Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Tabari: Difference between revisions

'''Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Ṭabarī''', well known as '''ʿImād al-Dīn al-Ṭabarī''' was an [[imami]] scholar and [[muhaddith]] in 5th and 6th centuries. His pupils and narrators were Shadhan ibn Jibra'il Qumi, Ibn Butriq Hilli, Qutb al-Din Abu al-Husayn Rawandi, Muhammad ibn Mashhadi, and Arabi ibn Musafir 'Ibadi. The prominent book of his is Bisharat al-Mustafa li Shi'at al-Murtada.

Muntajab al-Din Razi mentions his name 'Imad al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali. He himself points out that his father's name was Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali. In printed text of Ma'alim al-'Ulama', written by Ibn Shahrashub, his father's name has been brought wrongly.

Even though the majority of sources have recorded his title 'Imad al-Din, his title is Jamal al-Din in a copy of Al-Fihrist written by Muntajab al-Din, which had been kept by Shaykh Hurr 'Amili.

There is no information about his exact birth, but regarding the city he was related to under the titles of Kajji Tabari and Tabari Amuli Kajji, it is said that he was born in Kajjah, a city between Amul and Chalus and a region from Ruyan which is well-known today as Kajjah.

Due to the documents and dates which Tabari has referred to in Bisharat al-Mustafa, his masters are known and it is possible to depict his travels. Based on these documents, Tabari travelled to Riy in 510, after obtaining knowledge in Amul until the year 509. A year later he travelled to Najaf and then returned to Amul. Since it is known that he was taught hadith by Abu Ishaq Isma'il ibn Abi al-Qasim Diylami in 520.

According to what Ibn Isfandiyar has written, Amir Ibn Warram ibn Abi Furas Hilli (death: 605) kept Tabari for two years in Hillah, and allocated a yearly pension to him. Meanwhile, shi'a Arabs from Baghdad and Kufa joined his circle-shaped teaching classes. Israndiyari also writes that Warram got married with Tabati's daughter.

His death date is not known. On the basis of Ibn Mashhadi's report, Tabari had been living in 'Ulwa Mashhad (Najaf) up to the year 553. Therefore, he was alive until that time.

Muhammad ibn Mashhadi and Ibn Butriq Hilli, of his pupils and narrators, mention his with titles like Al-Shaykh Al-Faqih Al-'Alim and Al-Shaykh Al-Faqih. Muntajab al-Din Razi, who narrated through somebody from Tabari, named him Al-Shaykh Al-Imam, and has praised him because of fiqahat and withaqat (means reliability). In seventh century, Ibn Isfandiyar called him Khawjah Imam and Faqih 'Al Muhammad.

# Sayyid Abu Talib Yahya ibn Muhammad Juwani Husayni Hasani Amuli, in Amul in 509

# Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Husayn ibn Babwiyah Razi, in Riy in 510

# Abu al-Najm Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn 'Isa Razi, in Riy in 510

# Abu 'Ali Hasan ibn Muhammad Tusi, in Najaf in 510 and 511

# Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Shahriyar Khazin, in Najaf in 512, 514, and 516

# Abu al-Baqa' Ibrahim ibn Husayn Basri, in Najaf in 516

# Sharif Abu al-Barakat 'Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Hamza Husayni Kufi, a ziydiyyah scholar, in Kufa in 512 and 516

# Abu Ghalib Sa'id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad Thaqafi Kufi, in Kufa in 516

# Abu 'Ali Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Qarwash Tamimi, in Najaf in 516

# Abu Muhammad Jabbar ibn 'Ali ibn Ja'far Razi, in Najaf in 516

# Abu Ishaq Isma'il ibn Abi al-Qasim ibn Ahmad Diylami, in Amul in 520

# Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Abi al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Abd al-Samad Tamimi, in Niyshbur in 524

# Tabari also has brought some hadiths through his father's narration Abu al-Qasim 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali, without mentioning the date, or through Wajadah's narration from his hand-written book, in Bisharat al-Mustafa

# Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Husay9an ibn Babwiyyah in 510, in his khanqah, in Riy, and Abu 'Ali Tusi in 511, in Imam 'Ali (a)'s mashhad in Najaf, have written a permission for narration for Tabari.

# Tabari also has written some hadiths from Abu Muhammad Hasan ibn Husayn ibn Babwiyyah, from the original book of his, then has read to his offspring.

# Among his masters, seemingly his major education had been by Abu 'Ali Tusi. As he has brought many hadiths by Tusi narration in his book and has praised him.

Regarding this fact that Tabari was counted as one of Shaykh Tusi's pupils through Abu 'Ali Tusi and others, his opinion about the state of uncertainty of khabar wahid (a hadith which is narrated by people whose number does not reach that of mutawatir one), which is against the well-known idea of Shaykh Tusi is worth attention.

Of his pupils and narrators are: Shadhan ibn Jibra'il Qumi, Ibn Butriq Hilli, Qutb al-Din Abu al-Husayn Rawandi, Muhammad ibn Mashhadi, and Arabi ibn Musafir 'Ibadi. In addition to these, according to Muhammad Taqi Majlisi, Ibn Shahrashub and Ibn Idris Hilli have narrated Sahifah Sjjadiyah through Tabari.

'''Bisharat Al-Mustafa'''

Bisharat al-Mustafa is his most prominent book in which very precious discourses of the prophet's hadith are discussed, and the superiority and rightfulness of shi'a are proven in it through prophet's speech. Along with these hadiths, very good poems are applied due to various occasions in order to mention the goodness and superiority of Imams and to scold their enemies.