Maqtal-i jami'-i Sayyid al-Shuhada' (a) (book)
 | |
| Author | A group of researchers and Mahdi Pishwai |
|---|---|
| Original title | تاریخ قیام و مقتل جامع سیدالشهدا(ع) |
| Language | Persian |
| Series | 2 Vols. |
| Subject | History of Imam al-Husayn's (a) uprising and maqtal |
| Genre | History |
Tārīkh-i qīyām wa maqtal-i jāmi'-i Sayyid al-Shuhadā' (a) (Persian: تاریخ قیام و مقتل جامع سید الشهداء) (History of the uprising and comprehensive maqtal of the Master of Martyrs) is a maqtal and historical book in Persian about Imam al-Husayn (a) and the event of Ashura'. It is written with the cooperation of a group of researchers in history under the supervision of Mahdi Pishwai.
Authors tried to compile issues in different authentic maqtals in this book. In addition to offering a comprehensive maqtal, this book has studied issues such as writing maqtal, historiography of Ashura', philosophy of the uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a), historical course of mourning for Imam al-Husayn (a) and the biographies of the companions of Imam al-Husayn (a).
Authors
This book is a research product of a group of historians in seminary and university written under supervision of Mahdi Pishwai. He has written many books and articles about the history of Islam, history of Imams of the Shi'a and their companions. He is also the author of Sira-yi pishwayan.
Goal of Writing
In the introduction of the book, Mahdi Pishwai wrote that he always wished to write a comprehensive authentic maqtal based on scientific standards of historiography, pure from distortions and fitting the needs of present with a new approach and narration. In his view, showing distortions and criticizing available maqtals is not sufficient for removing distortions from the event of Ashura' and it is also needed to present an authentic text in this regard. He believes that this book fulfills the mentioned need.
Writing Approach
According to the report of Mahdi Pishwai, in compilation of this book, all old and recent maqtals and most important new maqtals have been reviewed. He says that writing each of the chapters of the book was assigned to one researcher based on his competence and study background. After writing each chapter, the research manager and then the members of the scientific council sent back the points which required correction or completion to the author of that chapter.
In the next step, a scientific assistant matched all transmitted texts with original sources and carefully reviewed translations regarding their accuracy and loyalty to the source texts. Finally, in order to achieve certainty, the book was presented to some great scholars of the seminary of Qom and their scientific views were observed and applied to the work.
Features
Muhammad Husayn Rajabi Dawani considered this book a notable scientific work which not only discussed the issues on the day of Ashura, but also answered many questions. He considered studying true roots of the event of Ashura' and the destinies of the companions of Imam al-Husayn (a) among other positive features of this book.
Mahdi Pishwai too considered the comprehensive, complete and authentic report, focusing on the needs and questions and observing standards of scientific historiography among the features of this maqtal.
In the bibliography of the first volume, 544 books and fifteen articles are listed which shows the multitude of the sources used.
Another feature of the book is observing issues which are not usually seen in most maqtals such as:
- Political, social and cultural roots of the event of Ashura'
- Philosophy of the uprising of Imam al-Husayn (a)
- Philosophy of mourning
- Historical course of mourning for Imam al-Husayn (a)
- Questions issued regarding the event of Ashura'
- Biographies of the companions of Imam al-Husayn (a)
References
- The material for this article is mainly taken from تاریخ قیام و مقتل جامع سید الشهدا (کتاب) in Farsi WikiShia.