Muḥammad ʾAmīn ʾAstarābādī (, died 1623/24 or 1626/1627) was an Iranian theologian and founder or proponent of the orthodox conservative (

Akhbari Akhbarism () is a branch of Twelver Shia Islam, whose adherents do not perform imitation ( ''taqlid'') of an islamic jurist ( ''marja''). Akhbaris rejects the use of intercessory reasoning via trained Islamic jurists to derive verdicts in ...

) strand in

Twelver Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the Islamic schools and branches, largest branch of Shia Islam, Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twel ...

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

belief, those who base their theology on

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s and reject

fatwas A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist (''faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

. He was born in Astarabad, the former name of

Gorgan Gorgan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Gorgan County), Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan province, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It lies approximately to the nor ...

. Astarabadi saw himself as a reviver of a lost Islamic tradition, known as the ''sunnah''. He was followed by a number of scholars who explicitly identified themselves with the Akhbari. These scholars called for the return to the hadith sources, in a belief that the words and actions of the

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

were readily seen, but had been corrupted by centuries of excessive commentary.

Works

* ''Fawāʾid al Madaniyyah fī ar Radd ʿalā min qāl bal ʾIjtihād wa at Taqlīd fī al ʾAḥkām al ʾilāhiyya''() * ''Ḥāshiyyah ʿalā Sharḥ al Madarāk'' () * ''Sharḥ at Tahdhīb'' () * ''Sharḥ al ʾIstibsār'' () * ''ʾUnmūdhaj al ʿUlūm'' ()

References

* Abisaab, Rula J. (2015) "Shi`i Jurisprudence, Sunnism and the Traditionist Thought (akhbārī) of Muhammad Amin Astarabadi (d. 1036/1626-7), IJMES 47: 5-23. * Newman, Andrew J. (1992) "The Nature of the Akhbari/Usuli Dispute in Late Safawid Iran, Part 2: The Conflict Reassessed" ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London'' 55(2): pp. 250–261 * Gleave, Robert (2004) "Akhbariyya" ''Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World'' (ed. Richard C. Martin) Vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, New York, * Gleave, Robert (2007) ''Scripturalist Islam: the history and doctrines of the Akhbari Shi'i school'' Brill Academic, Leiden, 1620s deaths Hadith scholars Year of birth unknown 17th-century Muslim theologians Iranian Shia scholars of Islam 16th-century writers from Safavid Iran Safavid theologians 17th-century writers from Safavid Iran People from Gorgan 17th-century Iranian writers {{Iran-bio-stub

Works

See also

References