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Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi

Iranian Twelver Shi'a cleric (c.1627 – 1699)

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Majlesi strongly opposed the rationalization of religion through philosophy, as well as Sufism and Sunnism, whose adherents he regarded as determined rivals. He succeeded in persuading the Shah to exclude Sunnis from Isfahan. He wrote in both Persian and Arabic, thereby reaching a substantially wider audience with his vigorous advocacy of Twelver Shi'ism. His principal work was Biḥār al-anwār ("The Ocean of Lights"), a multivolume compilation of hadith. He also promoted devotion to the Imams and the elaboration of religious rituals, including devotion to the martyrs (shahīd) and pilgrimage practices.

Majlesi's influence extended beyond theology into the religious organization and devotional culture of Iranian Twelver Shi'ism. His pronounced opposition to Sunnism may have contributed to the circumstances surrounding the Afghan invasion of 1722. The subsequent political developments eventually facilitated the rise of the Qajar dynasty, established in 1794 (AH 1209), which endorsed Majlesi's religious programme and made Tehran the capital. The Qajars were later overthrown by Reza Khan, but the succeeding Pahlavi dynasty did not displace either the established Shi'a devotional order or the religious authority exercised through the mullahs in the name of the Hidden Imam, an authority that Majlesi had helped establish.

Among Majlesi's other works was Hayat al-Qulūb. He was buried beside his father in the family mausoleum adjoining the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan.

Early life and education

Born in Isfahan in 1627, his father, Mulla Mohammad Taqi Majlesi (Majlesi-ye Awwal—Majlesi the First, 1594-1660), was a cleric of the Ja'fari school.

The genealogy of his family can be traced back to Abu Noaym Ahmad ibn Abdallah Esfahani (d. 1038), the author, of a History of Isfahan, entitled Zikr-i akhbar-i Isfahan. His first definitive ancestor however, appears to be Kamal al-Din Darvish Mohammad ibn Hasan Ameli, who was of Lebanese origin and the first scholar to propagate the Usul of Shia Hadith in Isfahan, following the establishment and rise of the Safavids. Ameli later adopted two nisbas, that is, Natanzi ("from Natanz") and Esfahani ("from Isfahan").

Majlesi himself also used these nisbas and even signed some of his ijazat as "al-Esfahani al-Natanzi al-Ameli". Majlesi's father Mohammad Taqi was also the first of the line to bear the epithet "Majlesi".

By the age of 25, Baqer Majlesi gained certification of riwāyat from Mulla Sadra to teach. He is said to have completed studies under 21 masters. He is reported to have trained 181 students to become masters themselves.

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