A Biographical Notice on Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī (d. 1030/1621)

 

 

A Biographical Notice on Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī (d. 1030/1621)

Author(s): Devin J. Stewart

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 111, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1991), pp. 563-571

 

 

BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS

/1 Biographical Notice on BahcT al-Din al-^cAmili (d. 1030/1621)

Baha³ al-DTn al-^cAmilI was an important religious authority in the Safavid Empire and held the high position of shaykh al-isldm of the Safavid capital, Isfahan. While his importance has been recognized by modern scholars for some time, difficulties in determining the chronology of his career have stood in the way of an accurate portrayal of this many-sided individual. The biography of Baha³ al-DTn, as generally accepted, derives in large part from a seventeenth-century Safavid chronicle, Iskandar Beg MunshT’s TarTkh-i ^cdlam-drd-yi ^cabbasT. The following is an attempt to rectify some of these accepted views of al-Baha³Fs life and career, especially those regarding his early years and his tenure of the office of shaykh al-islam of Isfahan.

 

 

Baha³ al-DTn Muhammad al-^cAmilT (a.h. 953- 1030/ 1547-1621 a.d.) was a ShT^cT scholar native to the region of Jabal ^cAmil—in what is now southern Lebanon—who emigrated to Iran and rose to a high position of religious authority in the late sixteenth century through the patronage of the Safavid Shahs. Baha³ al-DTn, also called al-Baha³T or al-Shaykh al- Baha³T in the sources, is renowned as one of the foremost scholars at the court of Shah ^cAbbas I (996­1038/1587-1629), and as the shaykh al-islam, or chief jurisconsult, of the Safavid capital, Isfahan. His career has often been used to characterize the role of the religious scholars in Safavid Iran and especially their relationship with the government. The biography of al-Baha³T, as known to date, derives in large part from the notice on him included in Iskandar Beg MunshT’s official Safavid chronicle, TarTkh-i ^cdlam- drd-yi ^cabbdsT, which has been translated into English by Roger M. Savory and is one of the most widely- used sources for Safavid history of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.¹ The following essay treats four points concerning al-Baha³T’s biography as

R. D. McChesney has commented on the authority and value of this work for the history of Iran and studied some of the problems it presents with respect to chronology of the years of Shah ^cAbbas’ reign, in “A Note on Iskandar Beg’s Chronology,” JNES 39 (1980): 53-63. The biography of al- Baha³T is found in TarTkh-i ^calam-dra-yi ^cabbdsT, 2 vols. (Tehran: Chapkhanah-yi gulshan, 1971), 1:156-57; and in translation, History of Shah Abbas the Great, 2 vols., trans. Roger M. Savory (Boulder, Col.: Westview Press, 1978), 1:247-49.

derived from Iskandar Beg’s account. In modern schol­arship on al-Baha³i,^[2] there is general agreement that: 1) al-Baha^cT’s father, Husayn ibn ^cAbd al-Samad al- ^cAmilT (d. 984/1576), took his family to Iran in 966/ 1558-89, when al-Baha³T was about thirteen years of

age;^[3] 2) al-Baha^DT was appointed shaykh al-isldm of Isfahan by Shah ^cAbbas;^[4] and 3) he resigned from this post, also during the reign of Shah ^cAbbas.^[5] A fourth point, which remains contested in modern scholarship, is the question whether al-Baha^DT accompanied his father when the latter performed the pilgrimage to Mecca ca. 983/1575-76. The following remarks ques­tion the validity of these interpretations and investigate some of the problems encountered in relying on Iskan- dar Beg’s account.

Iskandar Beg and al-Baha^DI were contemporaries; they were at the Safavid court together for many years. Iskandar Beg’s connection with the Shahs, however, began long after that of al-Baha^DI. Whereas al-Baha^DI’s father joined the Safavid court sometime before 966/ 1558, during the reign of Shah Tahmasb (930-84/ 1524-76), Iskandar Beg did not become a court secre­tary until 1001/1592-93, during the reign of Shah ^cAbbas. Iskandar Beg wrote the first two sections of his chronicle in 1025/1616, about sixty or more years after al-Baha^DT’s arrival in Iran.^[6] Given the length of this interval, it is conceivable that some of Iskandar Beg’s information concerning al-Baha^DI’s early career might be faulty. In addition, problems in deciphering the phraseology and in interpreting the context of Iskandar Beg’s account have hindered an accurate assessment of al-BahaT’s career.

FROM JABAL ^CAMIL TO IRAN

Al-Baha^DI was born in Ba^clabakk on 27 Dhu ’1- Hijjah 953/16 February 1547.^[7] Iskandar Beg states that al-Baha^I’s father, Husayn, came to Iran after the death of his mentor, Zayn al-DTn al-^cAmilI, the emi­nent ShT^cT scholar who was killed by the Ottomans for heresy and came to be known in ShT^cT sources as al- Shahld al-Thanl (the Second Martyr).^[8] It is reasonable to assume that Husayn left Jabal ^cAmil at this time, given the nature of the relationship between him and al-Shahid al-Thanl. They were from the same town of

Jubâ^c in Jabal ^cÂmil, and Husayn was al-Shahld al- ThânT’s first student.^[9] Al-ShahTd al-Thân! referred to Husayn as “my companion and friend (rafîqï wa- sadïqï).”™ That they spent many years together is well documented.^[10] It is plausible that the arrest and execu­tion of al-Shahïd al-Thânï prompted Husayn to leave Lebanon, then under Ottoman rule, because of its implications for his own safety.

