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Muhammad bin al-Husayn al-Musawi | |
|---|---|
الشريف الرضي محمد بن الحسين الموسوي | |
 Tomb of Sayyid al-Radi inBaghdad | |
| Title | al-Sharif al-Radi |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 970 Baghdad, Iraq |
| Died | 1015 (aged 44–45) |
| Era | Islamic golden age |
| Main interest(s) | Tafsir,Arabic literature |
| Notable work(s) | Peak of Eloquence (collection ofImam Ali quotations) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Shia |
| Jurisprudence | Ja'fari |
| Creed | Twelver |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced by | |
Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad bin al-Ḥusayn bin Mūsā al-Abrash al-Mūsawī (Arabic:ابو الحسن محمد بن الحسين بن موسى الأبرش الموسوي; 970 – 1015), also known asal-Sharīf al-Raḍī (Arabic:الشريف الرضي) was an IraqiShiascholar andpoet.
Al-Radi wrote several books on Islamic issues andinterpretation of theQuran. His most well-known book isNahj al-Balagha.[1][2]
His elder brotheral-Sharif al-Murtada was also a theologian and poet. His work is still published in the universities ofCairo andBeirut, and is part of the course ofArabic literature.[3]
Al-Radi's father,Abu Ahmad al-Husayn ibn Musa, was a descendant of Ibrahim al-Asghar, the son of the seventh Shia imam,Musa al-Kazim. There are also claims that he is the descendant ofIbrahim al-Mujab, the grandson of al-Kazim. His mother was the granddaughter ofHasan al-Utrush, a descendant of the fourth Shia imam,Ali Zayn al-Abidin. For this reason, he was also known asthil hasabayn (the possessor of two lineages), since he relates back to theAhl al-Bayt paternally and maternally.[citation needed]
Al-Radi was born in 970 in the Abbasid capital,Baghdad, and died in 1015 in his hometown. His grave is located inKadhimiya, Baghdad. Al-Radi was the third of four children, having two sisters and a brother. For a long time, his father, Husayn, occupied the post ofnaqib of the Talibids of Iraq. After his father's death, he took the post.
Al-Radi's family was affluent, as his mother Fatima inherited a good fortune from her father. She sponsored the family when the property of her husband was confiscated by the Buyid prince'Adud al-Dawla.
After al-Radi completed primary education, his mother took her two sons toal-Shaykh al-Mufid for their education. He started teaching at the young age of 17 when he was himself studying. In addition to al-Mufid, he also studied Arabic under Abu Sa'id al-Hasan ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Marzban al-Sirafi, an expert in Arabic language and literature. His teacher infiqh was Muhammad ibn al-Abbas al-Khwarizmi.[4]
He also founded a school namedDar ul'Ilm (Arabic:دار العلم, literallyHouse of knowledge) in which he trained many students.
In al-Radi's lifetime, Abbasid rulers of Baghdad were at war with theFatimid Caliphate ofEgypt, and attempted to have all important Sunni and Shia figures sign amahzur (public attestation decree) in favour of the legitimacy of war with the Egyptian rulers; al-Radi, his father, and brother were also coerced to sign it, but refused to sign.[5] He devoted twenty years of his life in compilingNahj al-Balaghah, and traveled to many libraries to collect texts that had recorded the lectures, letters, and sayings thatAli had written or delivered on different occasions.[6][7]
TheNahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence) is considered a masterpiece of literature in Shia Islam.[citation needed] The book is a collection of sermons, precepts, prayers, epistles, and aphorisms of Ali and compiled by al-Radi in the tenth century.[8][9] As the reference material came to his attention at different times, the materials have no chronological sequence with respect to content or topic.[10] A number of his contemporaries wrote commentaries on al-Radi's compilation.
Ali's sermons were compiled, read, and taught before al-Radi was born.[11] The services of al-Radi are now regarded as significant in the philosophy ofmonotheism.[12]
Collected sermons in the Nahj al-Balagha mainly cover Islam and the Quran; humans and humanity; theology and metaphysics; path and worship, including prayers; social justice and administration; wisdom and admonition; prophecies; philosophy and critique over contemporary society; Ahl al-Bayt; and piety and the afterlife.[13][14]
However, critics of theNahj al-Balagha generally raise two objections: they claim that al-Murtada is the actual author, and most of the contents are falsely attributed to Ali.[15]
Some historians believe al-Radi died at 47 years of age on the sixth ofMuharram, 406 A.H (1015 AD), while others his death at 45 years of age in 404Hijri (1013 AD). His funeral prayer was performed byFakhr al-Mulk, thenvizier in the kingdom ofSultan al-Dawla.
Abu Ahmad Adnan was the only son of al-Radi. His son was also a prominent scholar of his time and after death of his uncle the official post of Naqib al-Nuqqab was entrawarded to his grandfather. Adnan died without progeny in 449Hijri Calendar, and consequently the physical line of al-Radi came to an end.[16][17][18]
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