Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa al-Ash'ari

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Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa al-Ash'ari
Full NameAhmad b. Muhammad b. 'Isa al-Ash'ari
Companion ofImam al-Jawad (a) and Imam al-Hadi (a)
Religious AffiliationImamiyya
LineageAsh'ariyyun
Wellknown RelativesAbu 'Ali Muhammad b. 'Isa (father)
Place(s) of ResidenceQom
Death/MartyrdomAlive in 274/887-8
ProfessorsAhmad b. Muhammad b. Abi Nasr al-Bazanti, Al-Husayn b. Sa'id al-Ahwazi, Al-Hasan b. Mahbub, ...
StudentsAli b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, Sa'd b. 'Abd Allah al-Ash'ari, Muhammad b. Yahya al-'Attar, ...
WorksAl-Nawadir, Al-Tawhid, Fadl al-nabi (s), ...


Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Isa al-Ashʿarī (Arabic: أبوجعفر أحمد بن محمد بن عیسی الأشعري) was a great muhaddith of the 3rd/9th century and one of the disciples of Imam al-Jawad (a) and Imam al-Hadi (a). He was, according to al-Shaykh al-Tusi, "the Shaykh of the people of Qom, their noble, and their faqih".

Ahmad was very strict in matters of belief. He had no tolerance for the Ghulat. It is reported that he even banished Ahmad b. Abi 'Abd Allah al-Barqi, the famous Imami muhaddith, from Qom because the latter quoted hadith from unreliable people—though later he realized that he had made a mistake and apologized al-Barqi and returned him to Qom.

Life

We do not have much information about Ahmad's life. His father Muhammad b. 'Isa, described by al-Najashi[1] as "the Shaykh of the people of Qom" and the "leading figure of the Ash'ari clan", met Imam al-Rida (a) and Imam al-Jawad (a), and the governor of Qom had a high regard for him.

According to al-Najashi,[2] Ahmad met Imam al-Rida (a), but since he did not quote any hadith from the Imam (a), he must have been very young at that time.[3]

Ahmad is regarded as one of the companions of Imam al-Jawad (a) and Imam al-Hadi (a), but because he lived in Qom, he was not able to meet the Imams (a) frequently. This is why he quoted few hadiths from them directly.[4]

As a Hadith Transmitter

Ahmad was one of the greatest Shi'a hadith transmitter. His name appears in more than 9,600 chains of transmission in the hadiths of the Four Books.

He is praised as a reliable and outstanding traditionist by the scholars of rijal. Al-Najashi says that Ahmad was "the Shaykh of the people of Qom and their noble and jurist … and he was the chief who would meet the governor there." Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani describes him as "the Shaykh of the Rafida in Qom."[5]

Some of the prominent hadith scholars from whom Ahmad learned hadith are the following:

And some of his prominent students who quoted hadith from Ahmad are the following:[6]

Beliefs

Ahmad was very strict in matters of belief. He had little tolerance for the people whom he regarded as heretics, especially the Ghulat. It is reported that he had a negative idea of the great Imami hadith scholar and theologian Yunus b. 'Abd al-Rahman, but then he realized his mistake.[7] Likewise, it is reported that he banished Ahmad b. Abi 'Abd Allah al-Barqi, the famous Imami hadith scholar, from Qom because the latter quoted hadith from unreliable hadith transmitters—though later he realized that he had made a mistake and apologized al-Barqi and returned him to Qom, and when al-Barqi passed away, Ahmad participated in his funeral and walked barefoot behind his body as a sign of utmost respect.[8]

Sahl b. Ziyad al-Adami and Muahammad b. 'Ali b. Ibrahim known as Abu Sumayna were two other figures banished from Qom by Ahmad, because he regarded them from among Ghulat.[9]

Works

The most important work of Ahmad is al-Nawadir, a great Imami hadith collection,[10] which was edited by Dawud b. Kura al-Qummi.[11]

Recently a book titled al-Nawadir, attributed to Ahmad b. Muhammad b. 'Isa, was published together with the book Fiqh al-Rida in Qom, but there is no evidence to support this attribution.

