Husayn b. Sa'id al-Ahwazi
Ḥusayn b. Saʿīd al-Ahwāzī (Arabic: حُسَين بن سَعيد الأهوازي), jurist and hadith scholar of the first half of the third/ninth century, who, together with his brother Hasan, composed important jurisprudential and hadith works. His name appears in more than five thousand Shi'a hadiths.
| Full Name | Husayn b. Sa'id al-Ahwazi |
|---|---|
| Companion of | Imam al-Rida (a), Imam al-Jawad (a), and Imam al-Hadi (a) |
| Place of Birth | Kufa |
| Place(s) of Residence | Kufa, Ahwaz, Qom |
| Death/Martyrdom | After 254/868 |
| Burial Place | Qom |
| Works | Al-Wudu, Al-Salat, Al-Zakat, ... |
Husayn was a companion of Imam al-Rida (a), Imam al-Jawad (a), and Imam al-Hadi (a).
Birth and Genealogy
Husayn b. Sa'id was born in Kufa, but the year of his birth is not known. As to his father, the sources only mention that his epithet was Dandan,[1] regarded by Ibn Dawud al-Hilli as an unknown transmitter of hadith.[2]
It is reported that his ancestors were from the mawali of Imam al-Sajjad (a).[3] His two uncles, Ali b. Yahya b. Hasan and Ja'far b. Yahya b. Sa'd al-Ahwal, who were from companions of Imam al-Rida (a), and Imam al-Jawad (a) respectively, are regarded as trustworthy in rijal sources.[4]
Teachers
Husayn was a companion of Imam al-Rida (a), Imam al-Jawad (a), and Imam al-Hadi (a)[5] and transmitted their hadiths directly. He transmitted the hadiths of the previous Imams (a) through Ibn Abi 'Umayr, Ali b. al-Nu'man, Hasan b. Mahbub, and Muhammad b. Sanan.[6]
Students
Among his prominent students and those who transmitted hadith from him are Ahmad b. Muhammad b. 'Isa al-Ash'ari, Ahmad b. Idris (d. 306/918-9), Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi (d. 280/893-4), and Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Dinawari (d. 282/895-6).[7] Before his death, Husayn gave all his books to Husayn b. al-Hasan b. Aban, the son of his host in Qom, who transmitted all of Husayn's books.[8]
From the Viewpoint of Shi'a Scholars
The Scholars of rijal, such as al-Barqi[9] and al-Tusi,[10] regard Husayn as reliable. The fact that his name appears in more than five thousand chains of hadith transmitters indicates his high status in jurisprudence and hadith.[11]
Jurists and biographers have also praised him; for instance, al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli[12] counts him as a prominent jurist and Ibn al-Nadim regards Husayn and his brother as the most knowledgeable of their time with regard to Shi'a jurisprudence and literature.
Works
Al-Najashi mentions the following books for Husayn b. Sa'id:
- Al-Wudu
- Al-Salat
- Al-Zakat
- Al-Sawm
- Al-Hajj
- Al-Nikah
- Al-Talaq
- Al-'Itq wa l-tadbir wa l-mukataba
- Al-Iman wa l-nudhur
- Al-Tijarat wa l-Ijarat
- Al-Khums
- Al-Shahadat
- Al-Sayd wa l-dhaba'ih
- Al-Makasib
- Al-Ashriba
- Al-Ziyarat
- Al-Taqiyya
- Al-Radd 'ala l-ghulat
- Al-Manaqib
- Al-Mathalib
- Al-Zuhd
- Al-Muruwwa
- Huquq al-mu'minin wa fadluhum
- Tafsir al-Qur'an
- Al-Wasaya
- Al-Fara'id
- Al-Hudud
- Al-Diyat
- Al-Malahim
- Al-Du'a'
Moreover, a recent research has shown that a book called al-Nawadir —or at least, most of it— that has been published and attributed to Ahmad b. Muhammad b. 'Isa was in fact composed by Husayn b. Sa'id, because in the chains of transmission of the hadiths in this book, we see the names of people like Muhammad b. Fudayl, Nadr b. Suwayd, and Fadala b. Ayyub, who were not of the teachers of Ahmad b. Muhammad and the latter did not transmit any hadiths from them. They were only the teachers of Husayn b. Sa'id.[13]
Non-Jurisprudential Works
Most of Husayn's works are jurisprudential, but he also has two moral works which are available now: al-Mu'min and al-Zuhd. He also has a theological work entitled al-Radd 'ala l-ghulat and also an exegetical work. The titles of the chapters of al-Zuhd include the following:
- The virtue of silence and abstaining from the material world
- Good manners
- Toleration and anger
- Doing good to parents and family members
- Humbleness and pride
- Repentance
- Descriptions of Paradise and hell
Al-Zuhd was summarized by Ali b. Hatam al-Qazwini.[14]
Moreover, a work entitled al-Bahar is also attributed to Husayn. Radi al-Din 'Ali b. Tawus had an old copy of it and cited it in his book al-Yaqin.[15]
Death
Husayn b. Sa'id and his brother al-Hasan moved from Kufa to Ahwaz. Some time later, Husayn moved to Qom and resided there. His host in Qom was al-Hasan b. Aban al-Qummi. Husayn passed away in Qom, but we don't know the exact year of his demise, though some have mentioned that he was alive up to 254/868.[16]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 551; Ḥillī, Khulāṣat al-aqwāl fī maʿrifat al-rijāl, p. 99.
