Al-Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani

The tomb of al-Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani

Al-Sayyid Hāshim al-Tūbilī al-Baḥrānī (السید هاشم التوبلی البحرانی) (b.1050/1640 - d.1107/1696) known as al-'Allama al-Bahrani is from Bahrain and is one of Shi'a faqihs, hadith scholars and exegetes in 11/17 century. He had the religious and social authority of Bahrain people.

The exegetic book of Al-Burhan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an belongs to him. al-Hurr al-'Amili the writer of the Wasa'il al-Shi'a is one of his students.

He passed away in 1107/1696 in Tubli and buried in Matini cemetery.

Family and birth

His full name is Hashim b. Solayman b. Isma'il al-Husayni al-Tubli. He is a descendant of Sayyid Murtida al-'Alam al-Huda and through him, the family tree of al-'Allama al-Bahrani reaches to Imam Kazim (a). al-'Allama al-Bahrani born in "Gatkan", a village of Tubli, the capital of Bahrain in the time. His year of birth was about 1050/1640.

Education and teachers

There isn’t any information about his education. Also there is no information about his teachers, among them just some of scholars who gave him permission to transmit hadith are known. It seems that he had most of his education in his native land, and had some travels to Najaf and Mashhad. In Mashhad he went to 'Abd al-'Azim b. 'Abbas Astarabadi the akhbari scholar and one of students of Shaykh Baha'i and obtained a permission to transmit hadith from him, according to his book this was before 1074/1664. In his travel to Najaf he obtained a to transmit hadith from Shaykh Fakhr al-Din Torayhi Rammahi. According to his book al-Burhan his chain of masters (mashyikh) reaches to al-Shaykh al-Kulayni, al-Shaykh al-Saduq and al-Shaykh al-Toosi.

Religious and social status

He had a special social status and after the demise of the great religious authority of the time, Muhammad b. Majid al-Mahuzi, he gained the religious authority of Bahrain in addition to writing and teaching. Al-Bahrani was a judge and in charge of hisbiyya affairs and was managing social matters and pursuing issues of oppressed people. His confrontation the kings of Bahrain and his fight with injustice and plunder and his resistance on enjoining the good and forbidding the evil made him very popular.

Scientific status

According to his works, he belongs to Akhbari School. His emphasis on learning all of religious knowledge from Ahl al-Bayt in the al-Burhan indicates his point of view.

Al-Bahrani had been teaching until his demise. His effort in collecting the old hadith books is rare among Shi'a scholars, Yusuf al-Bahrani considers only al-'Allama al-Majlisi higher than him in this point, although unlike al-Majlisi, al-Bahrani was only collecting and transmitting hadith without any explanation or comment. Because of his numerous books (75 books according to Afandi Isfahani) and his vast information in various fields of religious knowledge, he is famous as 'Allama al-Bahrani.

Despite his numerous books and his social status as a marja', there’s not any fatwa book or definitive fiqh opinion in his books. This point made some to think that his fiqh knowledge, as the most important Islamic science, was little; but on the contrary, some believe that he refused to write a manual of Islamic law because of his god-wariness and instead, he reported other's fatwas in his books and when answering an istifta'; as this manner is precedent in the history of Shi'a fiqh.

Works

Al-Burhan fi al-tafsir al-Quran

'Allama al-Bahrani has many books, which number is said to be up to 75, but his published books are as follows:

• Al-Burhan fi tafsir al-Qur'an is one of the most important Shi'a exegesis with hadith, compiled in topics like stories, the prophet's hadiths, and most importantly virtues of Ahl al-Bayt (a) and their accordance to Qur'an verses.
• Tartib al-tahzib
• Hilya al-abrar fi ahwal Muhammad wa Alihi al-athar
• Ma'alim al-zulfa fi ma'arif al-nash'a al-'ula wa al-ukhra
• Bahja al-Nazar
• Ghaya al-maram wa hujja al-khisam fi ta'yin al-imam min tariq al-khass wa al-'am including Shi'a and Sunni hadiths about virtues of Imam 'Ali (a) and Ahl al-Bayt. This book translated to Farsi by Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Dizfuli with the name Kifaya al-khisam.
• Madina al-Ma'ajiz about miracles of twelve Imams.

Students

Some of his students are:

• al-Hurr al-'Amili
• Mahmud b. 'Abd al-Salam al-Ma'na al-Bahrani
• 'Ali b. 'Abd Allah b. Rashid al-Maqabi al-Bahrani
• Sulayman b. Abd Allah al-Satrawi al-Mahuzi
• Muhammad 'Attar al-Baghdadi
• Haykal b. 'Abd 'Ali al-Asadi al-Jazayiri
• Shaykh Hasan al-Bahrani

Also his two sons "'Isa" and "Muhsin" were scholars.

Demise

The tomb of al-Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani

'Allama al-Bahrani passed away in 1107/1696 or 1109/1698 and buried in Matini cemetery, Tubli, Bahrain. His tomb has been respected by scholars and ordinary people.

External Links

• The material for this article is mainly taken from سید هاشم بحرانی in Farsi Wikishia.