Jumal al-'ilm wa l-'amal (book)

Jumal al-'ilm wa al-'amal

Author	Al-Sharif al-Murtada
Original title	جُمَل العِلم و العَمَل
Language	Arabic
Subject	Jurisprudence, theology

Jumal al-ʿilm wa l-ʿamal (Arabic:جُمَل العِلم و العَمَل) is a book in jurisprudence and theology written by al-Sharif al-Murtada (d. 436/1044). This book is in Arabic and contains the most important issues in jurisprudence. In the first part of the book, the author has also discussed the most important principles of belief.

The Author

Main article: Al-Sharif al-Murtada

Ali b. Husayn b. Musa b. Muhammad b. Musa b. Ibrahim b. Imam Musa al-Kazim (a) (b. 355/965-6 - d. 436/1044) was known as al-Sayyid al-Murtada, al-Sharif al-Murtada and 'Alam al-Huda. After his brother al-Sayyid al-Radi, al-Sayyid al-Murtada became the leader of Talibids in Baghdad, the head of pilgrims of hajj (Amir al-hajj) and the head of courts of law.

Goal of Writing

Al-Sharif al-Murtada wrote this book following the advice of his teacher al-Shaykh al-Mufid for new religious students and to remind issues for teachers. According to some sources, another name of the book has been Jumal al-'aqa'id (جمل العقائد).

Content

As Aqa Buzurg says, this book has two parts: the first part on beliefs (theology) and the second part on acts of worship (jurisprudence). In the first part, the book has discussed the principles of Unity, justice, prophethood, imamate, hereafter and their related issues and in the second part, has discussed issues about prayer, fasting, I'tikaf, hajj, and Zakat.

Features

One of the important features of this book is that it has not discussed jurisprudential issues in a demonstrative way, but it is al-Murtada's fatwas (religious rulings). In this book, he has also mentioned his new opinions regarding the rulings about which no one has issued any ruling before.

Importance and Authenticity

Afandi Isfahani wrote that after Judge 'Abd al-Jabbar Hamadani (d. 415/1024-5), the famous Mu'tazili theologian saw Jumal al-'ilm wa al-'amal, he said, "If al-Sharif al-Murtada had not written anything other than this book, he would still have been superior to other writers."

Al-Shaykh al-Tusi in al-Khilaf and al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli in al-Mu'tabar fi sharh al-Mukhtasar have considered rulings of al-Sayyid al-Murtada in Jumal al-'ilm wa al-'amal and this book has been one of the sources from which al-Allama al-Majlisi has benefited in writing Bihar al-anwar.

Versions

Aqa Buzurg has mentioned three versions of the book as following:

• The version kept in the library of Mulla Muhammad Ali Khwansari
• The version kept in the library of al-Sayyid Abu al-Qasim Isfahani Musawi Safawi, the author of Abwab al-jinan
• The version kept in the library of Shaykh Mirza Ali Akbar 'Iraqi

Some manuscripts of the book and also its commentaries are kept in the libraries of Astan Quds Radawi, Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi in Qom and the central library of the University of Tehran.

Publication and Prints

Two prints of this book are available:

• The print of 1386/1966-7 in Najaf, by the effort of Sayyid Ahmad Husayni
• The print of 13871967-8 in Najaf, by the effort of Rashid al-Saffar