Some of Ahmad's other works are as follows:

  • Al-Tawhid
  • Fadl al-Nabi (s)
  • Al-Mu'a
  • Al-Nasikh wa l-mansukh
  • Al-Azilla
  • Al-Musukh
  • Fada'il al-'arab
  • A book on Hajj[12]
  • Al-Tibb al-kabir[13]
  • Al-Tibb al-saghir[14]
  • Al-Makasib[15]
  • Al-Malahim[16]
  • Nawadir al-hikma fi l-tafsir[17]

Demise

The exact date of Ahmad's demise is not known. We just know, based on Ibn Ghada'iri's report, that he was alive when al-Barqi passed away in 274/887-8 or 280/893-4.[18]

Notes

  1. ↑ Najāshī, al-Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 338.
  2. ↑ Najāshī, al-Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 82.
  3. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 336.
  4. ↑ Najāshī, al-Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 338; Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 397, 409.
  5. ↑ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Lisān al-mīzān, vol. 1, p. 260.
  6. ↑ Abū Ghālib Zurārī, Risāla fī Āl Aʿyan, p. 159; Najāshī, al-Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 82-83; Ṭūsī, al-Fihrist, p. 25, 118.
  7. ↑ Kashshī, Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl, p. 496-497.
  8. ↑ Ḥillī, Rijāl al-ʿallāma al-Ḥillī, p. 14-15; Ibn Ghaḍāʾirī, al-Ḍuʿafā, p. 3.
  9. ↑ Najāshī, al-Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 185.
  10. ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 1, p. 3.
  11. ↑ Najāshī, al-Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 82; Ṭūsī, al-Fihrist, p. 25.
  12. ↑ Najāshī, al-Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 82; Ṭūsī, al-Fihrist, p. 25.
  13. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 278.
  14. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 278.
  15. ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 278.
  16. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Maʿālim al-ʿulamā, p. 14.
  17. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Maʿālim al-ʿulamā, p. 24.
  18. ↑ Ḥillī, Rijāl al-ʿallāma al-Ḥillī, p. 14-15.

References

  • Abū Ghālib Zurārī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-. Risāla fī Āl Aʿyan. Edited by Muḥammad Riḍā Ḥusaynī. Qom: 1411 AH.
  • Barqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Kitāb al-Rijāl. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥaddith Armawī. Tehran: 1342 Sh.
  • Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Lisān al-mīzān. Hyderabad: 1329 AH.
  • Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Maʿālim al-ʿulamā. Edited by Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣādiq Baḥr al-ʿUlūm. Najaf: 1380 AH-1961.
  • Ibn al-Nadīm, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Al-Fihrist. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Ibn Ghaḍāʾirī, Aḥmad b. Ḥusayn. Al-Ḍuʿafā'. Photocopy available in the Central Library. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Kashshī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl known as Rijāl al-Kashshī. Edited by Ḥasan Muṣṭafawī. Mashhad: 1348 Sh.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Uṣūl al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Tehran: 1388 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: 1403 AH.
  • Muʾayyidī, Majd al-Dīn. Lawāmiʿ al-anwār. Photocopy available in the Central Library. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Rijāl al-Najāshī. Edited by Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī. Qom: 1407 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Tawḥīd. Printed by Hāshim Ḥusaynī Tehrānī. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, [n.d].
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Edited by Ḥasan al-Mūsawī al-Khirsān. Beirut:, 1410 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥaasn al-. Al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī. Edited by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Āl-i Baḥr al-ʿUlūm. Najaf: 1380 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Fihrist. Edited by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Āl-i Baḥr al-ʿUlūm. Najaf: Maktabat al-Raḍawīyya, [n.d].
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