Muḥammad Zakī b. Ibrāhīm (Arabic: محمد زکی بن ابراهیم), also known as Khatib Kirmanshahi (Persian: خطیب کرمانشاهی), was a Shi'a preacher, litterateur, theologian, and jurist of 12th/18th century. His parents were Sunnis. He ran away from them when he was 8 and took refuge to Isma'il Khan, Hamadan's governor. Trained by Isma'il Khan, after passing educational levels, he was appointed as Shaykh al-Islam, Imam al-Jumu'a of Isfahan and Kermanshah. Many people were guided influenced by his sermons. In his later life he was appointed as the judge of the army by Nadir Shah's edict but after a while, he was killed by Nadir Shah's order after calumnies were made against him by close people to Shah.

Muhammad Zaki b. Ibrahim
Personal Information
Well-Known AsKhatib Kirmanshahi
ResidenceKermanshah
Death1159/1746-7
Scholarly Information
Worksal-Radd 'ala risalat nijasat ghayr al-Imami
Scholarly
Activities
Shaykh al-Islam, Imam al-Jum'a of Isfahan and Kermanshah


Change of Faith

Khatib Kirmanshahi's parents were Sunnis. He converted to Shi'a and fled to Isma'il Khan, the governor of Hamadan. Isma'il Khan accommodated him and assigned a teacher to train him.

Positions

After passing high levels of education, he was appointed as Shaykh al-Islam of Kermanshah and was put in charge of dealing with religious issues of that town. He was Imam al-Jum'a of Kermanshah and afterward of Isfahan.

After Nadir Shah saw his merits, appointed him as the judge of the army. It has been mentioned in the book Hadith Nadir Shahi that a person by the name Mirza Zaki was the reliable adviser of Nadir Shah. Apparently, the above mentioned person was Khatib Kirmanshahi.

Characteristics

Sayyid 'Abd Allah Jaza'iri and 'Abd al-Nabi Qazwini, who had accompanied him, admired his characteristic and scholarly position. Khatib Kirmanshahi was an expert preacher and many people were guided by his lectures.

Execution

In 1159/1746-7 he was killed by the edict of Nadir Shah due to accusations and calumnies made against him by Mulla Ali Madadi.

Amini has counted him among "Shuhada' al-fadila" (martyrs of virtues) of 12th /18th century.

Scholarly Works

The only work, that biographers have mentioned for him, is a book titled al-Radd 'ala risalat nijasat ghayr al-Imami which is a refutation of treatise about nijasa (impurity) of non-Imami Muslims and excluding them from Islam, which was written by Haydar 'Ali Shirvani. However, a manuscript of the book Tajwid al-Qur'an by his name had been preserved in Baqiryya seminary in Mashhad.

References