Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Qattan al-Qummi

Priority: c, Quality: b
From wikishia
Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Qattan al-Qummi
Full NameMuhammad b. Ahmad al-Qattan al-Qummi
Companion ofImam al-Hasan al-'Askari
TeknonymAbu Ja'far
Well Known Asal-Qattan and al-'Attar
Place of BirthQom
Place(s) of ResidenceQom, Baghdad


Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Jaʿfar al-Qaṭṭān al-Qummī (Arabic: مُحَمَّد بن أَحمَد بن جَعفَر القَطّان القُمّی) was a prominent deputy and assistant of the 'Uthman b. Sa'id and Muhammad b. 'Uthman, the first and the second deputies of Imam al-Mahdi (a) during the Minor Occultation. According to al-Shaykh al-Tusi, he was a companion of Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a) and had also met Imam al-Hadi (a), and according to al-Shaykh al-Saduq, he also met Imam al-Mahdi (a).

Birth

In hadiths, he is known as "al-Qummi" which might point to where he was born and raised (that is, Qom). During the Minor Occultation, he resided in Baghdad. His title was "Qaṭṭān"[1] (cotton seller) and also "ʿAṭṭār"[2] (perfume seller) that refer to his occupation. His teknonym was Abu Ja'far.[3]

In the Presence of Three Imams

Al-Shaykh al-Tusi referred to him as a companion and deputy of Imam Hasan al-'Askari (a), adding that he had also met Imam al-Hadi (a).[4] And al-Shaykh al-Saduq mentioned him among those deputies in Baghdad who managed to meet Imam al-Mahdi (a).[5]

According to Rijal al-Kashshi, there is a hadith from Ahmad b. Ibrhaim al-Maraghi about Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Qattan al-Qummi according to which: 'there is no third person closer than him to the origin, Imam al-Mahdi (a).[6] This shows his closeness to Imam (a).

As a Deputy

On some accounts, Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Qattan was one of the main deputies and a senior assistant of the first and second deputies in Baghdad, and sometimes Imam al-Mahdi (a) directly ordered him to go to him and deliver shari'a funds to him.[7]

Since his title is "al-Qummi", it seems that the area of his deputy and activity was Qom, but given some evidence, after the Minor Occultation, he moved to Baghdad and worked as a senior assistant of the first and second deputies of Imam al-Mahdi (a), together with Ahmad b. Ishaq and Hajiz b. Yazid al-Washsha'.[8] Al-Shaykh al-Saduq mentioned him among those deputies of Baghdad who managed to meet Imam al-Mahdi (a).[9]

Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Qattan had a high rank in the organization of deputies, and worked as the deputy of Imam al-Mahdi's (a) deputy, and as al-Shaykh al-Mufid's account shows,[10] his rank was so high that some Shi'as thought that he was the direct agent of Imam al-Mahdi (a).[11]

Some reports imply that he was a medium for correspondences between Shiites and Imam al-Mahdi (a), and an envoy of some Letters of Imam al-Mahdi (a).[12]

See Also

Notes

  1. Ṭabarī, Dalāʾil al-imāma, p. 523.
  2. Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 534.
  3. Ṭabarī, Dalāʾil al-imāma, p. 523.
  4. Ṭūsī, al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī, p. 436.
  5. Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, p. 442.
  6. Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 534.
  7. Ṭabarī, Dalāʾil al-imāma, p. 519-523; Rāwandī, al-Kharāʾij wa l-jarāʾiḥ, vol. 2, p. 702.
  8. Jabbārī, Sāzmān-i wikālat, vol. 2, p. 557.
  9. Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, p. 442.
  10. Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 2, p. 360.
  11. Jabbārī, Sāzmān-i wikālat, vol. 2, p. 559.
  12. Kashshī, Rijāl al-Kashshī, p. 534.

References

  • Jabbārī, Muḥammad Riḍā. Sāzmān-i wikālat. 4th edition. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Āmūzishī wa Pazhūhishī-yi Imām Khomeiniī, 1382 Sh.
  • Jāsim, Ḥusayn. Tārīkh-i sīyāsī-i ghaybat-i Imām dawāzdahum. Translated to Farsi by Muḥammad Taqī Āyatullāhī. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1367 Sh.
  • Kashshī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Ikhtīyār maʿrifat al-rijāl known as Rijāl al-Kashshī. Edited by Ḥasan Muṣṭafawī. Mashhad: Dānishgāh-i Mashhad, 1348 Sh.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1377 Sh.
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Irshād fī maʿrifat ḥujaj Allāh ʿalā l-ʿibād. Qom: Kungira-yi Shaykh al-Mufīd, 1413 AH.
  • Rāwandī, Saʿīd b. Hibat Allāh al-. Al-Kharāʾij wa l-jarāʾiḥ. Edited by Muʾassisat al-Imām al-Mahdī. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Imām al-Mahdī, 1409 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Kamāl al-dīn wa itmām al-niʿma. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom: Intishārāt-i Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn, 1426 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥaasn al-. Al-Rijāl al-Ṭūsī. Najaf: Maktabat al-Ḥaydariyya, 1380 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Dalāʾil al-imāma. Qom: Nashr-i Biʿthat, 1413 AH.