In the biographical dictionary Amal al-amil, Mu­hammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hurr al-^cAmilT (d. 1099/ 1688) gives 966 a.h. as the year of al-Shahïd al-Thânï’s death, citing the work Naqd al-rijal, which was written in 1015/1606 by the Iranian scholar Mustafa ibn al- Husayn al-Tafrïshï (d. ca. 1030/1621).^[11] Coupling this piece of information with the account given by Iskan­dar Beg, modern scholars have come to the conclusion that al-Bahâ^Dï’s family came to Iran in 966 a.h.^[12] Some sources state that the family came ca. 961 /1554, when al-Baha³! was seven years of age,^[13] but this view has been dismissed as incorrect by Kohlberg.^[14]

There is no doubt that al-Baha^DT’s family was in Iran in 966 a.h. Al-Baha^DI’s younger brother, ^cAbd al- Samad, was born on 3 Safar 966/15 November 1558,

in Qazvin, then the Safavid capital.^[15] His older sister gave birth to a son, al-Sayyid Muhammad, in Qazvin on 28 Safar 966/9 December 1558.^[16] Nevertheless, there seems to be the possibility that the family had arrived in Iran at an earlier date, i.e., prior to 966/1558. At the very least, it is unlikely that Husayn would have come to Iran while his wife was eight months pregnant, given the relative hardship of travel at that time.

1.    Al-ShahTd al-Thani's death. The date of the emi­gration of al-Baha^DT’s family to Iran is generally con­nected with the death of al-ShahTd al-ThanT. It is reported that al-ShahTd al-ThanT was arrested by Otto­man officials in Mecca after he performed the pilgrim­age.^[17] A dated ijdzah (certificate of study) issued by al-ShahTd al-ThanT to Taj al-DTn ibn al-Shaykh Hilal al-Jaza^Din, and preserved in al-MajlisT’s Bihar al- anwdr, places him in Mecca on 14 Dhu ’1-Hijjah 964/ 8 Oct. 1557.^[18] Yusuf ibn Ahmad al-BahranT (d. 1186/ 1772-73) reports, in an account he attributes to al- Baha^DT himself, that al-ShahTd al-ThanT was arrested in Mecca on 5 RabT^c I 965/26 December 1557. He was held in Mecca for a month and ten days, then taken to Istanbul by boat and executed there in the same year. After being left unburied for three days, his body was thrown into the sea.^[19] Hasan al-^cAmilT (d. 1011/ 1602), the son of al-ShahTd al-ThanT, reports that his father was killed in 965 a.h.^[20] A note written by al-Baha³T’s father states that his teacher died in 965 a.h.^[21] Hasan Rumlu (fl. 985/1578), the author of the contemporary Persian chronicle Ahsan al-tawarlkh, gives al-ShahTd al-ThanT’s death notice under the year 965 a.h.,^[22] as does the author of another Persian chronicle, Afdal al-tawarlkh.^[23] The most precise date is given by an­other sixteenth-century Safavid historian, QadT Ahmad IbrahTmT QummT, who states in his Persian chronicle Khuldsat al-tawarlkh that the execution took place on

a Thursday in the middle ten days of Rajab, 965/April 28-May 6, 1558.^[24] The note written by al-ShahTd al- ThanT’s own son, as well as these other sources, most of which are considerably earlier than al-TafnshT’s Naqd al-rijdl, which dates to 1015/1606, indicate that the execution occurred in 965 a.h., rather than 966 a.h.^[25] Therefore, Iskandar Beg’s statement that al- BahaVs father left Jabal ^cAmil for Iran only after the death of al-ShahTd al-ThanT would imply that he entered Iran after Rajab 965/May 1558. Although it is plausible that al-Baha^T’s family came to Iran after al-ShahTd al-ThanT’s death, the following accounts show that this was not the case; al-Baha^DT’s family had come to Iran sometime before the death of al-ShahTd al-ThanT.

2.    Muzaffar al-Dln All's account. A monograph on al-Baha^DT written by Muzaffar al-DTn ^CA1T, one of al- Baha^DT’s students, and cited by MTrza ^cAbd Allah al- IsfahanT in his Riyad al-^culamd^J, states that when al-Baha^DT’s father came to Iran, he did not go directly to QazvTn, then the capital.^[26] This author mentions that Husayn first settled in Isfahan and stayed there for three years before Shah Tahmasb summoned him to QazvTn and appointed him shaykh al-isldm.²* Unfor­tunately, this author does not mention the date of the appointment. Accepting Muzaffar al-DTn ^cAlT’s report of a three-year stay in Isfahan as correct, and taking into consideration the fact that Husayn was in Qazvin when his son ^cAbd al-Samad was born there early in 966/1558, one may conclude that he came to Iran by

the beginning of 963/1555 at the latest, that is, two years before al-Shahld al-ThanT’s death. The following information shows that the date of the family’s arrival in Iran may be set even earlier.

Regarding the subsequent career of al-Baha³T’s fa­ther, Muzaffar al-DTn ^CA1T states that he served seven years as shaykh al-islam of QazvTn, then was appointed for a short time to the same position in Mashhad, and was subsequently named shaykh al-islam of Herat.^[27] A dated ijazah recorded in al-MajlisT’s Bihar al-anwar places Husayn in Mashhad on 2 Rajab 971/15 Feb­ruary 1564.^[28] If Husayn gave the ijazah during his short tenure as shaykh al-islam of Mashhad, which, as men­tioned by Muzaffar al-DTn ^CA1T, took place after a seven-year tenure as shaykh al-islam of QazvTn, one may conclude that he had been appointed to this post at least seven years earlier, ca. 964/1556-67. By the same token, in light of Muzaffar al-DTn ^cAlT’s report that he remained in Isfahan for three years, the date of the family’s arrival in Iran may be set ca. 961 /1553-54, about four years before the death of al-ShahTd al-ThanT.

