Month: March 2020

Seyyid Abd al-Azim al-Hasani

Seyyid ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Ḥasanī – His Life, Transmitted Traditions, Milieu, Authorities and Students By Āyatullah al-Shaykh Jaʿfar al-Subḥānī Translation and Detailed Annotations by Afzal Sumar I used to visit the grave of our master ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Ḥasanī occasionally and whenever good fortune permitted me, for he was one of the descendants of the eldest grandson … Read more

Biʿthat and Guidance

وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ [42:52] …and indeed you guide to a straight path The 27th of Rajab is considered to be the day the Prophet (p) received the first revelation in the cave of Hira and marks the beginning of his (p) prophethood – the biʿthat. While prophethood is the most important subject of … Read more

A New Approach to Authenticating Shia Hadith – The Bahth al-Fihristi

Originally posted on Shiitic Studies. What is Fihrist? Why Fihrist? Most readers will possess a rudimentary understanding of Rijal (or Ilm al-Rijal), the discipline in which the status of a narrator is studied in order to evaluate whether his reports should be accepted or not. Much less is known about the Faharis (sing. Fihrist) – the name given to works composed by early … Read more

What Islamic Medicine?

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, proponents of the so-called Ṭibb Islāmī (Islamic medicine – not to be confused with “traditional” medicine) have been actively using it as an opportunity to propagate their misinformation. Just a couple of days ago a certain proponent of Ṭibb Islāmī by the name of Taqīniyā interrupted a meeting … Read more

Plague and Pestilence in Safavid and Qajar Iran

The recent Covid-19 outbreak has caused a lot of discussion and debate amongst Iranians and non-Iranians on the nature of the disease and on the methods of containing it. Amongst the laity, some of these opinions range from extreme conspiracy theory level material to solutions being offered by pseudo-health experts wearing the garb of scholars, … Read more