Jamal al-Din Khwansari: Difference between revisions

| Well known relatives  = [[Aqa Husain Khwansari]]

Aqa Jamal was a son of Aqa Husayn al-Khwansari and a scholar from the Khwansari household whose lineage traces back to [[Imam Kazim (a)]]. His birth date is not known, but since Afandi mentioned that his father stayed in [[Isfahan]], probably he was born in Isfahan. According to Nasrabadi and Khwansari, Aqa Husayn migrated to Isfahan before his maturity. His name was Muhammad, but he was known as Aqa Jamal. [[‘Abd Allah Mamaqani]] took his year of death to be 1121 A.H. (1709), but it does not seem right. He was buried in his father’s mausoleum—built by [[Shah Sulayman al-Safawi]] in [[Takht-i Fulad]] of Isfahan.

Aqa Jamal studied in [[Isfahan]] with his father, Aqa Husayn Muqaqqiq al-Khwansari, his uncle Muhaqqiq al-Sabzewari, the author of Dhakhirat al-ma’ad fi sharh al-irshad, and [[Muhammad Taqi Majlisi]], and he later started teaching there.

Aqa Jamal was considered as a prominent scholar and teacher in Isfahan, which is why he was the head of the seminary school of Isfahan. Scholars such as [[Muhammad Akmal al-Isfahani]] and [[Mull Rafi’ al-Mashhadi]] were his students.

He is said to have had a permission to narrate hadiths from Mulla Muhammad Taqi Majlisi. [[Al-Muhaqqiq al-Ardabili]] considered him as a prominent narrator of [[fiqh]] (the Islamic jurisprudence). [[Shaykh Yusuf al-Bahrani]], the author of [[al-Hada’iq al-nadira]], mentioned him as one of his masters in the narration of hadiths.

Aqa Jamal wrote some work, some of which were published and almost all of them are available in libraries (in [[Iran]] or outside Iran). His most popular book is [[Kulthum nana]] or ‘Aqa’id al-nisa’. This is a humoristic book that criticizes laypeople’s approach to religiosity or piety and in particular women’s ill-founded religious beliefs in the [[Safavid]] period. The book counts as the oldest written document concerning the moral codes, manners and conducts of Iranian laywomen in that period. The book was written in order to combat superstitious beliefs. It has been translated into English, French and Turkish.

Aqa Jamal was highly respected by the [[Safavid]] kings. Concerning his relationships with the Safavid government, mention could be made of his attendance in [[Sultan Husayn al-Safawi]]’s enthroning ceremony, his advising the king to select the appropriate person for the position of Shaykh al-Islam in Isfahan in 1115 A.H. (1703) leading to the selection of [[Mir Muhammad Salih Khatunabadi]], his accompanying Sultan Husayn, together with Muhammad Baqir Khatunabadi, in his travel to [[Mashhad]] in 1119 A.H. (1707), and receiving a robe from the king in 1120 A.H. (1708). He also worked as a judge for a while and said prayers for the corpse of [[‘Allama Majlisi]].