Rida Hamadani Najafi

Rida Hamadani Najafi

Personal Information
Full Name	Aqa Rida b. Muhammad Hadi Najafi Hamadani
Well-Known As	al-Muhaqqia al-Hamadani
Religious Affiliation	Shia Islam
Birth	1250/1834-5
Place of Birth	Hamadan
Studied in	Seminary of Hamadan, Seminary of Najaf
Death	Safar 28, 1322/May 14,1904
Burial Place	Samarra, in the Shrine of al-'Askariyyayn
Scholarly Information
Professors	Al-Shaykh Murtada al-Ansari, Sayyid Muhammad Hasan Shirazi, Muhammad Taqi al-Shirazi
Students	Aqa Buzurg Tihrani, Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin, Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita'
Works	Dhakhirat al-ahkam, Commentary on al-Makasib

Riḍa Hamadānī al-Najafī (Arabic: آقارضا همدانی نجفی), known as al-Muḥaqqiq al-Hamadānī, (b. 1250/1834-5 - d. 1322/1904), was a Shi'a jurist of the thirteenth/nineteenth century. He was a close student of Mirza Shirazi in Samarra, and undertook the Shi'a authority after Mirza's death. Some of his fatwas and moral characteristics were well-known. He wrote works most of which are commentaries or annotations of works by other scholars. His essay of fatwas was Dhakhirat al-ahkam fi masa'il al-halal wa l-haram (remainder of rulings concerning issues of halal and haram). He is buried in the Shrine of al-'Askariyyayn.

Birth and Death

Aqa Rida was born around 1250/1834-5 in Hamadan.

Hamadani passed away in Safar 1322, May 1904 in Samarra at the age of seventy two. He was buried in the Shrine of al-'Askariyyayn opposite to the tomb of Hakima, the daughter of Imam al-Jawad (a).

Education

There is no precise information about his childhood. He probably did his preliminary educations in the Seminary of Hamadan, and then immigrated to Najaf, where he attended the lectures of al-Shaykh Murtada al-Ansari. He then attended the lectures of Mirza Shirazi, and began to gain a fame among scholars after writing his lecture notes..

Some Scholarly Views

• He believed that the criterion of reliability in the case of Khabar al-Wahid (a hadith transmitted by one or two people) is confidence about its issuance from the Imam. Thus, he agreed with [[[al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli]]'s view. He tried to concur with majority views, although he did not believe in reliability of fame or dissemination of fatwas.

• He believed that the book, al-Fiqh al-Radawi, is not valid, because the Golden Chain Hadith does not appear in it, notwithstanding its fame.

• In cleaning, he did not believe that mere connection of water to a large quantity of water or flowing water. Instead, he stipulated that there should fusion between them.

Teachers and Students

The best-known teachers of Hamadani are as follows:

• Al-Shaykh Murtada al-Ansari
• Sayyid Muhammad Hasan Shirazi
• Muhammad Taqi al-Shirazi
• Mirza Hasan b. Mirza Khalil Tehrani Najafi

He taught many students, many of whom were prominent scholars and figures, including:

