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Abul-Hasan Muhammad ibn Al-Husayn Al-Musawi known in Arabic as al-Sharif al-Radi (Template:Lang-ar) and in Persian Sharif Razi (Template:Lang-ar) or Seyyed Razi (Template:Lang-ar) was a Shi'ite Muslim scholar and poet, born in 359 AH/970 CE in Baghdad and died in the year 406/1015 in his hometown. His grave is located in Kazmain, Iraq. Popularly he is known with his Laqub (nickname) Razi. He wrote several books on Islamic issues and interpretation of the Quran. His most famous book is Nahj al-Balaghah, a copy of its manuscript recorded in 1158 AD is preserved in the Raza Library established by Nawab Faizullah Khan of Rampur, India in 1774 AD .

Family and lineage

Razi was the third of total four children, two sisters and two brothers. Khadija and Zaynab were names of his two sisters. His younger sister was died in his lifetime, for which he lamented her death in a mournful elegy expressing deep sorrow. Father of Sharif Razi Abu Ahmed Husayn bin Musa held fifth position in line of descendant from the 7th Imam Musa al-Kazim, was died in 396 AH and buried in the shrine of Imam Husayn in Karbala. His father's family tree spreads as under:

(i) Husayn bin Musa (ii) bin Muhammad (iii) bin Musa (iv) bin Ibrahim Mujab (v) bin Imam Musa al-Kazim

Sayyid Razi's mother Fatimah also traced her lineage to the Prophet and was the daughter of Husayn bin Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Utrush bin Ali bin Hasan bin Umar al-Ashraf the son of the 4th Shia Imam, Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin. His forefathers were held in high respect by the people of Iraq also enjoyed great regards by Abbasid Caliphate and Buyid kings . His father, Abu Ahmad for a long time occupied the post of Naqib of the Talibiyyin, a position that empowered him to look after the affairs of the Prophet's descendants ( Sadat). His father was first appointed as Naqueeb and later as "Naqib al-Nuqaba" an official responsibility as a chief which required the managing of affairs of Sadat. After death of father, the portfolio "Naqib al-Nuqaba" of Iraq, was transferred to Sharif Razi who had already been assisting his father in his official duties.

His family was well to-do from paternal and maternal side. His mother Fatima inherited a good fortune from her father. She sponsored the family when property of her husband was confiscated by the Buyid prince Adud al-Dawla. She used to help people who suffered hardships and patronized her relatives. Her interest in theology was respected by theologian Shaikh Mufid.

His elder brother Sayyid Murtadhā, popularly known with his nick name Alum-ul-Hudda was also a great theologian and poet. His work is still published in the universities of Cairo and Beirut and form part of the course of Arabic literature.

Education and teaching

Upon completion of primary stage mother of two brothers, al-Murtaza and al-Razi took her two sons to Shaykh al-Mufid for their education. He started teaching at the young age of 17 when he was himself studying. He completed his education at the age of twenty from different teachers. Most of his teachers were eminent scholars and writers of Arabic. Due to climate of tolerance governing the era Shia and Sunni students used to attend classes of teachers belonging to different sects, that is why many of the teachers of Sharif Razi were Sunni and Mu'tazili e.g. (i) Abu 'Ali al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Farsi (307-77/919-87) belonged Mutazili school (ii) Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Tabari (d. 393/1002-3), follower of Maliki school). In addition to his Master al-Mufid, he also studied Arabic language and grammar under Abu Sa'id al-Hasan ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Marzban al-Sirafi (284-368/897-979), an expert of Arabic language and literature. His teacher in fiqh, was Muhammad ibn al-Abbas al-Khwarizmi (d. 383/993) .

He also founded a school named Dar ul'Ilm (Template:Lang-ar, literally House of knowledge) in which he trained many students some of them later became scholars.

Character and literary status

Syed Razi was not an unknown man of his times. He occupied responsible positions both secular as well as religious. Since his childhood he demonstrated himself an eager student of learning and acquiring Islamic Sciences of his time and applied his life span as a man of principle and collector of wisdom from literature. He possessed superior and well mannered character with free will based on piety. In his life time Abbasid rulers of Baghdad were on war with Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt and by hook and cook attempted to have all Sunni and Shia important figures to sign a Mahzur (public attestation decree) in favor of their legitimacy of war with Egyptian rulers. Sharif Razi, his father and brother were also asked forcefully to sign it. But Sayyid Razi refused to sign this Mahzur at the cost of loosing political privilege and official status of his family, even many a times he refused to accept financial support from the ruling kings in order to save himself from undue government influence . He devoted twenty years of his life in compiling Nahj al-Balaghah, and travelled to hundreds of libraries to collect texts that had recorded the lectures, letters, and sayings that Ali had written or delivered on different occasions. However, Nahj al-Balaghah does not contain all of Ali’s speeches, it is the most complete of any book to date. His life reflects the quote he has compiled in his compilation (Nahj al-Balagha) that Muslims are our brothers in faith; those who are non-Muslims are our brethren in creation .

He was a scholar, a poet and a man of cultivated taste. Al-Tha’alibi, his well known contemporary regarded Syed Razi the most remarkable man among scholars of his time and the noblest amongst the Sayyids of Iraq. He was the most remarkable poet among the descendants of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, though there were many distinguished poets during Golden age of Abbasid & Fatimid caliphs .

Works

Sayyid Razi was an outstanding Arabic poet and a literary genius, besides Peak of Eloquence and his poetry, nearly 40 books are placed at his credit, covering the subjects of commentaries of Holy Quran, religion thoughts, philosophy and Arabic literature, few names from his books are:

• Talkhis al-Bayan an Majazat al-Quran
• Al-Majazatul nabaweyyah
• Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil fi Mutashabih al-Tanzil
• Ma'ani al-Quran
• Khasais of Al Aemmah

The Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence) is considered a masterpiece of literature in Shia Islam. The Book is a collection of sermons, precepts, prayers, epistles and aphorisms of Imam Ali compiled by Sayyid Radi in the tenth century. The Nahj al-Balagh literary means peak or way of eloquence, it comprises wide variety of topics ranging from the creation of the Universe, the creation of first man and end of universe. This compilation placed the Sharif Razi unprecedented in the list of Shia scholars . Syed Razi had inserted every sentence in the same form as he found it, so that the writing should not suffer any inter meddling. He kept himself refrained from applying own approach of writing or expression. In his compilation work he only did classification of collected materials into sermons, letters and sayings of Imam Ali. As the reference material came to his attention at different times, the extracted materials had no chronological sequence according to content or topic. He died just after five years of his compiled book Nahjul Balagha, his compilation promptly gained the popularity even in his life time . A number of his contemporaries started writing commentaries on the compilation of Sayyid Razi, this work of commenting on the text and interpretation of meaning of the words used by Ali Ibn Abi Talib and the historical events mentioned therein is continued till today. A renowned Lebanese Christian scholar George Jordac reveals that he has repeatedly studied the Peak of Eloquence up to 200 times.

Extent and scope of compilation

The sermons of Imam Ali were compiled, read and taught long before Sayyid Razi was born. The compilation of Nahj al-Balagha was a holy job for Sharif Razi and he accomplished the duty with dedication and carefulness. During his collection he had been so cautious and left no lacuna refraining himself from adding or subtracting a singular word beyond the text he obtained from the scattered Islamic literature. Even the sermons he received in divided portions were placed in compilation without joining the pieces into a continuous part. This incoherent scripture was criticized by a number of critics. The sincere services of Sharif Razi are now regarded as last word on the philosophy of monotheism . Above 30 writers with name of their books/compilations are generally discussed while compilation work of Nahj al-Balagha is scrutinized e.g.

(i) Ibn Nadeem and his book Kitabul Jumal

(ii) Ibn Qutayba Daynawari and his book Uyunul Akhbbar

(iii) Imam Hakim and his book al-Mustadarak

(iv) Shaikh Mufid and his book al-Irshad; etc

Collected sermons in the Nahj al-balagha mainly reflects the coverage of topics (i) Islam and the Quran (ii) Human and humanity (iii) Theology and metaphysics (iv) Path and worship, including prayers (v) Social justice and administration (vi) Wisdom and admonition (vii) Prophecies (viii) Philosophy and critique over contemporary society (ix) Ahl-ul-Bait (x) piety and afterworld . Many a research scholars, including Doctoral candidates, in the modern age have presented their theses and published in the journals of different countries . The book compiled by Sharif Razi has also been quoted by the UN Secretary General as a role model of governance in the year 2002 during a meeting of the Arab Development Fund .

