The 100 Greatest Muslims (2022): 86 - Muhammad Baqir Majlisi, The 17th Century Iranian Twelver Shia Scholar Who Became Author of the 110 Volume "Oceans of Light"

86

Muhammad Baqir Majlisi

Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (Mohammad Baqer Majlesi) (b. 1037 AH/1628-29 CC – d. 1110 AH/1699 CC) was a renowned and very powerful Iranian Twelver Shia scholar and thinker during the Safavid era. He was one of the most powerful and influential Shi'a ulema of all time, whose policies and actions reoriented Twelver Shi'ism in the direction that it was to develop from his day forward.

Born in Isfahan in 1617, Muhammad's father, Mulla Mohammad Taqi Majlesi (Majlesi-ye Awwal—Majlesi the First, 1594 CC - 1660 CC), was a cleric of Islamic jurisprudence. 

By the age of 25, Muhammad Baqir Majlisi gained certification of "riwayat" from Mulla Sadra to teach. He is said to have completed studies under 21 masters (ustadh). He is reported to have trained 181 students to become masters themselves.

In 1687, the Safavid King, Sultan Husayn, appointed Majlisi as Sheikh ul-Islam (Chief Religious Leader of the land) in Isfahan, the capital of the Persian Empire. In this influential position, he was given a free hand by the Sultan to encourage and to punish as he saw fit. The three inter-related areas in which Majlisi exerted his efforts were the suppression of Sufism, mystical philosophies, philosophic views known as Falsafah that he claimed were contrary to Islam and the suppression of Sunnism and other religious groups.

Majlisi's era marked a breaking point, as he successfully undercut the influence of Sufism and philosophic rationalism in Shiism. Up to the time of Majlisi, Shiism and Sufism were closely linked and indeed Sufism had been a vehicle for pro-Shii sentiment among the Sunnis. Even the most eminent members of the Shii ulama in the preceding centuries had come under the influence of Sufiism. After the death of Majlisi, this process continued among the succeeding generations of ulama so that Sufism became divorced from Shiism and ceased to influence the mainstream of Shii development. Philosophy was also down-graded and ceased to be an important part of studies at the religious colleges.

Majlisi also re-established clerical authority under his leadership, and renewed the impetus for conversion from Sunni to Shi'a school.  Majlisi is credited with propagating numerous Shi'a rituals that Iranians regularly practice, such as mourning ceremonies for the fallen Twelve Imams particularly the martyrdom of Husayn ibn 'Ali at Karbala, and pilgrimages to shrines of imams and their families.

Majlisi fervently upheld the concepts of 'enjoining the good' and prohibiting evil, and in so doing endeavored to provide fatwa (judgments) for all of the hypothetical situations a true believer could or might face. In one exposition of virtues of proper behavior, he gave directions on everything from how to wear clothes to sexual intercourse and association with females, clipping fingernails, sleeping, waking, urination and defecation, enemas, sneezing, entering and leaving a domicile, and treatments and cures for many illnesses and diseases.

More controversially, Majlisi defined "science" very narrowly as knowledge of the clear, secure ayat; of the religious duties and obligations which God has fixed in His Justice; and of the Prophetic Traditions (Hadith), which are valid until the day of Resurrection.  Beyond this, Majlisi warned, the seeking of knowledge is a waste of one's life, and worse would generally lead to apostasy and heresy, in which case the likelihood of salvation is remote. He opposed the school of mystical philosophy developed by Mir Damad and Mulla Sadra,  who argued that the Qur'an was always open to reinterpretation, and valued insights that came from intuition and ecstasy rather than reason.

Muhammad Baqir Majlisi was buried next to his father in a family mausoleum located next to the Jame Mosque of Isfahan. 

