Ibrahim Hamadani

Ibrahim Hamadani

Personal Information
Full Name	Sayyid Ibrahim b. Qawam al-Din Husayn b. 'Ata' Allah Hasan Husayni Hamadani
Well-Known As	Zahir al-Din, Rafi' al-Din, Qazi Zada
Birth	10th/16th century
Residence	Hamadan
Death	1025/1616-7 or 1026/1617
Scholarly Information
Professors	Mirza Makhdum Isfahani, Shaykh Baha'i, Muhammad b. Shahab al-Din al-'Amili
Students	'Abd al-Ghani Tafrishi, Murad b. Ali Khan Tafrishi, Mir Mustafa Tafrishi, Mulla ‘Abd al-Baqi Shukuhi Hamadani
Permission for Hadith Transmission From	Shaykh Baha'i, Muhammad b. Shahab al-Din al-'Amili
Works	Unmudhajat Ibrahimiyya, Glosses on Sharh al-Tajrid, ...
Socio-Political Activities
Socio-Political Activities	Judge of Hamadan

Ẓahīr al-Dīn or Rafīʿ al-Dīn, Sayyid Ibrāhīm b. Qawām al-Dīn Ḥusayn b. ʿAṭāʾ Allāh Ḥasan Ḥusaynī Hamadānī, known as Ibrāhīm Hamadānī and Qāḍi Zāda, was a Shi'a philosopher, theosophist, jurist (faqih), hadith scholars and theologian of the 10th/16th and 11th/17th century. He was the judge of Hamadan for a while during the reign of Shah 'Abbas Safavi. He was a master of rational sciences to the point that he was titled "Sultan al-'Ulama'," "'Allama of the time," "Plato" and "Avicenna of the time." He authored several works and passed away in 1025/1616-7 or 1026/1617.

Name and Lineage

His full name was not mentioned in old sources close to his time. Afandi has mentioned him twice inattentively which caused a misunderstanding of the following authors. Ibrahim Hamadani is a descendant of Imam al-Husayn (a). Although he was counted as one of the descendants of Imam al-Hasan (a) in Jami' al-ruwat, 'Alam Ara and Rawzat al-Jannat, he has introduced himself as a descendant of Imam al-Husayn (a).

During the reign of Shah Tahmasb Safavi, his father was the judge and in charge of Shar'i affairs in Hamadan. Therefore, Ibrahim was also known as Qadi Zada (offspring of the judge). Hazin Lahiji has mentioned one of his descendants by the same name "Ibrahim Hamadani," the brother of Najaf Khan Sadr, and due to the similarity of his name to that of his grandfather, he was called "Ibrahim Hamadani the second".

Birth and Demise

There is no information about his birth date. After his detailed biography, Iskandar Munshi reported that he passed away in 1026/1617; in another place, he has mentioned his name among those who passed away in 1025/1616-7, though. Ibn Ma'sum and Shaykh Hurr al-Amili explicitly mentioned 1026 as his demise date. However, Husayni and Ardabili mentioned 1025. Apparently, divergent reports in 'Alam Ara have influenced the following sources.

Education

For a while, he studied rational sciences under Mir Fakhr al-Din Sammaki Astar Abadi in Qazvin. Sammaki wrote a certification (Ijaza) for him, in which he praised him. Then he studied under Mirza Makhdum Isfahani for a while. He learned hadith from al-Shaykh al-Baha'i and al-Shaykh gave him a certification of narration (Ijazat al-Riwaya). Shaykh Muhammad b. Shahab al-Din Ahmad b. Ni'mat Allah b. Khatun al-'Amili is another Shaykh al-Ijaza who gave Ibrahim a certification of narration in 1008/1599-1600 in Mecca.