However, critics of Nahj al-Balagha generally raise two objections over compilation of Sharif Razi

• Firstly they claim that Sayyid Murtaza (the elder brother of Sharif Razi) is its author; and
• secondly they allege that most of the contents of this unique book are forged and falsely attributed to Imam Ali

Ibn Khallikan seems to have been the first to raise doubts on its authenticity. The majority of later writers, beginning with Dhahabi in Mizan al-Itidal, Ibn Hajar in Lisan al-Mizan, Haji Khalifa in Kashf al-Zunun, etc. have in their turn revived these suspicions.

Various commentators and researchers have examined the authenticity of objections and concluded that had al-Sharif al-Radi not collected that which he selected from among the sermons and words of the Imam Ali in Nahj al-Balaghah, we would have been definitely deprived thereof as well . The Urdu translator of Nahjul Balagha Syed Zeeshan Haider Jawadi has compiled a list of 61 books and name of their writers from 204 to 488 AH, in negation of above mentioned two objections and pointed the sources in which compilation work of Sharif Razi can be traced out.

Offspring and death

A number of writers traced the death of Razi at 47 years on 6th of Mohurram 406 A.H (1015 AD), whereas some historians recorded his age 45 years and death in 404 Hijri (1013 AD). His funeral prayer was performed by the Abu Ghalib Fukhrul Mulk then Prime Minister in the kingdom of Sultan al-Dawla.

Abu Ahmed Adnan was the only son of Sayyid Razi. His son was also a prominent scholar of his time and after death of his uncle the official post of Naqib al-Nuqqab was entrusted to son of Sharif Razi by the Buyid king and awarded the title of “Taher Dhu al-Manaqeb” previously medaled to his grandfather. Adnan died issueless in 449 Hijri Calendar, consequently physical line of Sayyid Razi came to an end. However, Sayyid Razi holds unforgettable fame in view of his precious and matchless work by compiling Nahj al-Balagha .

See also

• Shaykh al-Mufīd
• Sayyid Murtadhā
• Islamic scholars
• List of deceased Maraji
• Nahj al-Balagha

External Links

• 1.
• 2. For study: Sharif Razi glimpses of his life and his contributions to cognitive