Majlisi's most important field of interest was the hadith. He popularized his teaching by writing numerous works in an easily understandable style, in which he summarized the essential doctrines for the common people.  Majlisi was also a very prolific writer. He wrote more than 100 books, both in Arabic and Persian. Some of his more famous works are:

• Bihar al-Anwar ("Seas of Light" or "Oceans of Light") in 110 volumes
• Reality of Certainty
• Mirror of Intellects, a 26 volume commentary.  
• Shelter of the Upright People, a 16-volume commentary.
• Provisions for the Hereafter
• A Gift for the Pilgrims
• Essence of Life
• Adornment of the Pious
• Al-Fara'edh al-Tarifah

Majlisi's Bihar al-Anwar may well be the longest book in Islamic history.  A twentieth century edition fills 110 volumes of about 400 pages each. The author of Bihar al-Anwar, Muhammad Baqir Majlisi was born in Isfahan into a family of religious scholars.  After the death of his father, Majlisi assumed leadership of the Friday prayer in Isfahan and went on to become one of the most influential religious leaders in the Safavid Empire.  The Safavid Empire -- Safavid Iran -- stood between the Ottoman Empire of Anatolia and the Mughal Empire of India.  Safavid power was at its peak during Majlisi's lifetime, and Majlisi took full advantage of Shi'a court patronage to create a lasting legacy of unparalleled prominence and impact. 

As a youth, Majlisi became proficient in all of the religious sciences of his day, including jurisprudence, theology, philosophy, and mysticism.  However, Majlisi devoted most of his time to the study and collection of hadith, or the prophetic traditions -- reports of what the Prophet said, did, or silently affirmed.  As a Shi'a, Majlisi held traditions from the twelve imams who were viewed as the Prophet's successors in highest regard, second only to those from Muhammad.  

As Majlisi's studies took him more deeply into Shi'a hadith, he began to realize how many had been lost, suppressed, or forgotten over the centuries.  He, therefore, embarked upon writing his magnum opus, Bihar al-Anwar -- The Oceans of Light -- as a work of recuperation, an extraordinary attempt to recover, collect, and collate every worthy aspect of Shi'a hadith literature that Majlisi could.  Secretaries were pressed into service, sponsorship was sought, and every effort expended to ensure the success of this lifelong project.  An active life of teaching and other scholarly pursuits prevented Majlisi from finising Bihar al-Anwar, but he left notes and directions for its completion.

While Bihar al-Anwar is written in Arabic, Majlisi also produced smaller collections of traditions in Persian, eager to make this literature accessible to those who read only their own mother tongue.

The arrangement of Bihar al-Anwar draws on a wide range of material.  Following his own intellectual predilections, Majlisi tended to exclude hadith  that reflected philosophical or mystical leanings.  As a Shi'a, Majlisi included hadith that were critical of the first three caliphs, signaling his rejection of the foundational figures of Sunni Islam and thereby bolstering the Shi'a Safavids against their Ottoman Sunni rivals.  Appealing to a more popular audience, Majlisi inserted hadith that highlighted the miraculous nature and knowledge of the twelve Shi'a imams, despite the criticism of such stories by earlier Shi'a scholars.  

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Armstrong, Karen (2001). The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism, Random House, 2001, 

Esposito, John L. (1998). The Oxford History of Islam;  Oxford University Press.

Jenkins, Everett, Jr. (2000). The Muslim Diaspora: A Comprehensive Reference to the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, Volume 2, 1500-1799; Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland & Company, Inc.

Lapidus, Ira M. (2014).  A History of Islamic Societies; New York City, New York, Cambridge University Press. 

Meri, Josef W. (2005); Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia; New York, Routledge. 

Miles, Jack (general ed.) (2015).  The Norton Anthology of World Religions, New York City, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.{Hafez (Trans., Richard Le Gallienne). The Riddle of Life.}

Molavi, Afshin (2002). Persian Pilgrimages: Journeys Across Iran; New York City, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 

Momen, Moojan (1985), Introduction to Shi'i Islam; Yale University Press.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad-Baqer_Majlesi