• Aqa Buzurg Tihrani the author of Al-Dhari'a
• Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Amin the author of A'yan al-Shi'a,
• Shaykh Muhammad or Ahmad b. Husayn b. Muhammad Hasan Sahib Jawahir (d. 1344/1925-6)
• Shaykh Ali b. Baqir b. Sahib Jawahir
• Shaykh Ahmad Kashif al-Ghita'
• Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita' (d. 1373/1954)
• Shaykh Rida b. Muhammad Husayn b. Muhammad Baqir b. Muhammad Taqi, the author of Hidayat al-mustarshidin (d. 1362/1943)
• Shaykh Abd al-Husayn b. Muhammad Taqi Al Shaykh Asad Allah Kazimi
• Al-Sayyid Hasan al-Sadr (d. 1935), the author of Takmilat amal al-amil
• Hajj Muhammad Hasan Kabbat
• Sayyid Kamal al-Din, known as Mirza Aqa b. Amir Muhammad Ali Radawi Khorasani Dawlat Abadi (d. 1328/1910)
• Shaykh Ali b. Shaykh Nasrullah Hamadani (d. 1339/1920-1) Son-in-law of Aqa Rida Hamadani
• Shaykh Ali b. Shaykh Ibrahim Qummi (d. 1272/1855-6)
• Shaykh Abu l-Qasim b. Muhammad Taqi Qummi (d. 1353/1934-5)
• Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Muqaddas Tehrani
• Ali b. Husayn b. Turayhi al-Najafi (d. 1333/1914-5)
• Sayyid Ali b. Sayyid Mahmud (d. 1328/1910)
• Sayyid Mahdi b. Habib Allah Husayni Shirazi Ha'iri (d. 1380/1960-1)
• Hajj Mirza Baqir Tabataba'i (d. 1366/1947)
• Shaykh Ja'far b. Shaykh Radi
• Shaykh Ali al-Hilli
• Muhammad Jawad al-Balaghi
• Shaykh Husayn Mughniya al-'Amili
• Shaykh Munir 'Asiran Saydawi al-'Amili
• Sayyid Mashkur Taliqani
• Sayyid Yusuf b. Jawad Musawi al-'Amili Shahuri

Writings

1. Commentaries on Rasa'il, or al-Fawa'id al-Radawiyya 'ala al-fawa'id al-Murtadawiyya (Rida's points about Murtada's points)
2. An exposition of al-Shara'i', or Misbah al-faqih fi sharh shara'i' al-islam (the light of the jurist in the exposition of Shara'i' al-islam)
3. Commentaries on al-Makasib
4. Commentaries on Riyad
5. Lecture notes of Mirza Shirazi about transaction to the end of options (khiyarat) in one huge volume
6. Lecture notes of Mirza Shirazi about principles of jurisprudence
7. Dhakhirat al-ahkam fi masa'il al-halal wa l-haram (an essay of fatwas concerning worships, cleanliness, prayer, zakat, khums, and i'tikaf)
8. Commentaries on Nijat al-'ibad
9. Kitab al-tahara (the book of cleanliness)
10. Kitab al-salat (the book of prayer)
11. Kitab al-zakat (the book of zakat)

Religious Authority

After Mirza Shirazi's death in 1312/1895, when Aqa Rida was teaching and doing research in Najaf, he was consulted by people, and some scholars asked him to present his fatwas to his followers. Thus, he wrote commentaries and annotations on Nijat al-'ibad. However, he did not like responsibilities and headship, and he accepted this responsibility under pressures. Soon after that, he suffered from loss of memory, and thus, he refused to issue fatwas or accept religious payments, and became merely engaged in teaching.

Moral Characteristics

His moral characteristics are characterized in A'yan al-shi'a as follows:

"Aqa Rida taught morality and compliance with religious commands to people and his students not via speech, but through his own actions. Throughout his life, no one saw a small slippage or sin from him, and this remarkably influenced his students."

• No one ever heard him gossip or backbite someone else, and he never allowed anyone to backbite in his meetings. He broached scholarly issues so as to prevent others from backbiting. If students were talking about someone else, they would stop as soon as he entered.

• His was known for his simple life. His life, house, foods, and clothing did not change before and after he became a Shi'a authority. He personally bought provisions of his house. Early in his life he lived in a small house with poverty and hardship, and even after becoming a Shi'a authority, his life did not change.

• Although it was conventional at the time to carry lights in front of the houses of scholars and prominent figures, Aqa Rida refused to accept such formalities, and in nights and days he walked alone without an entourage.

• Another characteristics of his was humbleness. He sat with his students and close companions as though he they were equal. He avoided fame and exhibitionism. On days of Eid, he did not sit in his house to be visited by people.

• His clothing was so ascetic that no one could recognize that he was a Shi'a authority. When people visited him, he stood up from respect. Even while teaching, when a seminary student entered the room, he stood up while others were sitting.

The author of A'yan al-Shi'a says: "once I intended to visit Karbala on foot. Aqa Rida Hamadani told me, ‘I envy that you walk to visit Karbala. I wish I had enough power to walk there’."