Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi

Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi

Personal Information
Well-Known Relatives	(Descendant of) Habib b. Muzahir
Birth	979/1571-2
Place of Birth	Najaf
Residence	Najaf, Mecca, Mashhad
Studied in	Najaf
Death	1085/1674-5 or 1087/1676-7
Burial Place	Najaf
Scholarly Information
Professors	Muhammad b. Jabir al-Najafi, Amir Sharaf al-Din 'Ali al-Shulistani
Students	Safi al-Din b. Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi (his son), Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, ...
Works	Majma' al-bahrayn wa matla' al-nayyirayn, Gharib al-Qur'an, ...

Fakhr al-Dīn b. Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Ṭurayḥī (Arabic:فخرالدین بن محمدعلي الطُریحي) (b. 979/1571-2 - d. 1085/1674-5 or 1087/1676-7) was an exegete of the Qur'an and an Imami scholar in the 11th/17th century. He is the author of the well-known book, Majma' al-bahrayn. He is the first Shi'a scholar who wrote a book concerning abstruse words in the Qur'an and hadiths.

Birth and Lineage

He was born in 979/1571-2 in Najaf, and was thus known as al-Najafi.

Although al-Turayhi has mentioned his father as Muhammad 'Ali, he is mentioned in some sources as Muhammad. Agha Buzurg Tihrani held that "Muhammad", which was first suggested by al-Hurr al-'Amili followed by others, is not accurate, and that the name of al-Turayhi's father was "Muhammad 'Ali".

The reason for this disagreement seems to be that in some sources, the word "ibn" (son of) was added in between "Muhammad" and "'Ali" leading to the thought that his father's name was Muhammad. According to al-Samahiji al-Bahrani, al-Turayhi's mother was from Mashhad.

Al-Turayhi Family was an old and well-known family in Najaf who is attributed to their great grandfather, Turayh. Their lineage goes back to Habib b. Muzahir al-Asadi, the well-known companion of Imam 'Ali (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a). It seems that the family moved to Najaf in the 6th/12th century after the destruction of Kufa.

Travels

Al-Turayhi spent his youth with his father and uncle, Muhammad Husayn al-Turayhi. In 1062/1651-2, he moved from Iraq to Mecca and wrote some of his work on his way there. He then travelled to Iran.

According to the dates of his written works, Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi went to Mashhad in 1079/1668-9. He wrote the book, Idah al-hisab (concerning calculus) in 1083/1672-3 in Isfahan, which shows that he lived in Isfahan for a while. After sojourns in different cities, he went back to Najaf.

Teachers and Students

Al-Turayhi's teachers include Muhammad b. Jabir al-Najafi, Amir Sharaf al-Din 'Ali al-Shulistani, and Shaykh Mahmud b. Hisam al-Din b. Darwish.

And his students include Safi al-Din b. Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi (his son), Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, and Sayyid Hashim b. Sulayman al-Katkani.

Agha Buzurg Tihrani mentioned al-Turayhi among people with longevity, on the supposition that al-Katkani was his student.

Place in Hadith

Al-Turayhi appears in many permissions of hadith transmission. He had his own permissions for hadith transmission, and gave permissions to his students.

Death

According to some scholars, al-Turayhi died in al-Rammahiyya in 1085/1674-5. His corpse was moved to Najaf and was buried near his mosque in the district of Biraq, which is known today as al-Jami' al-Turayhi. However, some people believe that he died in 1087/1676-7, taking the former date to be a mistake by al-Hurr al-'Amili and his followers.

Writings

• Majma' al-bahrayn wa matla' al-nayyirayn: One of the most important works written by al-Turayhi is Majma' al-bahrayn wa matla' al-nayyirayn. This is the first Shi'a work concerning abstruse words in the Qur'an and hadiths. It seems that in Majma' al-bahrayn, al-Turayhi was mostly influenced by works such as Sihah al-lugha by Isma'il b. Hammad al-Jawhari (d. 393/1002-3), Mu'jam maqayis al-lugha and Mujmal al-lugha by Ahmad b. Faris (d. 395/1004-5), al-Nihaya fi gharib al-hadith by Ibn Athir al-Jazari (d. 606/1209-10), and al-Qamus al-muhit by Majd al-Din al-Firuzabadi (d. 817/1414-5).