3.    Baha³ al-DTn Muhammad al-^cAwdVs account. Baha³ al-DTn Muhammad al-^cAwdT^[29] was a native of the village of JizzTn in Jabal ^cAmil and the student­servitor (khadim) of al-ShahTd al-ThanT from 10 RabT^c I 945/6 August 1538 until 10 Dhu ’1-Qa^cdah 962/26 September 15 5 5.^[30] He wrote a biography of al-ShahTd al-ThanT, entitled Bughyat al-murid min al-kashf ^can ahwdl al-Shaykh Zayn al-DTn al-ShahTd, which is pre­served in truncated form by ^CA1T ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-^cAmilT, one of al-ShahTd al-ThanT’s great­grandsons, in his work al-Durr al-manthur.^[31]

An examination of this biography shows that al­BahaT’s father and al-ShahTd al-ThanT returned to Jabal ^cAmil from a trip to the ShT^cT shrines in Iraq on 15 Safar 953/17 April 1546.^[32] Afterwards, the two went to Ba^clabakk, where al-ShahTd al-ThanT began teaching

at the Nuriyyah madrasah, a post which he had ob­tained from the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman (926-74/ 1520-66).^[33] That Husayn’s family was also in Ba^cla- bakk is proved by the fact, mentioned above, that al- Baha³T was born there on 27 Dhu ’1-Hijjah 953/16 February 1547.^[34] Husayn finished reading the Fihrist of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-TusT (d. 460/1067) with al-ShahTd al-ThanT on 15 Ramadan 954/29 October 1547,^[35] possibly still at Ba^clabakk. This is the last documented date which places Husayn and al-ShahTd al-ThanT together.

Al-^cAwdT tells of Husayn’s leaving Jabal ^cAmil: “[Husayn] parted with [Zayn al-DTn] to go to Iraq. He stayed there a while, then traveled to Khurasan, where he has now settled.” (wa-fdraqahu ild l-^cirdq, wa- aqdma bihd muddah, thumma ’rtahala ild khurdsdn, wa ’stawtana hundka l-an)^[36]^ This constitutes conclu­sive proof that Husayn left Jabal ^cAmil before al- ShahTd al-ThanT’s death. The context of al-^cAwdT’s statement also implies that Husayn left Jabal ^cAmil before al-^cAwdT himself did, i.e., before late 962/1555.^[37]

4.    An ijazah given by al-BahdT's father. Al-^cAwdT’s account that al-Baha^T’s father went to Iran via Iraq before al-ShahTd al-ThanT’s death is corroborated by an ijazah written in Husayn’s hand which MTrza ^cAbd Allah al-IsfahanT, the author of Riyad al-^culamd^D, found in a library in Herat. The ijazah places Husayn in the ShT^cT shrine city of Karbala³ in southern Iraq in 958/1551.^[38] Accordingly, it is probable that Husayn left Jabal ^cAmil sometime in 958/1551 or shortly be­fore. He could have arrived in Iran in that year at the earliest.

5.    Husayn's work Wusul al-akhyar. Al-^cAwdT states that upon entering Iran, Husayn first went to Khura­san. This statement conflicts with that of Muzaffar al- DTn ^CA1T, according to which Husayn first went to Isfahan. There is a possibility that Husayn stayed for a time in Mashhad, the site of the shrine of the eighth ShT^cT Imam ^CA1T al-Rida, in Khurasan, prior to his arrival in Isfahan. A statement in Husayn’s work on hadTth criticism, Wusul al-akhydr ild usul al-akhbdr, implies that he wrote it in Mashhad shortly after his arrival in Iran. In the introduction, he states that he

was writing “after my flight from the tyrants and hypo­crites . . . , after my arrival in the empire of faith and concord (ba^cda harabT min ahli ’t-tughyani wa ’n-nifdq . . . ba^cda ’ttisdlT bi-dawlati ’l-Tmdni wa 7- wifdq).”⁴' In a passage where he mentions the eighth Imam, he indicates that he was writing in Mashhad: “^CA1T ibn Musa al-Rida, whose noble presence and sublime threshold I have had the honor to attend while writing this treatise (^cAlT ibn Musa al-Rida alladhl allaftu hddhihi ’r-risdlata wa-and musharrafun bi- hadratihi ’sh-sharTfah wa suddatihi 1-munTfah)”⁴² Husayn mentions his teacher al-ShahTd al-ThanT at one point in the work, and the formula of benediction following the name, “may God—He is exalted—grace mankind with his [continued] presence (zayyana ’lldhu ta^cdld ’l-wujuda bi-wujudih)” indicates that he was alive at the time.⁴³ This evidence makes it clear that Husayn arrived in Iran before the death of al-ShahTd al-ThanT, although it does not give the exact date of his arrival. Unfortunately, the edition of Wusul al-akhydr available to me does not give the date of the work’s completion.

From the above accounts, one can easily conclude that al-Baha³T’s family left Jabal ^cAmil in 958/1551 or somewhat earlier, traveled to Iraq, where they stayed for a time in 958/1551, and then entered Iran. They probably arrived in Iran between 958/1551 and 961/ 1554, that is, four to seven years before the death of al-ShahTd al-ThanT, when al-Baha³T was between five and eight years of age.

al-baha³T’s whereabouts
DURING HIS FATHER’S PILGRIMAGE

Al-Baha³T’s father relinquished his post as shaykh al-isldm of Herat ca. 983/1575 to perform the pilgrim­age to Mecca.⁴⁴ Afterwards, he traveled to Bahrayn, where he died on 8 RabT^c I 984/5 June 1576.⁴⁵ There is a question as to whether al-Baha³T accompanied his father on this pilgrimage, and modern scholars are divided on this issue.⁴⁶ The version which claims that

⁴¹      Wusulal-akhydr ila usul al-akhbar (Tehran, 1306 a.h.), 8.

⁴²      Wusul al-akhydr, 40.

⁴³      Wusul al-akhydr, \7.

⁴⁴      History of Shah Abbas, 1:247-48.

⁴⁵      Lu^Jlu^Jat al-bahrayn, 28.

