'Ali b. Isma'il al-Maythami
| Full Name | 'Ali b. Isma'il al-Maythami |
|---|---|
| Companion of | Imam al-Rida (a) |
| Teknonym | Abu l-Hasan |
| Well Known As | Ibn Maytham |
| Religious Affiliation | Imamiyya |
| Wellknown Relatives | Maytham al-Tammar |
| Birth | 2nd/8th |
| Place of Birth | Kufa |
| Place(s) of Residence | Kufa, Basra |
| Demise | between 210/825-6 to 215/830-1 |
| Professors | Hisham b. al-Hakam |
| Works | an Asl |
ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl al-Maythamī (Arabic: علي بن إسماعیل المیثمي), sometimes referred to as Ibn Maytham (Arabic: إبن میثم) or Abu l-Ḥasan al-Maythamī (Arabic: أبوالحسن المیثمي), was a Shiite theologian who transmitted hadiths from Imam al-Rida (a) in the 2nd/8th and 3rd/9th centuries. Ibn Nadim claims that he was the first to practice theology in line with Imamiyya's tenets.
Birth
'Ali b. Isma'il, known as Ibn Maytham or Abu l-Hasan al-Maythami, was a companion of Imam al-Rida (a),[1] a mawla of Banu Asad, and a progeny of Maytham al-Tammar.[2] The year of his birth is not mentioned in sources. It is only said that he was born in the 2nd/8th century. According to al-Najashi, he was born in Kufa and then moved to Basra.[3]
According to some sources, he was raised in a family of scholars.[4] All of his ancestors were prominent scholars and figures of their times, in particular, Maytham al-Tammar.[5]
Scholarly Significance
Al-Maythami is cited in different fields such as theology, jurisprudence, history, exegesis, and hadiths. He is taken to be superior to others in some of these fields.[6]
- Theology: many scholars, such as Ibn Nadim,[7] Sa'd b. 'Abd Allah al-Ash'ari al-Qummi,[8] al-Shaykh al-Tusi,[9] and al-'Allama al-Hilli,[10] have characterized the theological character of Ibn Maytham as being the first person who discussed the beliefs of the Imamiyya, wrote books about it, and professionally practiced theology. According to al-Najashi, 'Ali b. Isma'il was a theological figure of his time.[11]
- Debates: according to al-Shaykh al-Mufid, 'Ali b. Maytham was a skillful debater. He cited some of Ibn Maytham's debates with Mu'tazili figures, such as Abu l-Hudhayl al-'Allaf, Dirar al-Dabbi, and Nazzam.[12] Some people considered his debates with Mu'tazili figures to be well-known.[13]
- Jurisprudence and history: it is said that 'Ali b. Isma'il was familiar with jurisprudence and the history of the Imams (a). Some of his jurisprudential hadiths are cited in the Four Books of the Shi'as.[14] According to some sources, 'Ali b. Isma'il was more familiar with the lives, history, and children of the Imams (a).[15]
Intellectual Authority
'Ali b. Isma'il trained students and companions. It is said that he was the mediating link between the school of Hisham b. Hakam and the subsequent generations. Phrases such as "one of Maytham's companions" or "a follower of Maytham" or "Maythamiyya" point to the continuity of the School of Kufa by the companions of 'Ali b. Isma'il.[16]
Ibn Maytham's Teachers
In Hadith
Ibn Maytham directly transmitted hadiths from Imam al-Rida (a).[17] He also transmitted hadiths from other people,[18] some of whom are:
In Theology
According to sources available to us, his teacher in theology was Hisham b. al-Hakam, and when Hisham ran away, Ibn Maytham was imprisoned at the command of Harun al-Rashid. In prison when he heard about his teacher's death he said: "if Hisham is killed, his knowledge will be buried with him". He referred to Hisham as "our supporter", "our master", and "the one our eyes are on".[19]
Students
Some of those who narrated from him are as follows:[20]
- Husayn b. Sa'id al-Ahwazi
- Isma'il b. Abi Ziyad al-Sakuni
- Dawud b. Mahziyar
- Ja'far b. Ahmad b. Ayyub al-Samarqandi
Works
A principle is attributed to him in some sources under Asl kitabuh.[21] He wrote other books in theology and jurisprudence as well.[22]
- Kitab al-imama
- Kitab majalis Hisham b. al-Hakam
- Kitab al-mut'a
- Kitab al-istihqaq
- Al-Kamil
- Kitab al-talaq
- Kitab al-nikah
Theological Views
- Monotheism: according to some accounts, Ibn Maytham believed in the necessity of knowing God. According to 'Ali b. Isma'il, all knowledge, including knowledge of God, are non-volitional (idtirari), and proved the existence of the creator through Teleological Argument[23] (Burhan al-Nazm). It is also said that he takes Divine Attributes to be identical with His Essence.[24]
- Prophethood: according to some sources, 'Ali b. Isma'il believed that a prophet has a particular position and is selected by God.[25] He believed that a prophet's knowledge was not ordinary knowledge and that his knowledge is given to him by God.[26]
- Imamate: 'Ali b. Isma'il believed in the necessity of the existence of an Imam.[27] He considered imamate to be a divine position selected by the Prophet (s).[28] A number of his arguments and debates have been reported by Shiite and Sunni sources. He believed that an Imam has knowledge of all the good and the bad[29] and he can speak with different languages of every region.[30]
Encounter with the Waqifa
The Waqifa are also known as "Mamtura". The word, "mamtura", is said to be part of the phrase, "kilab mamtura" (a dog soaked by the rain). The Waqifa are called "Mamtura" because once 'Ali b. Isma'il al-Maythami and Yunus b. 'Abd al-Rahman debated some advocates of the Waqifa about the Imamate after Imam al-Kazim (a). When the debate was heated and they stubbornly refused to accept the arguments, 'Ali b. Isma'il told them: "you are not Shi'as; you are dogs soaked by the rain".[31] The assimilation was because they had become more and more stubborn and intellectually stinky as they heard more arguments, like a dog who stinks more and more as it is more soaked by the rain.
Attributions
There are two types of accounts about 'Ali b. Maytham:
- Reproaches: in some cases, 'Ali b. Maytham and his teacher, Hisham b. al-Hakam are accused of believing in tashbih (assimilation of God to humans), tajsim (belief in the corporeality of God), qadar (predestination), ghuluww (exaggeration about the Imams), the distortion in the Qur'an, importing Jewish elements in Islam, deviations about the Divine Will, the theory of Infallibility, and nass (text).[32]
- Praises: however, some sources and figures, such as al-Najashi, al-Shaykh al-Tusi, al-'Allama al-Hilli,[33] as well as scholars such as al-Mamaqani, al-Tustari, Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei, and Mutahhari rejected such accusations and considered him as a reliable figure.[34]
Death
According to some sources, 'Ali b. Maytham died in the years between 210/825-6 to 215/830-1 at the age of 80 to 85.[35]
Notes
- ↑ Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 555.
- ↑ Ashʿarī, Kitāb al-maqālāt wa al-firaq, p. 239.
- ↑ Ashʿarī, Kitāb al-maqālāt wa al-firaq, p. 239; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 251.
- ↑ Ibn Dāwūd al-Ḥillī, Kitāb al-rijāl, p. 186; Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl, p. 160.
- ↑ Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 83; Ṭabarī, Dalāʾil al-imāma, p. 256.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 14.
- ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 223
- ↑ Ashʿarī, Kitāb al-maqālāt wa al-firaq, p. 141.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa, p. 160.
- ↑ Ḥillī, Rijāl al-ʿallāma al-Ḥillī, p. 93.
- ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 251.
- ↑ Mufīd, al-Fuṣūl al-mukhtārāt, p. 23, 24, 29.
