Al-Kalimat al-gharra' fi tafdil al-Zahra' (book)

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Al-Kalimat al-gharra' fi tafdil al-Zahra'
AuthorSayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din
Original titleالكلمة الغراء في تفضيل الزهراء (كتاب)
LanguageArabic
Series11
GenreAnalytic, Theological
PublishedQom
PublisherRuh al-Amin


Al-Kalimat al-gharrāʾ fī tafḍīl Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (a) wa ʿaqīlat al-waḥy Zaynab (a) bt. Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a) (Arabic: (ألکلِمَةُ الغَرّاء فی تَفضیلِ فاطمةِ الزّهراء (س) وَ عقیلَةُ الوَحی زینب (س) بنت أمیرِالمؤمنین(ع) is a book concerning the virtues of Fatima al-Zahra (a) written by Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din (d. 1377/1957). The author cited verses of the Holy Qur'an regarding Ahl al-Bayt (a) and then cited the virtues of the Prophet Muhammad (s)'s daughter, Fatima al-Zahra (a). The epilogue of the book is concerned with the virtues of Lady Zaynab (a).

Author

Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi al-'Amili was born in Kadhimiya in 1290/1873-4. His lineage goes back through 31 ancestors to Ibrahim al-Murtada, the son of the 7th Shiite Imam, Imam Musa b. Ja'far (a). He wrote many books, the best-known of which is al-Muraja'at . Sharaf al-Din died in 1377/1957 and was buried near the grave of his teacher, Sayyid Muhammad Kazim al-Yazdi, in Najaf.

Motivation for Writing

'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din wrote the book in response to a person who had asked him: “Do Shias have reasons to convince their opponents about the virtues of Fatima al-Zahra (a) on others?”[1]

Style of Writing

Since the inquirer asked the author to present him with arguments that could persuade opponents of Shiism, he only cited Sunni sources of hadiths in this book.

Contents

The author appealed to four verses of the Holy Qur'an regarding the position and virtues of Fatima al-Zahra: al-Mubahala Verse, al-Tathir Verse, al-Mawadda Verse and verses from Qur'an 76. He then appealed to hadiths from the Prophet Muhammad (s) regarding the virtues of Fatima al-Zahra (a).

The book ends with an epilogue concerning the virtues of Lady Zaynab bt. Ali (a) in response to a request by some Iranian Shiites. In 1334/1915-6 when Iranians built a darih for the shrine of Lady Zaynab (a) and wanted to install it on her mausoleum, they asked Sharaf al-Din to write an essay concerning the virtues of Zaynab (a) on this historical occasion. This essay has a rhetorical tone and is not in the style of a scholarly essay.[2]

Parts

The first part of the book includes the following chapters:

  • Chapter 1: an argument from the Mubahala Verse.
  • Chapter 2: an argument from the Tathir Verse.
  • Chapter 3: an argument from the Mawadda Verse.

And the second part includes hadiths from the Holy Prophet (s) with respect to the virtues of Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a).[3]

Sources of the Book

Sharaf al-Din cited about 100 books in writing this book some of which are as follow:

Notes

  1. Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, al-Kalimat al-gharrāʾ, p. 21-22.
  2. Sīra-yi Ma'sūmān (software)
  3. Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, al-Kalimat al-gharrāʾ, p. 130-133.
  4. Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, al-Kalimat al-gharrāʾ, p. 122-129.

References

  • Sharaf al-Dīn ʿĀmilī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Al-Kalimat al-gharrāʾ fī tafḍīl Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (a) wa ʿaqīlat al-waḥy. Qom: Rūḥ al-Amīn, 1426 AH.
  • Sīra-yi Ma'sūmān (software). Noor Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences.