Nur al-absar fi manaqib Al Bayt al-Nabi al-mukhtar (book)
 | |
| Author | Mu'min b. al-Hasan al-Shablanji al-Shafi'i |
|---|---|
| Original title | (نورُ ألأبصار فی مَناقِبِ آلِ بَیتِ ألنّبی ألمُختار(ص |
| Language | Arabic |
| Subject | Virtues and excellence of Ahl al-Bayt (a) |
| Published | Qom |
| Publisher | Radi |
Nūr al-abṣār fī manāqib Āl Bayt al-Nabī al-mukhtār (s) (Arabic: (نورُ ألأبصار في مَناقِبِ آلِ بَيتِ النّبي ألمُختار(ص) is a book written by Mu'min b. al-Hasan al-Shablanji al-Shafi'i, a Sunni scholar of the 13th/19th century. The book is concerned with the lives of the Fourteen Infallibles (a). In this book, the author elaborated the virtues of some sadat and the leaders of the Four Sunni Schools of fiqh as well.
Author
Mu'min b. al-Hasan al-Shablanji al-Shafi'i is from the village, al-Shablanja, in Egypt. He was born around 1250/1834. After learning the Holy Qur'an from his father, he went to al-Azhar University and studied with scholars there. al-Shablanji was a well-known Sunni scholar in the early 14th/19th century.
Motivation for Writing
According to what the author says in the preface of the book, he had a problem in his eyes. So he appealed to al-Sayyida Nafisa and vowed that if his eyes are healed, he would collect remarks about the virtues of the Holy Prophet's (s) Ahl al-Bayt (a). Since his eyes were healed after a while, he fulfilled his vow and wrote this book.
Parts
Al-Shablanji structured the book, Nur al-absar, in four parts and an epilogue.
- Part one concerning the lives of the Holy Prophet (s) and the Four Caliphs.
- Part two concerning Imam al-Hasan (a), Imam al-Husayn (a), and the rest of the Twelve Imams (a).
- Part three concerning a group of the Prophet's (s) progeny whose mausoleums and mosques are located in Egypt.
- Part four concerning the leaders of the Four Sunni Schools of fiqh.
The epilogue is concerned with four qutbs, that is, central Sufi figures. By them, he means Ahmad al-Rifa'i, Abd al-Qadir al-Jayli, Ahmad al-Badawi, and Ibrahim al-Dasuqi all of whom were al-Husayni and al-Hasani Sayyids of the 6th/12th and 7th/13th centuries. They were prominent figures of the Shafi'i school and Sufism.
Contents
- Part one is a brief biography of the Prophet (s) and his words. Al-Shablanji cites some of his hadiths and refers to his sources by symbols. He then talks about the lives of the Holy Prophet's (s) relatives. He goes on to give a brief biography of the three caliphs and a more detailed elaboration of Imam Ali's (a) caliphate, virtues, and remarks.
- Part two is about Shiite Imams from al-Hasan b. 'Ali (a) to Imam al-Mahdi (a). He provides a biography of these Imams (a) as well as their virtues.
- Part three is concerned with biographies of people such as Sukayna bt. al-Husayn (a), Ruqayya bt. 'Ali (a), Zaynab bt. 'Ali (a), Fatima bt. al-Husayn (a), A'isha bt. Ja'far al-Sadiq (a), al-Sayyida Nafisa, from the progeny of Imam al-Hasan (a), Fatima bt. al-Rida (a), and other Sayyids whose mausoleums are allegedly located in Egypt.
- Part four is concerned with the four leaders of the Sunni fiqh: Abu Hanifa, Malik b. Anas, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad b. Hanbal.
Method of Writing
In the part regarding the virtues of the Imams (a) that constitutes the bulk of the book, al-Shablanji cited the material without reference to his sources. However, he sometimes refers to his sources and the main narrators of the cited hadiths.
At the beginning of some chapters, the author starts with the phrase: “Some biographers said that…” and then goes on to the main issues. In general, he has cited the material of the book from others such as Ibn Sabbagh al-Maliki, Ibn al-Khashshab, Abu Nu'aym, and Ibn al-Jawzi.
It seems that parts of the book is cited from Shiite scholars who wrote about the Imams (a).
References
- The material for this article has been mainly taken from نور الابصار فی مناقب آل بیت النبی المختار in Farsi WikiShia.