⁴⁶          Sa^cTd NafTsT and Roger M. Savory state that al-BahaT made the pilgrimage with his father, but Newman and Kohl­berg hold that al-BahaT remained in Iran. NafTsT, 19 [cited in Newman, 172, n. 22]; History of Shah ^cAbbds, 1:248; Kohl­berg, 429; Newman, 172.

al-Baha^DT made the pilgrimage with his father derives from an ambiguous passage in Iskandar Beg’s account. Iskandar Beg mentions that Husayn made the pilgrim­age and subsequently died in Bahrayn.^[39] He follows this report by stating that al-Baha³T came to Iran with his mother.^[40] A few modern scholars, including NafTsT and Savory, have taken this to mean that al-Baha³T and his mother accompanied Husayn on the pilgrim­age, then returned to Iran after Husayn’s death in Bahrayn.^[41] Two elements call this into question. The passage states that al-Baha³T came with his mother to Iran “in his youth” (dar sughr-i sinn).^[42] If this occurred after Husayn’s death in 984/1576, al-Baha³T would have been about thirty years old, hardly a child. Fur­thermore, one of Husayn’s wives, who was probably the mother of al-Baha³T, had died some years before Husayn undertook the pilgrimage. Husayn recorded that his wife KhadTjah bint al-Hajj ^CA1T died in Herat on 26 Shawwal 976/24 April 1569.^[43] Although these two phrases describe disparate events, Savory linked them chronologically in his translation of the relevant passage of TdrTkh-i ^cdlam-drd-yi ^cabbdsT.

Later, [Husayn] conceived a desire to make the pil­grimage to Mecca and to the shrines of the Imams, and he successfully fulfilled this wish. On the return journey he stopped for a few days at al-Hasa and Bahreyn to meet the local theologians; and while he was at Bah­reyn, he died. His son, Shaikh Baha al-DTn Moham­mad, then still an infant, returned to Iran with his mother. . . .^[44]

An examination of the overall structure of Iskandar Beg’s notice on al-Baha³T shows that there should be a significant chronological break between these two state­ments. The mention of the arrival in Iran is followed by a summary of al-Baha^DT’s early studies, which must have taken place during his father’s lifetime.^[45] The notice as a whole begins with Iskandar Beg’s statement

that al-Baha^T was the son of ^cAbd al-Samad [we],^[46] then proceeds to give a biography of Husayn ibn ^cAbd al-Samad, al-Baha³T’s father. Upon completing this section with the mention of Husayn’s death in Bahrayn, Iskandar Beg begins al-Baha°T’s biography. In other words, the mention that al-Baha°T came to Iran with his mother as a youth is the very beginning of al- Baha°T’s biography, and refers to his migration to Iran with his family, mother and father included, in his early youth. Writing, as he was, after the death of al- Baha°T’s mother, Iskandar Beg may have mentioned her to emphasize the fact that the entire family had emigrated from Jabal ^cAmil and that she had spent her last years in Iran rather than Lebanon. A similar state­ment is given by Muzaffar al-DTn ^CA1T: “[Husayn] came . . . from Jabal ^cAmil with all of his dependents and his wife^[47] to Isfahan (wa-qad tawajjaha. . . min jabali ^cdmila ma^ca jamT^ci tawdbi^cihi wa-ahli baytihi ila isfahdn).”^[48] The passage of TdrTkh-i ^cdlam-drd-yi ^cabbdsT in question might, more accurately, be trans­lated as follows:

. . . Then he was possessed with the longing to gain the happiness of making the pilgrimage to the House of God and to visit the holy shrines of the Prophet Muhammad and the noble Imams—may God, the All­Knowing King, bless them. The driver of longing turned the reins of his travel in that direction. Having arrived there, he spent time with the scholars of that region. Then his promised time came, and he, after having strolled in the courtyard of the library of life, passed on to read the scrolls of the world of the everlasting.

His true son, through whose noble existence the garden of the palace of the world has been endowed with beauty and splendor, had come to Persia in his youth, with his mother. . . .^[49]

Other accounts state that al-Baha°T stayed in Iran dur­ing his father’s absence. Muzaffar al-DTn ^CA1T reports that Husayn asked Shah Tahmasb’s permission for both himself and al-Baha°T to perform the pilgrimage, and the Shah granted this permission to Husayn, but not to al-Baha°T.^[50]

A number of modern scholars have stated that, at this juncture, al-Baha°T was appointed shaykh al-isldm of Herat in place of his father, basing this conclusion on a statement by al-Khwansan (d. 1313/1895-96) that when al-Baha°T’s father set out to perform the pilgrimage, Shah Tahmasb had al-Baha°T serve in his place.^[51] This interpretation derives from a statement in an ijdzah which al-Khwansari includes in his biographi­cal notice on al-Baha°T in Rawdat al-janndt, and which was issued by al-Baha°T’s student-servitor, Husayn ibn Haydar al-KarakT. The latter states that he accom­panied al-Baha°T on a trip to Herat, long after the death of his mentor’s father. Scholars have taken his statement, thumma tawajjahna ila baldati Harata llati kana sabiqan huwa wa-waliduhuftha shaykha ’l-isldm, to mean, “Then we went to the town of Herat, where he and his father had been shaykh al-isldm.”™ As it stands, the Arabic of this sentence is awkward. It is possible that through a copyist’s error the two words flhd and wa-waliduhu have been switched. The sen­tence should be reconstructed by reversing them, to read, thumma tawajjahna ila baldati Harata Hat!kana sabiqan huwaftha wa-waliduhu shaykhu l-isldm, mean­ing, “Then we went to the town of Herat, where he had been previously when his father was shaykh al-isldm there.”^[52]

Muzaffar al-DTn ^cAlT’s account reports that Shah Tahmasb ordered al-Baha°T to remain in Iran and teach during his father’s absence: “He ordered him to stay there and engage in teaching the religious sciences (amarahii bi-iqdmatihThundka wa ’shtighdlihT bi-tadrisi 7-^culumi d-diniyyah).”™ The context shows that the word “there” (hundka) in the text refers to QazvTn, for Muzaffar al-DTn states just before this that Husayn had come to QazvTn to ask the Shah’s permission to perform the pilgrimage.^[53] Thus, al-Baha°T must have remained in QazvTn to teach while his father made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