Judge of Hamadan

After the death of Shah Tahmasb, Ibrahim Hamadani was appointed as the judge of Hamadan. However, Iskandar Munshi reported that he less frequently judged, and most cases were judged by his deputies, as he spent most of his time reading, discussing, and teaching. After that Shah 'Abbas the first was enthroned, Ibrahim became very close to Shah, and according to his saying he went to Shah's courts many times and was honored and respected by Shah.

Students

Some of his eminent students are as follow:

• 'Abd al-Ghani Tafrishi
• Murad b. Ali Khan Tafrishi: the author of al-Ta'liqat al-Sajjadiyya, a commentary on Man la yahduruh al-faqih.
• Mir Mustafa Tafrishi: the author of Naqd al-rijal. He mentioned Hamadani as "my teacher and the teacher of humankind."
• Jismi Hamadani: his student who spent most of his life accompanying Hamadani and studying under him. Later, he emigrated from Iran to India.
• Mulla Zaki Hamadani: he composed ghazals and his pseudonym was his name.
• Mulla 'Abd al-Baqi Shukuhi Hamadani: the poet and calligrapher contemporaneous to Shah 'Abbas.

Travels

Ibrahim Hamadani traveled to Gilan, Mecca and Georgia. In 999/1590-1 by the order of Shah 'Abbas, he along with a delegation traveled to Gilan for participation in the wedding ceremony of Shahzada Muhammad Baqir to Khan Baygum, the daughter of Khan Ahmad Gilani. In 1007/1598-9, he headed to Mecca for performing Hajj. It was in Mecca that he met Shaykh Muhammad b. Khatun al-'Amili, the author of glosses on Alfiyya written by Shahid al-Awwal, and received a certification of narration from him.

Demise

Late in his life, he went to Georgia along with Shah 'Abbas's army. After a while in 1026/1617, he got permission to return; so he headed to Hamadan. But he passed away on the way.

Expertise in Rational Sciences

Hamadani was so expert in rational sciences that his views were regarded by his contemporaries as valid and reliable. He was praised by titles like: "'Aql al-Hadi 'Ashar" (the eleventh intellect), "Ustad al-Bashar" (the teacher of humankind), "Sultan al-'Ulama'", "Sayyid-i Hukama' Mutakallim" (the master of theologian philosophers), "'Allama-yi Zaman" (polymath of the time), "Plato" and "Avicenna of the time." Shaykh Muhammad b. Khatun says that he was a polymath. Mentioning his expertise in rational sciences, Afandi says, "Some of the surprising points that are attributed to him are that he did not know fiqh or that he has killed a group of Shah 'Abbas's elite commanders". However, some other biographers praised him for his asceticism, piety, modesty and peace. In his letter to Ibrahim Hamadani, al-Shaykh al-Baha'i addressed him as "the knower of the secrets of mystical secrets."

Works

• Unmudhaja Ibrahimiyya: in Arabic, is glosses on Ilahiyyat section of al-Shifa' and al-Najat both written by Avicenna. He authored this work in 1007/1598-9 and a manuscript of it is available now.

• Glosses on Sharh al-Tajrid: in Arabic. A manuscript of this work is kept in the Library of Astan Quds Radawi. Afandi mentioned this work by the title al-Hashiya 'ala l-sharh l-jadid li l-Tajrid.

• Risalat fi tawjih kalam al-Shaykh fi "Ann al-wahid la yasdur 'anh illa al-wahid": a treatise explaining and justifying the opinion of Avicenna in answer to Bahmanyar about the philosophical principle "One does not issue except for one." Manuscripts of this treatise are kept in various libraries.

As Ibrahim Hamadani composed poems as well, some of his poems are found in the anthology of Janabdhi. Also, some of his letters are available, including the one to and from al-Shaykh al-Baha'i that has been published in Armaghan Magazine.

Attributed Works

• Glosses on Ithbat al-Wajib written by al-Dawani.
• Glosses on al-Isharat written by Aviccenna.
• Glosses on al-Kashshaf written by Zamakhshari.
• Rasa'il al-Kalamiyya.