Shaikh Abbas ibn
Muhammad Rida ibn Abi Qasim al-Qummi was born in the year 1294 A.H. at Qum.
His mother was a very pious woman, and it is said that she made sure that she
was in a state of ablution whenever she fed the child. He began his religious
education at Qum. In the year 1316 A.H.
at the age of 22 years, he travelled to Najaf al-Ashraf, where he studied under
the greatest scholars of the time, including Akhund Khorasani, Sayyid Muhammad
Kazim Tabatabai, Mirza Husayn Noori,
and Shaikh Taqi Shirazi. Upon the request of Shaikh Abdul Karim Hai’ri, he
returned to Qum to assist in managing the revitalized Seminary.
Shaikh Abbas Qummi
had extensive knowledge of the Traditions (Hadees), and for this reason, he is
famously known as the “Muhaddis
al-Qummi” When one of the senior scholar asked him to pray for removal of
pain in his foot, Shaikh Abbas Qummi
replied: “In the past I have committed sins so it is possible that my
prayers may not be answered. However, I have written numerous narrations of the
Ahlul Bayt (s.a.) with this hand of mine, so I will rub it on your foot and,
Insha Allah; you would be cured by the sake of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s.).” He
rubbed his hand on the other scholar’s foot and the pain vanished immediately!
Shaikh Abbas Qummi’s
area of interest was supplications, hence
after a long and arduous struggle; he compiled a book that contained the text
and detailed instructions on supplications (Du’as), salutations (Ziayraat), and
prayers for each day of the year. He
dedicated the book in honor of the Lady
of Paradise Hazrat Fatima Zahra (s.a.), saying that with her Blessings, the
book will become a “Mafatih al-Jinan” Keys of Paradise. Today, the book can be
found in every household. It has been translated in many languages. The
English version is known as either “The Prayers Almanac” or Supplications: Call
on Me, I answer you.
An extremely pious
individual, Shaikh Abbas Qummi not only compiled a manual of prayers and
supplications, he actually lived his
life by them. Ayatullah Buzurg
Tehrani writes that he found him the model of abstinence and piety, completely
aware and practicing of all religious laws, and extremely devout in following
the teachings and examples of Ahlul
Bayt (a.s.). In fact when he compiled “Mafatih” and took it to the
publisher, reached an agreement for printing but then he drowned in a deep
thought and retrieved the manuscript and went home. After one year, he went
back to the printer, whereupon the printer inquired about his strange behavior.
Shaikh Abbas Qummi replied: “I had compiled a book a book on supplications and
prayers to be performed for each day of the year. However, I thought it was unfair for me to tell others to do them without having done them myself. So,
for the last one year, I have gone through the book and performed every act
each day that is recommended. Here it is now for publication!”
One day he was
sitting contemplating in the graveyard of Wadi Assalaam in Najaf. He saw that
some people had just buried a man. Suddenly, for a brief moment, the veils were
lifted from before his eyes and he saw angels descending from the heavens with
whips of fire with which they began to strike the dead man. He started to
scream and shriek in pain, but none
of the mourners heard or saw anything unusual. However, the terrible sight
that the Shaikh saw in those brief moments made him ill for whole one week.
Apart from Mafatihul Jinan, he had authored many books, some
of the famous 14 books are:
Safinatul Behar,
Baytul Ahzan fi Masaeb Sayyidat un Niswan, Nafsal Mahmoom, Muntaha al-A’maal,
and Manazil al-Akhiriyya, and nine more.
Shaikh Abbas Qummi (r.a.) passed away on 23rd Zil
Hajj 1359 A.H. in Najaf al-Ashraf and was laid to rest in the courtyard of the
Sacred Shrine of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (a.s.)
Sources used:
Islamic-Laws.com, Imamreza.net, Islamic Insight
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