THE APPOINTMENT OF BAHA⁰ AL-DTn AS

SHAYKH AL-ISLAM OF ISFAHAN

Al-Baha°T’s career has, in large part, been too closely associated with the patronage of Shah ^cAbbas I. One

expression of this view is the account of the Damascene scholar al-MuhibbT (d. 1111/1699), who states that al-Baha³T

. . . arrived in Isfahan. News of him reached the ruler, Shah ^cAbbas, who sent for him to be the leader of the scholars (talabahu li-ri^Jdsati 7-^culamd^J). He assumed this post and became famous and respected.^[54]

There is a general consensus that al-Baha^DT was ap­pointed shaykh al-islam of Isfahan for the first time by Shah ^cAbbas,^[55] because modern scholars have been able to read. Shah ^cAbbas into Iskandar Beg’s account of the appointment:

After the death of Shaikh ^CA1T Menshar Shaikh Baha al-DTn was appointed to the offices of shaykh al-islam, vakil-e halalTyat, and supervisor of affairs pertaining to the religious law at Isfahan, and he discharged these functions with independent authority for a consider­able time. Then he relinquished these offices in order to go on the pilgrimage to Mecca and on his return adopted an austere ascetic way of life. He took to traveling on his own, dressed as a dervish, in Arabian Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and the Hejaz. He also visited Jerusalem. Wherever he went, he conversed with theo­logians, scholars, Sufi leaders, and hermits. As a result, he became the foremost scholar of his age. The Shah kept him constantly at his side; both when he was in the capital and when he was making a journey some­where, the Shah would visit his dwelling to enjoy his 66 company.

Iskandar Beg does not explicitly mention the name of the Shah who made the appointment, but stresses the close ties between al-Baha^DT and “the Shah,” who is apparently Shah ^cAbbas, immediately following the mention of al-Baha^DT’s tenure as shaykh al-islam. Is­kandar Beg reports that al-Baha^DT assumed the post of shaykh al-islam of Isfahan after the death of his father­in-law Shaykh ^CA1T Minshar, but it has been difficult to determine the exact death-date of ^CA1T Minshar. Iskan­dar Beg’s own biographical notice on ^CA1T Minshar does not give one. Scholars have assumed that his death occurred sometime during the reign of Shah

^c Abbas. Among these, Newman, following NafTsT, esti­mates that this was ca. 1006/1597, the year when Shah ^cAbbas made Isfahan the capital.^[56]

The missing piece of information is to be found in MTrza ^cAbd Allah al-IsfahanT’s biographical work Riyad al-^culamd^J: ^CA1T Minshar died in Isfahan on 13 RabT^c I 984/10 June 1576.^[57] Thus, al-Baha^T probably became shaykh al-islam of Isfahan during the reign of Shah Isma^cTl II (984-85/1576-77), soon after the death of Shah Tahmasb, which occurred on 15 Safar 984/ 14 May 1576. This happened twelve years before Shah ^cAbbas ascended the throne, and approximately twenty years before Isfahan became the capital of the Empire.

The marriage alliance between al-Baha³T’s father and ^CA1T Minshar proved extremely advantageous to al-Baha³T’s career. By a fortuitous coincidence, al- Baha³T obtained the post of shaykh al-islam of the city which was destined to become the next capital of the empire. When it did, al-Baha^DT retained his post and became the most important figure of religious authority in the empire. While it is true that al-Baha^DT reached the height of his fame at the court of Shah ^cAbbas, it is anachronistic to view al-Baha^cT’s achievements as ex­clusively linked to ^cAbbas’ favor, for he was a reputed authority well before Shah ^cAbbas ascended the throne. Moreover, his connection with the Safavid government was something which Shah ^cAbbas confirmed rather than initiated.

It is clear that ca. 984/1576, al-Baha^DT was neither the shaykh al-islam of the capital, then QazvTn, nor the highest-ranking scholar of the empire. This honor be­longed to al-Sayyid Husayn ibn al-Hasan al-KarakT (d. 1001/1592-93), known as Mir Husayn Mujtahid, the son of a daughter of the renowned scholar ^CA1T ibn ^cAbd al-^cAlT al-KarakT, perhaps the most important scholar of the early Safavid period. Mir Husayn was the most influential scholar in QazvTn from the last years of Shah Tahmasb’s reign into the reign of Shah ^cAbbas. When Shah Tahmasb died, he performed the ceremonial washing of the Shah’s body. During Shah Isma^cTl H’s reign, he led the opposition to the Shah’s pro-SunnT policies. He claimed the title “the Seal of the Mujtahids” (khatam al-mujtahidinf indicating that he was the highest figure of religious authority in the empire. When the supporters of ^cAbbas were approach­ing Qazvin to place him on the throne in 996/1587, MTr Husayn represented the religious scholars as a member

of the official delegation which went to meet the future Shah.^[58] While it is not possible to make a conclusive statement at this point, it appears that he succeeded al-Baha^DT’s father as shaykh al-islam of QazvTn ca. 971/1566 and held the post until he died of plague there in 1001/1592-93.

BAHA³ AL-DTn’S RESIGNATION FROM HIS POST

Al-Baha³T’s resignation from the post of shaykh al- islam of Isfahan is also generally considered to have taken place during the reign of Shah ^cAbbas.^[59] Newman discusses the dating of the resignation at length, and tentatively concludes that al-Baha³T resigned in 1015/ 1606 and traveled outside Iran for the next four years or so.^[60] The story of al-Baha^DTs resignation as related by Iskandar Beg has been presented above. Whether or not an overwhelming desire to perform the pilgrimage induced al-Baha³T to resign, as Iskandar Beg’s official version would have it, it is clear that his resignation was followed by an extended trip through Ottoman territory which included a pilgrimage to Mecca and stops in Damascus, Cairo, and Jerusalem, among other places. It is documented that al-Baha³T made such a trip ca. 991-93/1583-85. In his anthology al-Kashkiil, he mentions that he was in Jerusalem in 992/1584­85.^[61] He states that in Cairo, he copied a poem from the Egyptian scholar Muhammad al-BakrT (d. 993/ 1585-86) in 992/1584-85 and visited the tomb of al- Shafi^cT in the same year.^[62] A contemporary Syrian scholar reports that al-Baha^DT passed through Damas­cus in 992/1584-85 on his way from Egypt, heading toward Iran.^[63] Al-Baha^DT also states that he was in Tabriz on 20 Safar 993/21 February 1585.^[64] These indications probably refer to the trip Iskandar Beg mentions. Al-Baha³T must have left Iran in 991 or

