Al-Sayyed Mohsen al-Amin (b.1284/1867-d.1371/1952), also transliterated Muhsin al Amin, was a

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the ...

scholar,

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

, traditionist, and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Un ...

. He was born in

Jabal Amil Jabal Amil ( ar, جبل عامل, Jabal ʿĀmil), also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila, is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Musl ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. His most important work is ''A'yan al-Shi'a''.

Early life and education

Family background

Al-Amin was born in 1867 to a well-known

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

family in

, Lebanon.He was famous for al-Amin or the trusted one. His father, Abdul al-Karim al-Amili, was a scholar of his time. His father died in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

was buried, when he had gone to pilgrimage Iraq. His maternal grandfather was ′Shaykh Muhammad Hussein al Amili al Musawi, was one of the scholars who went to

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

to education and died there.

Education

Sayyed Mohsen began to study the Qur'an and elementary Arabic grammar at the age of seven under village teacher. Four years later, he learned jurisprudence for three years old under shaykh Musa sharara who returned to Iraq.In 1890, arrangements were made for him to study at the Iraq, Najaf. Finally he was a learned

Mujtahid ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a l ...

Activity

He was among the pioneers of correcting Shia beliefs in modern times. He forbade (

Haram ''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...

) self-injurious. His action made the rallying most of the uneducated villagers against al Amin's calls for reform. By this action, Amin wanted to rationalize religious practices and make them more moral. He was able to expose a more positive image of the Shia thereby.

His children

* Hasan al-Amin * Hashem Al-Amin * Abd al-Muttalib Al-Amin * Jafar Al-Amin * Muhammad Baqir Al-Amin

Published works

* ''Ayan al-Shia'' ( ar, أعيان الشيعة), is one of his works. This work the biographical encyclopedia book and consists of fifty-six volumes. * ''Al-husun al-mani'a fi radd ma awradahu sahib al-manar fi haqq al-shia'' ( ar, الحصون المنیعة فی ردّ ما اورده صاحب المنار فی حقّ الشیعة), he explained some of the Shia views in this book. * ''Risalat al-tanzih li-a'mal al-shabih'' ( ar, رسالة التنزيه لاعمال الشبيه), that was al-Amin's reply to his critics-Sadiq. * ''Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya al-khamisa'' ( ar, الصحيفة الخامسة السجادية) is the longest version of the Sahifa of al-Sajjad has been published. * ''Al-Majalis al-saniyya fi manaqib wa-masa'ib al-'itra al-nabawiyya'' ( ar, المجالس السنيه في مناقب و مصائب العتره النبويه) * ''Iqna' al-la'im ala iqamat al-matam'' ( ar, اقناع اللائم علی اقامه المآتم) * ''Lawa'ij al-ashjan fi maqtal al-imam Abi Abd Allah al-Husayn'' ( ar, لواعج الأشجان في مقتل الإمام إبي عبد الله الحسين ابن علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام ) * ''Kashf al-Irtiyab fi Atba' Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab'' ( ar, كشف الإرتياب في أتباع محمد بن عبد الوهاب )

References

Sources

* Fouad Ajami. ''The Vanished Imam: Musa Al Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986.

External links

The Shi'is in Lebanon: Between Communal 'Asabiyya and Arab Nationalism, 1908-21
by Kais M. Firro
Lebanese Shiʿites and The Marja'iyya : Polemic in the Late Twentieth Century
by RULA JURDI ABISAAB
Lebanese Shiʿites and The Marja'iyya : Polemic in the Late Twentieth Century
by Max Weiss {{DEFAULTSORT:al-Amin, AlSayyed Mohsen 1867 births 1952 deaths Shia scholars of Islam 19th-century Arabs 20th-century Lebanese people Pupils of Muhammad Kadhim Khorasani