He was born in
Tabriz, Iran in the year 1892 A.D. in a family of the descendants of the
Noble Prophet (s.a.w.s.). He obtained his early education in Tabriz and at the
age of twenty, proceeded to the Great
Shi’ah University of Najaf-e-Ashraf. He had the privilege of being a
student of the two great masters of the time; Mirza Muhammad Hussayn Na’ini and
Shaykh Muhammad Hussayn Isphani. In addition to the formal learning of “acquired sciences”, he sought after the
“immediate science” or gnosis which leads to supernatural
realities. He was fortunate in finding a great master of Islamic gnosis, Mirza al-Qadi, who initiated him into
the Divine Mysteries and guided him
in his journey to spiritual perfection.
He returned to Tabriz in 1934 and taught few disciples for
sometimes. In 1945, he moved to Qum, the
centre of religious studies in Iran.
He taught the Qur’anic commentary, traditional Islamic philosophy, and
theosophy. His magnetic and spiritual presence attracted some of the most
intelligent and competent students to him and gradually he made the teachings
of Mullah Sadra a corner stone of
the curriculum. He tried to create new intellectual elite who wished to be acquainted
with the Islamic Intellectuality and Modern World. Some of his students, including Sayyid Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani of
Mashhad University and Murtaza Mutahhari of Teheran University, are themselves
scholars of considerable repute.
His interests were varied and scope of his learning was
vast. He had written about forty four
books, three of which are the collections of his articles on Islam and
Qur’an. His major contributions are in the tafsir, philosophy and history of
the Shi’ah faith. In philosophy the most important of his works is The Principles of Philosophy and the Method
of Realism, which has been published in five volumes with explanatory notes
by his disciple Martyr Murtaza Mutahhari.
His humanist approach is underlined by his three books on man-before the world, in this world after this world. His other two
works, Bityat-al Hikma and Nihayat
al-Hikma, are considered among the works of a high order in Muslim Philosophy.
He wrote several treatises on doctrines and history of Shi’ahs. One of such
books was in reply to questions posed by the famous French orientalist Henry Corbin. Another of his book Shi’ah dar Islam was translated in
English by Sayyid Hussayn Nasr.
If a single book is to be named as his masterpiece, Al-Mizan can be mentioned without
hesitation which is the outcome of Allamah’s lifelong labor in the sphere of
Qur’anic studies. His method, style and approach are unique. Among his pupils
we find a group of such luminaries and thinkers of imminence in their own right
as Martyr Murtaza Mutahhari, Martyr
Beheshti, Hasan Hasanzadeh Amuli, and Hussayn Nasr.
History of Al-Mizan:
About the motive of writing Al-Mizan, Allamah Tabataba’I himself states that
when he came to Qum, he tried to evaluate the requirements of the Islamic society
as well as the conditions prevalent in the Howzah; he concluded that the school
was badly in need of a commentary of the Qur’an for a better understanding. As
the materialistic notions were gaining prevalence, there was a great need for a
rational and philosophical discourse to enable the Howzah to rise to the
occasion for elaborating the intellectual and doctrinal principles of Islam
with the help of rational arguments in order to defend the Islamic position.
The lectures on the exegesis of Qur’an were planned. He delivered lectures and
also started writing commentary. He made a detailed plan to explain the Glorious Qur’an with the help of the Qur’an itself.
The first edition of al-Mizan in Arabic was published in
Iran then it was printed in Beirut. The original book in Arabic was in twenty volumes
each volume consisted of about four hundred pages. Six volumes of the Arabic text were translated in English in twelve
volumes by Allama Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi.
In an interview
with the daughter of Allamah
Tabataba’I; Khanum Najma Sadat Tabatabai’, she said; “Haj Agha always kept
himself busy and will not waste even one second. He would read the Glorious
Qur’an every day. He used to say whatever you do for Allah sincerely, is
worship. He used to say” Know God as being Ever-Present and Ever-Knowing”. He advised
to give great importance to respect elders. Khanum Najma Tabataba’i gave a few
golden advices to youth; she said: “If someone gets married for something other
than the sake of God, he will not get that which was his intention e.g. if someone
marries for wealth nothing will reach him from that money. Our youth should not
let the sustenance and glitter of this world occupy them. Our beloved youth
must always ask for help from God.
Allamah Tabataba’i died in the year 1981.
Sources used:
Islamic-Laws.com
Al-Mizan
Interview with the daughter of Allamah Tabataba’i
WIKIPEDIA
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