Mulla Salih Mazandarani

Mulla Salih Mazandarani

Personal Information
Full Name	Muhammad Salih b. Ahmad b. Shams al-Din al-Sarwi al-Mazandarani
Well-Known As	Mulla Salih Mazandarani
Well-Known Relatives	Al-Majlisi, Wahid Bihbahani, Amina Baygum, Sahib Riyad
Residence	Mazandaran
Studied in	Isfahan
Death	1081/1670-1 or 1086/1675-6
Burial Place	beside Jami' Mosque of Isfahan.
Scholarly Information
Professors	Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi, Shaykh Baha'i, Mulla 'Abd Allah b. Muhsin al-Tustari

Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ b. Aḥmad al-Sarwī al-Māzandarānī (Arabic: محمد صالح بن أحمد السروي المازندراني ) (d. 1081/1670-1) known as Mullā Ṣāliḥ Māzandarānī (Persian: ملا صالح مازندرانی) was among the scholars of the eleventh/seventeenth century and the son-in-law of Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi. He acquired knowledge from many great scholars and had many works. One of his most famous works was a commentary on al-Kafi. His grave is in the Jami' Mosque of Isfahan beside the grave of Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi.

His Birth and Education

There is no exact information about the date of his birth. He was born in Mazandaran while his father Mulla Ahmad lived in absolute poverty. Thus, he moved to Isfahan and stayed in an endowed seminary school there. Since, based on the endowment document of the school, students were given stipend according to their scientific level, he passed the elementary level with financial hardship until he excelled all his classmates in the class of Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi (d. 1070/1660).

Marriage

Mulla Muhammad Salih who was favored by his teacher, married his daughter, Amina Baygum who had perfected in jurisprudential sciences. Their children became very knowledgeable scholars including six sons with the names:

• Shaykh Muhammad Husayn
• Shaykh Muhammad Sa'id titled as Ashraf
• Shaykh Muhammad Hadi
• Mulla Nur al-Din Muhammad
• Mulla Husayn Ali
• Shaykh Mulla Abd al-Baqi

Demise

According to Rawdat al-jannat and A'yan al-shi'a, Mulla Salih Mazandarani passed away in 1081/1670-1 and according to Jami' al-ruwat, he passed away in 1086/1675-6. He was buried near Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi's grave beside Jami' Mosque of Isfahan.

Family

A characteristic of the family of Mulla Salih Mazandarani is that their scholars are not just men but also many women in their family are knowledgeable and scholar.

The first knowledgeable woman in this family was Amina Baygum or Amina Khatun, daughter of Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi and wife of Muhammad Salih Mazandarani. There is not much information about dates of her birth and death. A'yan al-Shi'a have introduced her knowledgeable, scholar in jurisprudence and hadiths, researcher, woman of literature, poet and among the great ones having literary fluency and eloquence and pious and has listed works for her such as commentary on Ibn Malik's Alfiyya, commentary on Suyuti's Shawahid, an anthology of fiqhi issues and a collection of poems.

Another scholar among the women in this family was the daughter of Muhammad Salih Mazandarani. In Mustadrakat A'yan, she has been introduced as a scholar in fiqh and a great writer of her time.

Another great woman in this family was Zaynab Baygum, daughter of Muhammad Sa'id son of Muhammad Salih Mazandarani. It is mentioned in Mustadrakat A'yan that, "she was alive in 1129/1716 and she was knowledgeable, a mystic and a woman of literature." Daughter of Amina Baygum, Zaynab Baygum was also a great knowledgeable woman in this family.

An important point to mention here is that daughter of Nur al-Din Muhammad son of Muhammad Salih Mazandarani married Aqa Muhammad Akmal Isfahani and their children was Muhammad Baqir b. Muhammad Akmal famously known as Wahid Bihbahani. Therefore Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (d. 1110/1699), the author of Bihar al-anwar was the uncle of the grandfather of Wahid Bihbahani, not his uncle as mistakenly mentioned in some books of biographies and Muhammad Salih Mazandarani the grandfather of Wahid Bihbahani.

Also, Sayyid Abu l-Ma'ali Kabir Tabataba'i who was a scholar in fiqh and a pious man married Muhammad Salih Mazandarani's daughter, one of whose children is Abu l-Ma'ali Saghir, father of Sayyid Ali, author of Riyad al-'ulama and grandfather of Sayyid Muhammad Mujahid, author of Manahil wa mafatih.

Teachers and Students

Among his students, Mulla Muhammad Husayn b. Haydar Ali al-Tustari is the only one who is mentioned. Some of his teachers are as follow:

• Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi
• 'Abd Allah b. Muhsin al-Tustari
• Hasan Ali b. 'Abd Allah al-Tustari
• Al-Shaykh al-Baha'i

Works

Shaykh Muhammad Salih wrote Sharh Ma'alim in his youth and Hashiya bar Ma'alim towards the end of his life.

He comprehensively commented on al-Kulayni's (d. 329/941) Usul al-kafi and Rawdat al-kafi in which he made many criticisms on the commentary of Mulla Sadra. He also commented on some parts of Furu' al-kafi. In al-Dhari'a, it is mentioned, "he commented on the chapters of "al-'aql wa l-jahl", "al-tawhid", "al-hujja", "al-iman wa l-kufr", "al-du'a", "al-zakat", "al-sawm", "al-khums" and also the whole book of Rawdat al-kafi."

• Commentary on Usul al-kafi
• Al-Da'ir al-sa'ir
• Commentary on Zubdat al-usul
• Commentary on al-Ma'alim
• Hashiya on al-Ma'alim
• Commentary on Man la yahduruh al-faqih
• Marginal notes on Sharh al-lum'a
• Commentary on Rawdat al-kafi
• Commentary on Qasidat al-barada, also known as al-Kawakib al-durriyya fi madh khayr al-bariyya. It might also be referring to a commentary on al-Maqsurat al-daridiyya.
• Marginal notes on Sharh Mukhtasar al-usul 'Adudi
• Commentary on al-qasidat al-daridiyya

Views of Great Scholars about Him

Great Shia scholars have praised him with attributes such as knowledgeable, sea of knowledge, Fakhr al-muhaqqiqin (Pride of researchers), perfect worshipper, etc.