Masarr al-Shi'a (book)

Masārr al-Shīʿa fī mukhtaṣar tawārīkh al-sharīʿa

Author	al-Shaykh al-Mufid
Original title	مَسارُّ الشيعَة في مُختَصَرِ تَواريخ الشّريعَة
Language	Arabic
Subject	Historical-Religious Calendar of Events
Published	1414/1993-4, Beirut
Publisher	Dar al-Mufid

Masārr al-Shīʿa fī mukhtaṣar tawārīkh al-sharīʿa (Arabic: مَسارُّ الشيعَة في مُختَصَرِ تَواريخ الشّريعَة) is a book written by Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Nu'man al-Baghdadi, best known as al-Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 413/1022). The book is a historical-religious calendar containing the date of birth and martyrdom of the infallible Imams (a), important events in the history of Islam and other special occasions and dates in the Islamic calendar. This book is one of the earliest and most authentic historical sources of Shi'a.

Title

The book's title is reported as Masarr al-Shi'a fi mukhtasr tawarikh al-shari'a, in some sources it is mentioned as Tawarikh al-shar'iyya. Shaykh Mahdi Najaf, the scholar who studied and prepared the book for publishing, says at the beginning of the book: "the title of the book means 'celebrations and happy occasions of Shi'a in religion', but this contradicts with the content of the book as the author also talked about the sad and sorrowful occasions as well." He adds: "according to the introduction of the book, its title is Mukhtasr fi tarikh ayyam masarr al-Shi'a wa a'maliha min al-qurb fi l-shari'a wa ma khalaf fi ma'nah which includes happy and sorrowful occasions and also the specific rituals of them."

Authenticity

This book is one of the earliest and most authentic historical Shi'a sources, which is written about knowing the date of special Islamic occasions and events.

Reason for Writing

Al-Shaykh al-Mufid writes in the introduction of the book:

"One of our teachers in narrative sciences had [written] a treatise on this topic, but it does not meet the need of the reader due to its brevity."

Method and Style of Writing

• The information is presented briefly: the author, al-Shaykh al-Mufid, relied on his books: al-Mazar, al-Irshad and al-Muqni'a, in reporting the events and incidents. However, in some cases such as the Event of Ghadir, Laylat al-Mabit he talked thoroughly and benefited form other sources.
• The book is arranged according to Islamic lunar calendar and starts from the month of Ramadan and ends with Sha'ban.
• After mentioning each day or event, the special wajib or mustahab ritual of it is mentioned based on reports and hadiths from Ahl al-Bayt (a).

Importance

This book is one of the few books whose original manuscript in the author's handwriting has survived. The published book has been proofread based on the original manuscript which was written in 389/998-9. Historically and philosophically, the book is regarded as one of the precious treasures of Islamic culture and civilization.