- ↑ Ibn Dāwūd al-Ḥillī, Kitāb al-rijāl, p. 553.
- ↑ Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 551; Ṭūsī, Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa, p. 136, 149.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 360, 374; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 58.
- ↑ Barqī, Kitāb al-Rijāl, p. 54-56; Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 355, 374, 385.
- ↑ Ahwāzī, al-Zuhd, p. 19, 23, 26, 29, 97-99; Ṭūsī, Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa, p. 162; Tafrishī, Naqd al-rijāl, vol. 2, p. 92.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa, p. 22, 162, 195, 481; Tafrishī, Naqd al-rijāl, vol. 2, p. 91-92.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 424; Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, p. 10.
- ↑ Barqī, Kitāb al-Rijāl, p. 54, 56;
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 355.
- ↑ Khoeī, Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth, vol. 5, p. 245-265.
- ↑ Ḥillī, Al-Muʿtabar, vol. 1, p. 33.
- ↑ Shubayrī Zanjānī, Nawādir Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Isā yā kitāb Ḥusayn b. Saʿīd, p. 23-26.
- ↑ Āgā Buzurg al-Tihrānī, al-Dharīʿa, vol. 12, p. 64; vol. 20, p. 204.
- ↑ Āgā Buzurg al-Tihrānī, al-Dharīʿa, vol. 3, p. 157.
- ↑ Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist, p. 277; Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, p. 59-60; Ṭūsī, Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa, p. 149; Subḥānī, Mawsūʿat ṭabaqāt al-fuqahāʾ, vol. 3, p. 220.
References
- Ahwāzī, Ḥusayn b. Saʿīd. Al-Zuhd. Edited by Ghulām Riḍā ʿIrfānīyān. Qom: 1399 AH.
- Ahwāzī, Ḥusayn b. Saʿīd. Kitāb al-muʾmin. Edited by Murtaḍā Ḥusayn Ṣadr al-Afāḍil. Karachi: 1412 AH.
- Āgā Buzurg al-Tihrānī, Muḥammad Muḥsin. Al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-shīʿa. [n.p]. [n.d].
- Barqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Kitāb al-Rijāl. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥaddith Armawī. Tehran: 1342 Sh.
- Ibn Dāwūd al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. 'Alī. Kitāb al-rijāl. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥaddith Armawī. Tehran: 1342 Sh.
- Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Maʿālim al-ʿulamā. Najaf: 1380 AH-1960.
- Ibn Ghaḍāʾirī, Aḥmad b. Ḥusayn. Rijāl Ibn Ghaḍāʾirī. Edited by Muḥammad Riḍā Ḥusaynī Jalālī. Qom: 1422 AH.
- Ibn al-Nadīm, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Al-Fihrist. Edited by Muḥammad Riḍā Tajaddud. Tehran: 1350 Sh.
- Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Muʿtabar fī sharḥ al-mūkhtaṣar. volume 1. Qom: 1364 Sh.
- Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Khulāṣat al-aqwāl fī maʿrifat al-rijāl. Edited by Jawād Qayyūmī Iṣfahānī. Qom: 1417 AH.
- Kashshī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl known as Rijāl al-Kashshī. Surmised by Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī. Edited by Ḥasan Muṣṭafawī. Mashhad: 1348 Sh.
- Khoeī, Sayyid Abū l-Qāsim al-. Muʿjam rijāl al-ḥadīth. [n.p]. [n.d].
- Mamaqānī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasan. Tanqīḥ al-maqāl fī ʿilm al-rijāl. Edited by Muḥyi al-Dīn al-Mamaqānī. Qom: 1423 AH.
- Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Fihrist asmāʾ muṣannifī al-Shīʿa al-mushtahir bi rijāl al-Najāshī. Edited by Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī. Qom: 1407 AH.
- Shūshtarī, Muḥammad Taqī. Qāmūs al-rijāl. Qom: 1410-1424 AH.
- Shubayrī Zanjānī, Muḥammad Jawād. Nawādir Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Isā yā kitāb Ḥusayn b. Saʿīd. Aʾyīna-yi Pazhūhish, No 4, 1376 Sh.
- Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Mawsūʿat ṭabaqāt al-fuqahāʾ. Qom: Muʾassisat Imām al-Ṣādiq (a). 1418-1424 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Edited by Ḥasan al-Mūsawī al-Khirsān. Beirut:, 1401 AH.
- Tafrishī, Muṣṭafā b. Ḥusayn al-. Naqd al-rijāl. Beirut: 1419 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām. Edited by Sayyid Ḥasan al-Khursān. Beirut: 1401 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥaasn al-. Al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī. Edited by Jawād Qayyūmī Iṣfahānī. Qom: 1415 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Fihrist kutub al-Shīʿa wa uṣūlihim wa asmāʾ al-muṣannifīn wa aṣḥāb al-uṣūl. Edited by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Ṭabāṭabāʾī. Qom: 1420 AH.