
20. (7 December 2001). "The Doctrines of Shi'ism: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices". I.B.Tauris.
21. Stewart, Dewin. (2002). "Muhammad b. Dawud al-Zahiri's Manual of Jurisprudence: Al-Wusul ila ma'rifat al-usul".
22. Hiroyuki Mashita. (5 September 2013). "Theology, Ethics and Metaphysics: Royal Asiatic Society Classics of Islam". Routledge.
23. Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina. "Islamic Messianism: The Idea of Mahdi in Twelver Shi'ism". SUNY Press.
24. (31 August 2012). "Hawza-yi 'Ilmiyya, Shi'i Teaching Institution: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam". EWI Press.
25. {{Harvnb. Abū al-Faz̤l ʻIzzatī. 2008
26. (1 January 1998). "Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature". Taylor & Francis.
27. al-Qadi al-Numan. (19 January 2015). "Disagreements of the Jurists: A Manual of Islamic Legal Theory". NYU Press.
28. (31 August 2012). "Education in the Islamic Civilisation: An Entry from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam". EWI Press.
29. Amirhassan Boozari. (29 March 2011). "Shi'i Jurisprudence and Constitution: Revolution in Iran". Palgrave Macmillan.
30. Yehoiakin ben Ya'ocov. (17 July 2012). "Concepts of Messiah: A study of the Messianic Concepts of Islam, Judaism, Messianic Judaism and Christianity". WestBow Press.