earlier, if one figures that he performed the pilgrimage with the Syrian pilgrimage caravan in Dhu THijjah 991/December 1583-January 1584, then passed through Cairo, Jerusalem, and Damascus on the return trip in 992/1584-85, arriving in Tabriz by Safar 993/ February 1585. Although a number of scholars are aware of al-Baha^DT’s visit to Cairo and Jerusalem in 992 a.h., they have not been able to connect this trip with al- Baha^DT’s post-resignation trip because they assumed that al-Baha^DT had not become shaykh al-islam of Isfahan until the reign of Shah ^cAbbas, i.e., until 996/ 1587 at the earliest. This caused Newman, for one, to posit a second trip through Ottoman lands, which he estimated occurred ca. 1015-19/1606-10.^[65] The sources consulted to date, however, do not include any infor­mation on a similar trip. In light of the pilgrimage of 991 a.h. mentioned above, it is reasonable to conclude that al-Baha^DT’s resignation dates to 991/1583 or some­what earlier, during the reign of Shah Muhammad Khudabandah (985-95/1578-87). ’

A related issue is that of al-Baha^DT’s attitude toward the government following his resignation. Iskandar Beg’s account claims that al-Baha^DT adopted an ascetic way of life upon resignation, although he also mentions the subsequent development of a close relationship between al-Baha³T and the Shah. Many scholars, over­reacting to the topos of pious rejection of the govern­ment, portray his resignation as a complete and final break with the Safavid administration. Hourani, ex­pressing this common view, states that al-Baha³T gave up his post “for a life of poverty and travel.”^[66] Ar- jomand claims that al-Baha^DT refused to accept any post after his resignation.^[67] Newman rightly criticizes this portrayal, and shows that al-Baha³T had consider­able involvement with Shah ^cAbbas in his later years. It is true that al-Baha³T resigned ostensibly in order to perform the pilgrimage, and it is equally true that he had some involvement with mysticism. His student Husayn ibn Haydar al-KarakT states, “he had ... a great propensity for mysticism (kana . . . yamTlu ila ’t-tasawwufi kathiran).”¹⁹ It is also true that al-Baha³T expressed a desire to free himself of his relationship with the Safavid Shahs. In his Kashkul, he states,

Had my father—God bless his soul—not come from the land of the Arabs to the land of the Persians, and not frequented kings, I would have been one of the most pious, devout, and ascetic of men. But he—may

he rest in peace—brought me out of the former land, and settled me in the latter, so that I have frequented the rich and powerful (ahi al-dunya) and taken on their vile morals and base attributes.^[68]

While it should not be doubted that this was a sincere expression of feeling on the part of al-Baha^DT, it was only one stage or facet of his life. As Newman has argued, al-Baha^DT did not shun involvement with the Shah in his later years, and did much to bolster the authority of ShT^cT jurisconsults and strengthen their ties with the Safavid government.

An examination of biographical data following the post-resignation trip shows that al-Baha^DT returned to his former life-style in Isfahan. The colophon of an autograph manuscript places him in Isfahan on 14 Dhu ’1-Qa^cdah 995/16 Oct. 1587.^[69] Furthermore, al-Baha³! soon regained his post as shaykh al-islam of Isfahan. The sixteenth-century Isfahan! historian Mahmud ibn Hidayat Afushtah-yi Natanz! reports that al-Baha³! negotiated, as the shaykh al-islam of the city, with the commander of a rebelling garrison there in 998/1589,^[70] a date which precedes that of the choice of Isfahan as a capital (i.e., 1006/1597) by eight years. Natanzi’s ac­count shows that al-Baha³! had become shaykh al- islam once again sometime between 993/1585, when he had returned to Iran, and 998/1589. In fact, it is en­tirely possible that a deputy acted as shaykh al-islam during his absence, and that al-Baha^Di never intended

to give up the post permanently. It is not possible at the present state of research to make a conclusive state­ment about al-Bahâ^Dï’s tenure of this position after 998/1559, but it is likely that he held the post until his death in 1030/1621.

These conclusions support the recent conclusions of Newman, who, criticizing earlier scholarship which portrayed al-Bahâ^Dï and his contemporaries as engaged primarily in mysticism and the study of philosophy, has argued that al-Bahâ^Dï actively supported the Safavid state and worked to enhance the power of Shï^c! jurisconsults throughout his career. It has been shown here, however, that al-Bahâ^Dï’s involvement with the Shahs was better defined and much more enduring and continuous than hitherto realized. Al- Baha^D!’s primary role was that of a jurisconsult, not that of a mystic or philosopher. His resignation from the post as shaykh al-islâm of Isfahan, which has been interpreted as a permanent rejection of involvement with the Safavid government, was temporary, and his leave from this office may have lasted as little as two or three years. It seems that this office was the main channel of al-Baha^D!’s involvement with the Shahs; he probably held it over a period of roughly forty-five years, with one interruption for two years or so ca. 991-93/1583-85, and perhaps one or two other interruptions later on in his career. Unfortunately, the privileges and responsibilities connected with the office of shaykh al-islâm remain to be studied, as do the stages of its development in the Safavid period. It is hoped that these rectifications will provide a sound basis for further examination of al-Baha³!’s career and accomplishments as well as of the role of the religious establishment in the Safavid period.

Devin J. Stewart Emory University

¹⁰ al-Durr al-manthür, 2:178.

