Al-Barqi Family

This article is about the Al-Barqi Family. For other people named Al-Barqi, see Al-Barqi (disambiguation).

Al-Barqi Family

Era	3rd/9th and 4th/10th centuries
Head	Muhammad b. 'Ali
Naming	Al-Barqi
Geography
Origin	Iraq
Residence	Qom
Well-known Figures
Figures	Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Barqi, the author of al-Mahasin,
Scholars	Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi, 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad al-Barqi, Ahmad b. 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad al-Barqi, 'Ali b. Muhammad Majilawayh

Āl-Barqī Family (Arabic: آل البرقي) was a Shiite family in Qom in the third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries. Several Shiite scholars were from this family. They migrated from Kufa to Iran and resided in the area of Barqrud near Qom, which is why they came to be known as "al-Barqi". The best-known person in this family was Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Barqi, the author of the book, al-Mahasin.

Origins of al-Barqi Family

According to al-Najashi in his al-Rijal, the origins of al-Barqi family traces back to Kufa. Also in his biography of Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi, al-Najashi says: "he was Abu Musa al-Ash'ari's mawla [that is, an emancipated slave], attributed to Barqa Rud around Qom". According to other sources, he was Hariz b. 'Abd Allah's mawla. Their being mawlas shows that they had been slaves and were then emancipated by their owners, and this makes it difficult to know their ancestors, tribes and their early pedigree. However, given that both Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and Hariz b. 'Abd Allah lived in Kufa in the period of Imam 'Ali (a), they were considered as being from Kufa.

Migration to Qom

The grandfather of al-Barqi family, Muhammad b. 'Ali, was taken captive after the Uprising of Zayd b. 'Ali b. al-Husayn (a) by Yusuf b. 'Amr, the ruler of Kufa, and was finally martyred after enduring severe tortures. After this, his son, 'Abd al-Rahman, migrated from Kufa to Barqrud in Qom together with his son, Khalid, who was a child then.

Because of their residence in Barqrud of Qom they came to be known as al-Barqi. They are known as a family of jurisprudence and hadith. Ahmad and his father were well-known scholars and hadith narrators from this family.

Barqrud

According to al-Najashi in his al-Rijal, Barqrūd (برق‌رود) was somewhere surrounding Qom, near a river to which rain water flowed. According to Yaqut al-Hamawi, Barqa (برقه) was a village near Qom (see his Mu'jam al-buldan, under the entry, Barqa). This place does not seem to have existed for a long time. Other than al-Barqi family, there are other people who are known as al-Barqi as well. They might be attributed to Barqrud in Qom or to other places with the same name.

After the migration of the Ash'ari tribe to Qom, al-Barqi family moved to Qom, because they had attachments.

Scholars of al-Barqi Family

• Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi was a companion of three Imams (a): Imam Musa al-Kazim (a), Imam al-Rida (a) and Imam al-Jawad (a). He narrated hadiths from them. He is mentioned in chains of transmission of over 400 hadiths.

• Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi, the author of al-Mahasin and the best-known scholar of al-Barqi family.

• Hasan b. Khalid and Abu l-Qasim Fadl b. Khalid.

• 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad al-Barqi was a narrator of hadiths. Al-Kulayni cited hadiths from him.

• Ahmad b. 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad al-Barqi was a narrator of hadiths. He is one of the narrators from whom al-Kulayni cited hadiths from Ahmad al-Barqi. He is probably the author of Rijal al-Barqi.

• 'Ali b. Muhammad Majilawayh was a narrator of hadiths. 'Ali b. Muhammad Majilawayh collected some remarks by Ahl al-Bayt (a).

• Muhammad b. Abi l-Qasim Majilawayh was Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid’s son in law. He was a reliable narrator of hadiths.

• 'Ali b. 'Ala' b. Fadl b. Khalid

• 'Ali b. Ahmad b. 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad al-Barqi, was Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid’s great grandson.