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Abu l-Jaysh al-Balkhi

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Muzaffar b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Khurāsānī (Arabic: مُظَفّر بْن مُحَمّد بْن اَحْمد الخُراسانی, d. 367/977-8), known as Abu l-Jaysh al-Balkhī (Arabic: اَبوالجَیش البَلْخی), was a Twelver Shiite theologian and Muhaddith. He was a student of Abu Sahl al-Nawbakhti and a teacher of al-Shaykh al-Mufid. Among Twelver Shiite scholars, he is more known for his theological expertise.

Abu l-Jaysh al-Balkhi
Full NameMuzaffar b. Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Khurasani
Religious AffiliationIslam, Imamiya
Birth?
Death367/977-8
ProfessorsAbu Sahl al-Nawbakhti
Studentsal-Shaykh al-Mufid
Notable rolesMuhaddith and Theologian
WorksAl-Arzaq wa l-ajal, Al-Imama on Imamate

Life

There is no information on Abu l-Jaysh's date of birth. He worked apparently as a publisher or trader of books, as indicated by the title "al-Warraq" given to him in some reports.[1]

Teachers

Abu l-Jaysh studied under Abu Sahl al-Nawbakhti (d. 311/924).[2] Moreover, he studies with scholars such as Ibn Hammad al-Iskafi, Muhammad b. Ahmad b. Abi l-Thalj, and Muhammad b. Ja'far al-Alawi al-Husayni and heard hadiths from them.[3]

Students

Al-Shaykh al-Mufid was the most well-known student of Abu l-Jaysh. Al-Mufid heard and narrated hadiths from him.[4] Another student of Abu l-Jaysh was Abu Yasir, known also as Ghulam Abi l-Jaysh (the Servant of Abu l-Jaysh).[5] He was among the teachers of al-Shaykh al-Mufid when the latter came to Baghdad. He advised al-Mufid to study with Ali b. Isa al-Rummani.

His Knowledge of Hadith

Al-Najashi mentions that Abu l-Jaysh heard many hadiths,[6] and al-Shaykh al-Tusi describes him as "knowledgeable about narrations."[7] Al-Shaykh al-Mufid in his al-Irshad[8] and al-Amali[9] and al-Shaykh al-Tusi in his al-Amali[10] have recorded some of his hadiths.

His Status in Islamic Theology

Abu l-Jaysh is known among Twelver Shiite scholars mostly as a theologian.[11] As it seems from the titles of his works, he composed works on controversial issues in theology. He was a special student of Abu Sahl and through him Abu Sahl's views were transmitted to the later theologians.[12]

Works

Abu l-Jaysh had a number of works on imamate.[13] Among the titles of his works are the following:

  • Al-Arzaq wa l-ajal (Provisions and Times of Death)[14]
  • Al-Imama (Imamate)[15]
  • Al-Insan wa annahu ghayr hadhihi l-jumla (The Human Being and That He is Other Than This Combination).[16]
  • Khisal al-kamal (Components of Perfection)[17]
  • Al-Radd ala man jawwaz ala l-qadim al-butlan (Refutation of the One Who Considered the Non-Existence of the Eternal Possible)
  • Al-Fadak[18]
  • Majalis ma'a l-mukhalifin fi ma'an mukhtalifa (Sessions with the Opponents on Various Topics).[19].[20]
  • Naqḍ al-Uthmaniyya li l-Jahiz (Refutation of Uthmaniyya by Jahiz)[21]
  • Naqḍ ma ruwia min manaqib al-rijal (Refutation of What Has Been Reported About the Virtues of Men).[22]
  • Al-Nukat wa l-aghrad (Points and Purposes). This was a book on imamate.[23]

Notes

  1. ↑ Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 20, 26; Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 76.
  2. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422; Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 250; al-Fihrist, p. 169.
  3. ↑ Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 20, 26; Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 166.
  4. ↑ Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 20, 26; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422; Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 250.
  5. ↑ Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 20, 26; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422; Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 250.
  6. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422.
  7. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Fihrist, p. 169.
  8. ↑ Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 20, 26.
  9. ↑ Mufīd, al-Amālī, p. 310, 328.
  10. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 166, 250.
  11. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 226; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422.
  12. ↑ Mc Dermott, The Theology of Al-Shaikh al-Mufld, p. 11-12.
  13. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Fihrist, p. 169.
  14. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422.
  15. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Maʿālim al-ʿulamā, p. 124.
  16. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422.
  17. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Maʿālim al-ʿulamā, p. 124.
  18. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422.
  19. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422.
  20. ↑ This work contained an account of debates between Abu l-Jaysh and his opponents from other theological schools.
  21. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Fihrist, p. 169; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422.
  22. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Maʿālim al-ʿulamā, p. 124.
  23. ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 422; Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 166, 250.

References

  • Abū Ḥayyān Tawhīdī, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Akhlāq al-wazīrayn. Edited by Muḥammad Ṭanjī. Damascus: 1385 AH.
  • Ibn Idrīs, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Mustaṭrifāt al-sarāʾir. Qom: 1408 AH.
  • Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Maʿālim al-ʿulamā. Najaf: 1380 AH/1960.
  • Ibn al-Nadīm, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Al-Fihrist. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Irshād fī maʿrifat ḥujaj Allāh ʿala l-ʿibād. Najaf: 1382 AH.
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Amālī. Edited by Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī and Ḥusayn Ustādwalī. Qom: 1403 AH.
  • Mc Dermott, M.J. The Theology of Al-Shaikh al-Mufld. Beirut. 1986.
  • Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Rijāl al-Najāshī. Edited by Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī. Qom: 1407 AH.
  • Sayyid Murtaḍā, ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn. Al-Dhakhīra fī ʿilm al-kalām. Edited by Aḥmad Ḥusaynī. Qom: 1411 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Baghdad: 1384 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Amālī. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Fihrist. Edited by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Āl-i Baḥr al-ʿUlūm. Najaf: Maktabat al-Raḍawīyya, [n.d].
  • Ṭabarī, ʿImād al-Dīn Ḥasan b. ʿAlī. Kāmil Bahāʾīe. Qom: 1376 AH.
  • Warrām, Masʿūd b. ʿIsā. Tanbīh al-khawāṭir wa nuzhat al-nawāẓir al-maʿrūf bi majmūʿat Warrām. Qom: 1375 AH.
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