²⁸ Riyad al-^culamd^J, 2:119-20. Other evidence corroborates Muzaffar al-DTn ^cAlT’s statement that al-Baha^DT’s family lived in Isfahan before moving to Qazvin. A close relationship developed between Husayn and ^CA1T ibn Hilal al-KarakT, known as Shaykh ^CA1T Minshar, the shaykh al-isldm of Is­fahan and a native of Karak Nuh, a ShT^cT town near Ba^cla- bakk and not far from Husayn’s native Jabal ^cAmil. Al-Baha^DT eventually married ^CA1T Minshar’s daughter [Riyad al-^culamd^J, 5:94, 407] and later took over the post of shaykh al-isldm of Isfahan upon his father-in-law’s death [History of Shah Ab­bas, 1:248].

⁶⁰ Rawdat al-janndt, 7:58.

⁶² Riyâd al-^culama^J, 2:120.

⁶⁶ History of Shah ^cAbbâs, 1:247-48.

⁷⁹ Rawdât al-jannât, 7:56.

---

^[2] Modern scholarship treating al-Baha³T (hereafter cited by name of author only) includes: Said Amir Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam (Chicago: Univ, of Chicago Press, 1984); C. E. Bosworth, Baha^Jal-DTn al-AmilT and His Literary Anthologies (Manchester: Univ, of Man­chester, 1989); Nasr Allah FalsafT, ZindigT-yi Shah Abbds-i avval, vol. 3 (Tehran: Intisharat-i danishgah-i Tihran, 1961); Albert HouranT, “From Jabal ^cAmil to Persia,” BSOAS 49 (1986): 133-40; Etan Kohlberg, “Baha³ al-DTn ^cAmelT,” En­cyclopaedia Iranica (1989), 3:429-30; Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Spiritual Movements, Philosophy and Theology in the Sa­favid Period,” in The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods, ed. Peter Jackson and Laurence Lockhart (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1986), 656-97; Andrew Newman, “Towards a Reconsideration of the ‘Isfahan School of Philosophy’: Shaykh Baha³T and the Role of the Safawid ^cUlema³,” Studia Iranica 15 (1986): 165-99; Muham­mad al-TunjT, BahcP al-DTn al-AmilT: adTban, shd^ciranfali- man (Damascus: Manshurat al-mustashariyyah al-thaqafiyyah li’l-Jumhuriyyah al-Islamiyyah al-Traniyyah, 1985).

The work of Sa^cTd NafTsT, Ahvdl va ash^car-i fdrsT-yi Shaykh-i Bahd^JT (Tehran, 1937), was not available to me. Citations from this work are given as cited by Andrew Newman in the above-mentioned article.

The anonymous article “al-^cAmilT” in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., 1:436, essentially identical to the anonymous article in the 1st ed., 1:327, consists of one short paragraph and contains little information.

^[3] Bosworth, 5; Kohlberg, 429; Nasr, 666; Newman, 169; al- Tünjï, 22, 31.

^[4] Arjomand, 206; Bosworth, 11; FalsafT, 3:27; Kohlberg, 429; Newman, 74; al-Tünjî, 30.

^[5] Arjomand, 206; Bosworth, 11; FalsafT, 3:27; Kohlberg, 429; Newman, 185-90.

^[6] The History of Shah Abbas, l:xxiv, 2-4; 2:628.

^[7] Mirza ^cAbd Allah al-Isfahânï, Riyâd al-ulamâ^J wa hiyâd al-fudalâ^J, 6 vols., ed. Ahmad al-Husayn! (Qum: Matba^cat al-khayyâm, 1980), 2:109-10.

^[8] History of Shah Abbâs, 1:247.

^{[9] c}Ali ibn Muhammad al-^cAmih, al-Durr al-manthur min al-maJhür wa ghayr al-maJhür, 2 vols. (Qum: Matba^cat-i mihr, 1978), 2:191.

^[10] Al-Shahîd al-Thânî issued a lengthy ijâzah to Husayn on 3 Jumâdâ II 941/10 December 1534 in Juba^c [Muhammad Bâqir al-MajlisT, Bihâr al-anwâr al-jâmi^cah li-akhbâr al- aimmah al-athâr, 110 vols. (Tehran: al-Maktabah al-islâmiy- yah, 1956-72), 108:146-71]; and Husayn accompanied him to Cairo and the Hijâz in 942-43/1535-37 [al-Durr al-manthür, 2:161-67, 191], to Istanbul in 951-52/1544-45 [al-Durr al- manthür, 2:170-78], and to the Shï^cï shrines in Iraq in 952­53/1545-46 [al-Durr al-manthür, 2:178-81].

^[11] Amal al-âmil fï tarâjim ^culamâ^J Jabal Âmil, 2 vols., ed. Ahmad al-Husayn! (Baghdad: Maktabat al-andalus, 1965­66), 1:86. Naqd al-rijâl has been published in Tehran, 1318 a.h. On al-Tafrïshï, see Brockelmann, Geschichte der arab- ischen Litteratur (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1937-49), G 11:411, S 11:595.

^[12] Bosworth, 5; Kohlberg, 429; Newman, 165-99; al-Tünjï, 22,31.

^[13] Several authors state that al-BahâT was seven years old when his family came to Iran. Yüsuf al-Bahrânï, Ludu^at al-bahrayn, ed. Muhammad Sâdiq Bahr al-^cUlûm (Najaf: Matba^cat al-Nu^cman, 1966), 26; al-Khwânsârï, Rawdât al- jannât fï ahwâl al-^culamâ wa al-sâdât, 8 vols. (Tehran: al- Matba^cah al-haydariyyah, 1970), 7:81.

^[14] Kohlberg, 429.

^[15] Riyad al-^culamd^J, 2:110. MTrza ^cAbd Allah al-IsfahanT (d. ca. 1130/1719) copied this information from notes written by Husayn on the back of a copy of Irshad al-adhhdn, a ShT^cT legal text by Ibn Mutahhar al-HillT (d. 726/1325).

^[16] Riyad al-^culamd^J, 2:110.