References

1. Prof. S.M. Azizuddin Husain, Director Rampur Raza Library, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. "Shah Nama's Rare Manuscripts of Raza Library – A study" (PDF). Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Retrieved 11 July 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Alulbayt (28 May 2015). "Nahjul-Balagha Manuscript". Alulbayt Foundation, London. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
3. Ali Islam Abu (Durham e-Theses) (24 October 2012). "Al-Sharif Al-Radi". Durham University Stockton Road Durham DH1 3LE UK. Retrieved 11 July 2015. PDF version: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5417/1/5417_2856.PDF?UkUDh:CyT
4. Ali Islam Abu (24 October 2012). "Al-Sharif Al-Radi". Durham University Stockton Road Durham DH1 3LE UK. Retrieved 11 July 2015. PDF version: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5417/1/5417_2856.PDF?UkUDh:CyT
5. "Compiler Syed Mohammed Razi". Nahjul Balagha Org. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
6. Ali Islam Abu (Durham e-Theses) (24 October 2012). "Al-Sharif Al-Radi" (PDF). Durham University UK. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
7. Yusuf Morales (8 September 2014). "HIKMAT SHARQUIYAH: Looking at a Muslim's responsibility towards others". Mindanao News and Information Cooperative Center. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
8. Nahj al-Balagha (PDF) (2009 ed.). New Yark: Tahrike Tarsile Quran, Inc. Publishers & Distributors of Holy Qur’an 80-08 51st Avenue Elmhurst, New York 11373-4141. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-1-879402-34-8. Seventh U.S. Edition 2009.
9. Sufyan Abdul Sathar. The concept of Man in Nahj al-Balagha. European Academic Research (issn #2286-4822). January, 2015;II:13607-13613.
10. Abbas Deygan Darweesh Al-duleimi, Ph D General Linguistics. Some Functions of Ellipsis in Religious Texts. Conference Proceedings by EUROPEAN SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE Publishing. June 2013;II(1st Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference, AIIC 2013 24-26 April 2013, at University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada Azores Islands, Portugal):128-129.
11. Translated by Ali Sharif. "ON THE MILLENIUM OF AL-SHARIF AL-RADHI". Rafed.net (Trasha). Retrieved 9 July 2015.
12. "NAHJUL-BALAGHA (Peak of Eloquence)". The official website of Professor Hossein Ansarian. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
13. Ayatollah Dr. Sayyid Fadhel Milani. The Authenticity of Nahj al-Balagha (Victor News Magazine Articles). School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK. June 6, 2002.
14. Church \ Church in Dialogue (25 November 2014). "Card Tauran: Muslims, Christians must be credible believers". Vatican Radio. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
15. Nahj al-Balagha/Peak of Eloquence (Seventeenth Impression 2012 ed.). Karachi: Islamic Seminary Publications, Accra Bombay Freetown Karachi London New York. pp. 122–131. ISBN 0-941724-18-2.
16. Dr. Ali Raza Tahir Assistant Professor Department of Philosophy, University of Punjab, Lahore-Pakistan. Special Reference to Nahjul Balagha. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business. June 2012;4(2 June 2012 by Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research).
17. Feryal Abdollah Hodeb, Mohammad Al-Shraydah. Metaphysics in the Oratory Quotes of Nahj al-Balagha (A documentary Study in Arabic). DIRASAT (HUMAN AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ) by Deanship of Academic Research, University of Jordan. 2014;41(2014).
18. Zahra Hosseini. Asceticism in Nahjolbalaghe from Imam Ali’s Point of View. Researcher (Marsland Press, publisher , New York ). April 25, 2014;Monthly Volume 6(4):37-39.
19. Davod Kiany (Ph.D) (August 2014). "IMAM ALI AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN NAHJOLBALAGHAH" (PDF). Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review Vol. 3, No.12a. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
20. Editor Kashmir Observer, UK. New Edition Nahj-Al-Balagha Took 25 Yrs To Finish. Seyed Sadeq Musavi. November 22, 2013. retrieved: July 11, 2015
21. Editor Taghrib News Agency (TNA). Psychology in Nahj al-Balagha" to be published. Hujjat -ol-Islam Masoud Azerbaijani. February 2, 2012. retrieved: July 11, 2015
22. Syed H. Akhtar (Article 412). "Imam Ali Bin Abu Talib A.S. His Life, Achievements, and Merits". Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. Retrieved 11 July 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
23. Web Admin. "NAHJ AL-BALAGAH in Encyclopedia Topic". First Ismaili Electronic Library and Database. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
24. Web Admin. "Does Nahj Al-Balaghah Belong to al-Sharif al-Radi or to Imam Ali?". Hadith.Net. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
25. IBNA (16 October 2014). "Bishop George Saliba elaborates on Imam Ali's 'Nahj al-Balagha". ABNA ( News Code : 644706). Retrieved 9 July 2015.
26. Nahj al-Balagha (in Urdu & Arabic) (Second April 2000 ed.). Karachi: Tanzeem-ul-Makatib, Lucknow and Mahfooz Book Agency Karachi. pp. 9–12.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
27. Nahj al-Balagha. 1956 (in Urdu & Arabic) (Supplemented 2010 ed.). Lahore: Imamia Kutub Khan, Mughal Havaili, Lahore. pp. 56–58.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
28. Nahj al-Balagha (in Urdu & Arabic) (Second April 2000 ed.). Karachi: Tanzeem-ul-Makatib, Lucknow and Mahfooz Book Agency Karachi. pp. 5–6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
29. Nahj al-Balagha/Peak of Eloquence (Seventeenth Impression 2012 ed.). Karachi: Islamic Seminary Publications, Accra Bombay Freetown Karachi London New York. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-941724-18-2.

Template:Persondata

• 1015 deaths
• Writers from Baghdad
• Iraqi Shia Muslims
• 970 births
• Muslim scholars
• Al-Moussawi family