Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā (; 965 - 1044 AD ; 355 - 436 AH), commonly known as Sharīf Murtaḍā or Sayyid Murtaḍā (Murtazā instead of Murtaḍā in non-Arab languages) and also popular as ʿAlam al-Hudā, was an Iraqi scholar and considered one of the greatest Shia scholars of his time. He was one of the students of Shaykh al-Mufīd. His younger brother is

al-Sharif al-Radi Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad bin al-Ḥusayn bin Mūsā al-Abrash al-Mūsawī (; 970 – 1015), also known as al-Sharīf al-Raḍī () was an Iraqi Shia scholar and poet. Al-Radi wrote several books on Islamic issues and interpretation of the ...

, the compiler of

Nahj al-Balagha () is the best-known collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib (), the fourth Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun caliph (), the first Imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia imam, and the cousin and son-in-law of the P ...

. He was four years older than his brother. He lived during the era of

Buyid dynasty The Buyid dynasty or Buyid Empire was a Zaydi and later Twelver Shi'a dynasty of Daylamite origin. Founded by Imad al-Dawla, they mainly ruled over central and southern Iran and Iraq from 934 to 1062. Coupled with the rise of other Iranian dyn ...

. It was the golden age of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

, and great poets

Al-Ma'arri Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri, ,(December 973May 1057), also known by his Latin name Abulola Moarrensis; was an Arab philosopher, poet, and writer from Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Syria. Because of his irreligious worldview, he is known as one of the "forem ...

were among his contemporaries.

Lineage

He was born in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Rajab Rajab () is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. The lexical definition of the classical Arabic verb ''rajaba'' is "to respect", which could also mean "be awe or be in fear", of which Rajab is a derivative. This month is regarded as one ...

355 AH (June/July 966 CE). He was born in a prominent household, descended from the seventh

Twelver Shi'a Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the largest branch of Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as th ...

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

Musa al-Kazim Musa al-Kazim (; 745–799) was a descendant of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and the seventh Twelve Imams, imam in Twelver Shi'ism, Twelver Shia Islam. Musa is often known by the title al-Kazim (), apparently ...

. He was son of Abu Ahmad al-Husayn ibn Musa. His father called him Ali and his nickname was Murtada. His honorific title was Alam al-Huda. He called as Alam al-Huda according to a popular narration said by Shahid Awwal in The book of Arba'in as follow: the Vizier of Abbasid dynasty namely Muhammad ibn al-Husayn became sick. he saw in his dreams Imam Ali while address him: tell Alam al-Huda till demand Health for you. When Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ask on the person with such a nickname he told : he is Ali ibn al-Husayn or Sharif Murtada.

Maternal Ancestry

The name of Sharif al-Murtada's mother was Fatima. She was a pious and noble lady, who was held in high esteem by scholars and other notables. At her request, the great scholar Shaykh al-Mufīd compiled the book ''"Ahkām al-Nisā'"'', which contains the

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

i rules for women. Her family had carved out an independent principality in

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan (; ; from , ), was a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. It corresponded to the present-day province of Mazandaran, which became the predominant name of the area from the 11th-century onward ...

, on the southern coasts of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. She died in Baghdad, in the year 995, (385 AH).

Family tree

From father's side # Sayyid Ali al-Sharif al-Murtada # Sayyid Husayn # Sayyid Musa al-Abrash # Sayyid Muhammad al-A'raj # Sayyid Musa Abu Sibha # Sayyid Ibrahim al-Murtada # Imam Musa al-Kazim #

Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq Ja'far al-Sadiq (; –765) was a Muslim hadith transmitter and the last agreed-upon Shia Imam between the Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of Islamic j ...

# Imam Muhammad al-Baqir # Imam Ali Zayn al-Abidin # Imam Husayn al-Shahid # Imam Ali al-Murtada #

Prophet Muhammad In Islam, Muhammad () is venerated as the Seal of the Prophets who transmitted the Quran, eternal word of God () from the Angels in Islam, angel Gabriel () to humans and jinn. Muslims believe that the Quran, the central religious text of Isl ...

From mother's side # Sayyid Ali al-Sharif al-Murtada # Sayyida Fatima # Sayyid Husayn # Sayyid Hasan al-Nasir al-Kabir # Sayyid Ali # Sayyid Hasan # Sayyid Ali # Sayyid Umar al-Ashraf # Imam Ali Zayn al-Abidin # Imam Husayn al-Shahid # Imam Ali al-Murtada #

Theology

Since he was the pupil of both Qadi Abd al-Jabbar the Mu'tazilite and

al-Shaykh al-Mufid Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu'man al-'Ukbari al-Baghdadi, known as al-Shaykh al-Mufid () and Ibn al-Mu'allim (c.9481022 CE), was a prominent Iraqi Twelver Shia theologian. His father was a teacher (''mu'allim''), hence the n ...

, he was influenced by both of them. He even criticised them.

Reason and Revelation

According to Sharif al-Murtada, the first part of religious duty is the obligation to reason to the knowledge of God. The other duties are dependent on this first duty. Al-Murtada along with the Mu'tazilite starting-point is the claim that man's first duty is to use his reason to arrive at the knowledge of God. Also in Kalam there is proof of the existence of God, he defended the atomist' stance versus that of the Aristotelian notion of substantial change.

God's attributes

He believed that we must not limit our-selves to applying those names mentioned in

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

Death

Sayyid Murtaḍā acquired the epithet of: ''"ʿAlam al-Hudā"'' (''"The banner of guidance"''), and died at the age of 81 years in 1044 (436 AH).

Work and Contribution

He was a multi-dimensional personality. All Shi'ite scholars acknowledge that Sayyid Murtaḍā was the greatest scholar of his era, and groomed many outstanding

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

(scholars), including the famous Shaykh al-Tūsī, the founder of the celebrated theological Center of

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

. He served as ''"Naqīb al-Nuqabā'"'' after the death of his brother. Sayyid Murtaḍā was deeply interested in

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

, unlike Sayyid Raḍī, who was more inclined towards politics and literature,. He was considered a master of

kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

usul al-fiqh Principles of Islamic jurisprudence () are traditional methodological principles used in Islamic jurisprudence (''fiqh'') for deriving the rulings of Islamic law (''sharia''). Traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence elaborates how the scri ...

, literature, grammar, poetry and other fields of knowledge. His divan or poetry collection has more than 20,000 verses. Books authored by Sayyid Murtaḍā include: * al-Dhakhīra fī Uṣūl al-Fiqh ( الذخيرة ) * al-Ghurar wa al-Durar Spirit of Islam By

Syed Ameer Ali Syed Ameer Ali (6 April 1849 – 3 August 1928) was an Indian jurist, a prominent political leader, and the author of a number of influential books on Muslim history and the modern development of Islam.. He hailed from the state of Oudh, from ...

( الغرر والدرر ) * al-Intiṣār ( الانتصار ) * al-Shāfī ( الشافي ) * Tanzīh al-Anbiyāʾ ( تنزيه الأنبياء ) * Jumal al-ʿilm Wa al-ʿAmal.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharif Al-Murtaza 960s births 1044 deaths 10th-century Arab people 11th-century Arab people 11th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Iraqi Shia Muslims Shia scholars of Islam Hashemite people Musawis 10th-century Twelvers 11th-century Twelvers Buyid officials Scholars under the Buyid dynasty

Lineage

Maternal Ancestry

Family tree

Theology

Reason and Revelation

God's attributes

Death

Work and Contribution

See also

References

External links