- ↑ Amīn, Aʿyān al-Shīʿa, vol. 1, p. 41.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, vol. 8, p. 79.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 14; Baḥrānī, Ḥilyat al-abrār, vol. 4, p. 337.
- ↑ Ashʿarī, Maqālāt al-Islāmiyīn, p. 42.
- ↑ Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 555.
- ↑ Dirāyat al-nūr software, under 'Ali b. Isma'il al-Maythami.
- ↑ Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 263; Ashʿarī, Kitāb al-maqālāt wa al-firaq, p. 239.
- ↑ Dirāyat al-nūr software, under 'Ali b. Isma'il al-Maythami.
- ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Tafṣīl wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 8, p. 279, hadith 10658; Kohlberg, Kitābkhāna Ibn Ṭāwūs, p. 203.
- ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 251.
- ↑ Mufīd, al-Fuṣūl al-mukhtārāt, p. 76.
- ↑ ʿAlīpūr, Shakhsiyat wa ārāʾ kalāmi-yi ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl, p. 81.
- ↑ Biḥār al-anwār, Translated to Farsi by Mūsā Khusrawī, vol. 4, p. 81.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 388.
- ↑ Ṣaffār, Baṣā'ir al-darajāt, vol. 1, p. 332, hadith 8.
- ↑ Istarābādī, Taʾwīl al-āyāt al-zāhira, p. 553.
- ↑ Mufīd, al-Fuṣūl al-mukhtārāt, p. 23.
- ↑ Mufīd, al-Ikhtiṣāṣ, p. 291.
- ↑ Ashʿarī, Kitāb al-maqālāt wa al-firaq, p. 92.
- ↑ Khayyāṭ al-Muʿtazilī, al-Intiṣār, p. 6; Ashʿarī, Maqālāt al-Islāmiyīn, p. 42; Sāmī Badrī, Shubahāt wa rudūd, vol. 4, p. 133.
- ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 251; Ṭūsī, Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa, p. 160; Ḥillī, Rijāl al-ʿallāma al-Ḥillī, p. 93.
- ↑ Mamaqānī, Tanqīḥ al-maqāl fī ʿilm al-rijāl, vol. 2, p. 271; Shūshtarī, Qāmūs al-rijāl, vol. 3, p. 371; Khoeī, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, vol. 11, p. 275, 278; Muṭahharī, Majmuʿa āthar, vol. 3, p. 93.
- ↑ ʿAlīpūr, Shakhsiyat wa ārāʾ kalāmi-yi ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl, p. 27.
References
- Ashʿarī, ʿAlī b. Ismaʿīl. Maqālāt al-Islāmiyīn wa ikhtilāf al-muṣallīn. 3rd edition. Wiesbaden: Frank Steiner, 1400 AH.
- Ashʿarī, Saʿd b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Kitāb al-maqālāt wa al-firaq. 2nd edition. [n.p]. Markaz-i Intishārāt-i ʿIlmī wa Farhangī, 1360 Sh.
- ʿAlīpūr, Omīd. Shakhsiyat wa ārāʾ kalāmi-yi ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl b. Shuʿayb b. Maytham Tammār. [n.p]. Dānishkada-yi Shīʿa Shināsī-yi Dānishgāh-i Adyān wa Madhāhib, 1394.
- Amīn, al-Sayyid Muḥsin al-. Aʿyān al-Shīʿa. Beirut: Dār al-Taʿāruf, 1406 AH.
- Baḥrānī, Sayyid Hāshim b. Sulaymān al-. Ḥilyat al-abrār. 1st edition. Qom: Muʾassisa al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyya, 1411 AH.
- Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Rijāl al-ʿallāma al-Ḥillī. Edited by Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣādiq Baḥr al-ʿUlūm. 2nd edition. Najaf: Dār al-Dhakhāʾir, 1411 AH.
- Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tafṣīl wasāʾil al-Shīʿa ilā taḥṣīl masā'il al-sharī'a. 1st edition. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, 1409 AH.