^[17] Amal al-dmil, 1:90; al-Durr al-manthur, 2:190.

^[18] Bihar al-anwdr, 108:143-45.

^[19] Lu^Jlu^Jat al-bahrayn, 34.

^[20] al-Durr al-manthur, 2:189.

¹¹ Riyad al-^culamd^J, 2:110-11.

^[22] Ahsan al-tawarlkh, ed. ^cAbd al-Husayn NavvalT (Tehran: Intisharat-i Babak, 1978), 520-21.

^[23] Anonymous ms, British Museum, Or. 4678, fols. 226b- 227a.

^[24] QadT Ahmad ibn Sharaf al-DTn al-Husayn al-HusaynT al-QummT, Khuldsat al-tawdrikh, vol. 1 (Tehran: Intisharat-i danishgah-i Tihran, 1980), 398-99.

^[25] For example, Hossein Modarressi Tabataba’i gives al- ShahTd al-ThanT’s death date as 966/1559 in An Introduction to ShTl Law: A Bibliographical Study (London: Ithaca Press, 1984), 50. Brockelmann gives it as 966/1558 in Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, G 11:425; S 11:449.

^[26] Riyad al- ^culamd^J, 2:119-21.

^[27] Riyadal-^culama\ 2:119-20.

^[28] Bihar al-anwar, 108:189-90. He issued the ijazah to his two sons, al-BahaT and ^cAbd al-Samad. It is odd that he included ^cAbd al-Samad in the ijazah, for this son was only five years old at the time; it must have been for good luck, or simply to humor the child. The ijazah states that only the older son, al-Baha^DT, had actually studied with him.

^[29] It has not been possible to determine the correct voweling of this scholar’s nisbah. Other possibilities include al-^cUdT or al-^cAwadT.

^[30] al-Durr al-manthur, 2:151.

^[31] al-Durr al-manthur, 2:150-98.

^[32] al-Durr al-manthur, 2:182.

^[33] al-Durr al-manthur, 2:182.

^[34] Riyad al-^culama\ 2:109-10.

^[35] Riyad al-^culama^J, 2:114.

^[36] al-Durr al-manthur, 2:191.

^[37] al-Durr al-manthur, 2:151.

^[38] Riyad al-^culamd^J, 2:117.

History of Shah Abbas, 1:247-48.

^[40] TarTkh-i ^calam-ara-yi ^cabbasT, 1:156; History of Shah Abbas, 1:248.

^[41] NafTsT, 34-35, 127 [cited in Newman, 172, n. 24]; Savory, 1:248.

^[42] TarTkh-i ^calam-ara-yi ^cabbasT, 1:156; The History of Shah Abbas, 1:247-48.

^[43] Riyad al- ^culama^J, 2:110.

^[44] History of Shah Abbas, 1:247-48.

^[45] TarTkh-i ^calam-ara-yi ^cabbasT, 1:156; History of Shah Abbas, 1:248.

^[46] FalsafT, 3:27, adopts this error, which appears to be due to a copyist’s omission.

^[47] Or wives. Ahl baytih, literally, “the people of his house.” The terms ahi “people” or “family” and ahi bayt are com­monly used to refer to one’s wife.

^[48] Riyad al- ^culamd\ 2:119.

^[49] Tarikh-i ^calam-ara-yi ^cabbasT, 1:156.

^[50] Riyadal-^culama^J, 2:120.

^[51] Rawdat al-janndt, 2:342; Kohlberg, 429; Newman, 172.

^[52] That is, the wâw in wa-wâliduhü should be construed not as the conjunction “and” but as a wâw al-hâl, introducing a simultaneous clause.

^[53] Riyâdal-^culamâ^J, 2:120.

^[54] Muhammad al-Muhibbï (d. 1111/1699), Khulâsat al- athar fï a^cyân al-qarn al-hâdT ^cashar, 4 vols. (Beirut: Dâr sâdir, 1970), 3:441.

^[55] Riyâd al-^culamâ^J, 5:94; Bosworth, 11; Kohlberg, 429; Newman, 74; al-Tünjï, 30.

^[56] Newman cites Nafisi and endorses his opinion, pp. 174­75,177, n. 35,183,185,174, n. 30.

^[57] MTrza ^cAbd Allah found this date recorded on a copy of one of ^CA1T Minshar’s works. Riyadal-^culamd^J, 4:284.

^[58] On this scholar, see History of Shah Abbas, 1:205, 233, 320, 509-11; 2:631-32; Riyâd al-^culama\ 2:62-75; Rawdât al-jannat, 2:320-28; Mïrzâ Makhdüm al-Shïrâzï, al-Nawâqid fï al-rawâfid, ms, Princeton University Library, Garrett 2629, fol. 102a.

^[59] Riyâd al-^culamâ^J, 5:94; Bosworth, 11; Kohlberg, 429; Newman, 185-90.

^[60] Newman, 185-90.

^[61] al-Kashkül, 2 vols., ed. Muhammad Sâdiq Nasïrï (Qum: Dâr al-^cilm, 1958-59), 1:17.

^[62] al-Kashkül, 1:34, 38-39. Cf. Bosworth’s statement that the shrine is in Gaza. Bosworth, 29-30.

^[63] Darwish Muhammad al-Tâlawî (d. 1014/1605), Sânihât dumâ ’l-qasrfïmutârahât banï l-^casr, ms, Princeton Univer­sity, Garrett 4250 (1), fol. 123b.

^[64] al-Kashkül, 1:93.

^[65] Newman, 186-87.

^[66] Hourani, 138.

^[67] Arjomand, 206.

^[68] al-Kashkul, 1:199-200.

^[69] British Museum, Or. 4936, fol. 15. This is reproduced in E. G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, 4 vols. (Cam­bridge: Cambridge University, 1969), page facing 4:428.

^[70] Naqawat al-athar fT dhikr al-akhyar, ed. Ihsan Ishraq! (Tehran: Bungah-i tarjumah va nashr-i kitab, 1971), 334-45.