• Gharib al-Qur'an: Another work by al-Turayhi concerning abstruse words in the Qur'an is Gharib al-Qur'an which is published under Tafsir gharib al-Qur'an. According to Agha Buzurg Tihrani, al-Turayhi finished writing this book before Majma' al-bahrayn in 1051/1641-2. It seems that in this book, al-Turayhi reorganized the book, Nuzhat al-qulub wa farhat al-makrub by Abu Bakr Muhammad b. 'Aziz al-Sajistani (d. 330/941-2) in an alphabetic order with some additional entries. Agha Buzurg Tihrani has emphasized that Gharib al-Qur'an is distinct from two other works by al-Turayhi, Nuzhat al-khatir wa surur al-nazir and Kashf ghawamid al-Qur'an, but according to Ja'far Al Mahbuba, these three titles refer to one and the same work.

• Gharib al-hadith

• Jami' al-maqal fi tamyiz al-mushtarika min al-rijal: Another well-known work by al-Turayhi is concerned with 'ilm al-rijal (biography of the transmitters of hadiths). This work is known with different titles, including Jami' al-maqal fi tamyiz al-mushtarika min al-rijal, Jami' al-maqal fi ma yata'allaq bi ahwal al-hadith wa l-rijal wa tamyiz al-mushtarikat minhum, and tamyiz al-mutashabih min asma' al-rijal. The book is written in 12 chapters in 1053/1643-4. He wrote 12 chapters about ambiguous names, lineages, kunyas, and titles of the transmitters of hadiths, as well as other significant points, such as the number of hadiths in the Four Books and dates in which some early masters of hadiths died. His student, Muhammad Amin al-Kazimi, the author of the book, Hidayat al-muhaddithin, wrote an exposition for the 12th chapter of the book, Jami' al-maqal. According to Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin, al-Shaykh 'Abd al-Husayn al-Turayhi (al-Turayhi's grandson) summarized Jami' al-maqal in 1262/1845-6 under Mutqan al-rijal fi talkhis jami' al-maqal.

• al-Muntakhab fi jam' al-marathi wa l-khutab: Another work by al-Turayhi is al-Muntakhab fi jam' al-marathi wa l-khutab which is concerned with elegies and sermons about Ahl al-Bayt (a). The book contains some of al-Turayhi's own poems as well. According to al-Hurr al-'Amili, al-Turayhi wrote another book entitled al-Maqtal (about the Event of Karbala), but al-Afandi holds that this is the same book as al-Muntakhab. The book is also referred to as Majalis al-Turayhi and al-Majalis al-Fakhriyya. It was first published in Tehran in 1307 Sh./1928-9 in the margins of Maqatil al-talibiyyayn by Abu l-Faraj al-Isfahani. Its first and second parts are frequently published.

• al-Fakhriyya al-kubra: Another work by al-Turayhi is a book concerning fiqh entitled al-Fakhriyya al-kubra in which he collected his fatwas regarding tahara (cleanliness) and prayer. He finished writing the book in 1082/1671-2. Al-Turayhi himself summarized the book and called it al-Fakhriyya al-sughra. The work referred to by al-Hurr al-'Amili under al-Fakhriyya fi l-fiqh probably refers to these two books. Safi al-Din al-Turayhi, Fakhr al-Din al-Turayhi's son, wrote an exposition on this book under al-Riyad al-zahriyya fi sharh al-fakhriyya, and al-Turayhi's nephew, Shaykh Hisam al-Din, wrote an exposition on the book under Manhaj al-shari'a al-gharra' fi sharh fakhriyya al-sughra.

• Al-Turayhi wrote expositions on some book, for example, al-Diya' al-lami' fi sharh mukhtasar al-shara'i' , an exposition on Risala al-ithna 'ashariyya fi l-tahara wa l-sala by Shaykh Hasan b. al-Shahid al-Thani, al-Nukat al-latifa fi sharh al-Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya (an exposition on al-Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya), an exposition on al-Mabadi' al-usuliyya by al-'Allama al-Hilli, Idah al-hisab which is an exposition of Khulasat al-hisab by al-Shaykh al-Baha'i, and al-Luma' fi sharh al-juma'.