- Ibn Baṭrīq, Yaḥya b. Ḥasan. ʿUmdat ʿuyūn ṣiḥāḥ al-akhbār fī manāqib Imām al-abrār. Qom: Muʾassisa Nashr-i Islāmī, 1407 AH.
- Istarābādī, ʿAlī. Taʾwīl al-āyāt al-zāhira fī faḍāʾil al-ʿitrat al-tāhira. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1409 AH.
- Ibn Makūlā, ʿAlī b. Hibatullāh. Al-Ikmāl. 1st edition. Hyderabad Deccan: Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-ʿUthmānīyya, 1408 AH.
- Ibn al-Nadīm, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Al-Fihrist. Edited by Muḥammad Riḍā Tajaddud. [n.p]: Nashr-i Intishārāt-i Asāṭīr, 1381 Sh.
- Ibn Dāwūd al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. 'Alī. Kitāb al-rijāl. 1st edition. Tehran: Dānishgāh-i Tehrān, 1342 Sh.
- Khayyāṭ al-Muʿtazilī, ʿAbd al-Raḥīm. Al-Intiṣār wa al-radd ʿala al-Rawandī al-mulḥid. Edited by Nyberg. 2nd edition. Lebanon: 1413 AH.
- Khoei, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim al-. Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth wa tafṣīl ṭabaqāt al-ruwāt. Najaf: Manshūrāt-i Madīnat al-ʿIlm, 1398 AH.
- Kashshī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Rijāl al-Kashshī. 1st edition. Mashhad: Nashr-i Dānishgāh-i Mashhad, 1348 Sh.
- Kohlberg, Etan. Kitābkhāna Ibn Ṭāwūs. Translated to Farsi by ʿAlī Qarāʾyī and Rasūl Jaʿfarīyān. Qom: Nashr-i Kitābkhāna-yi Āyat Allāh al-Marʿashī al-Najafī, 1371 Sh.
- Mamaqānī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasan. Tanqīḥ al-maqāl fī ʿilm al-rijāl. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Jahān, 1350 Sh.
- Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Majmuʿa āthar ustād shahīd Muṭahharī. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Ṣadrā, 1377 Sh.
- Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Ikhtiṣāṣ. Qom: Nashr-i Kungira-yi Shaykh al-Mufīd, 1413 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Translation of volume 23 to 27. Translated to Farsi by Mūsā Khusrawī. Tehran: Nashr al-Islāmiya, 1363 Sh.
- Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Fuṣūl al-mukhtārāt. 1st edition. Qom: Nashr-i Kungira-yi Shaykh al-Mufīd, 1413 AH.
- Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Rijāl al-Najāshī. 6th edition. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Nashr al-Islāmī, 1365 Sh.
- Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. 3rd edition. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1404 AH
- Ṣaffār, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Baṣā'ir al-darajāt fī faḍāʾil-i Āl-i Muḥammad. 2nd edition. Qom: Kitābkhāna-yi Āyat Allāh al-Marʿashī al-Najafī, 1404 AH.
- Shūshtarī, Muḥammad Taqī. Qāmūs al-rijāl. Qom: Muʾassisa Nashr-i Islāmī, 1415 AH.
- Samʿānī, ʿAbd al-Karīm b. Muḥammad. al-. Al-Ansāb. Edited by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Yaḥyā al-Muʿallimī al-Yamānī. 1st edition. Hyderabad: Majlis Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-ʿUthmāniyya, 1382 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā. 1st edition. Tehran: Nashr-i Ṣadūq, 1373 Sh.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Tehran: Kitābchī, 1376 Sh.
- Sāmī Badrī. Shubahāt wa rudūd. 2nd edition. Qom: 1417 AH.
- Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Dalāʾil al-imāma. 1st edition. Qom: Nashr-i Biʿthat, 1413 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām. 4th edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥaasn al-. Al-Rijāl. 3rd edition. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Nashr al-Islāmī, 1373 Sh.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa. 1st edition. Qom: Maktabat al-Muḥaqqiq al-Ṭabāṭabāʾī, 1420 AH.