Talk:Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi

Spelling of His Name
In the English Academic books, his name is translated/spelled as Allamah al-Majlisi. This article is using the Farsi pronunciation of his name Allameh Majlesi. I propose we standardized the way his name is spelled on this article. Thanks. Xareen (talk) 01:48, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Influence and beliefs
Majlesi is misunderstood because he defined "science", narrowly as "knowledge of the clear, secure ayat [verses of the Quran]; of the religious duties and obligations which God has fixed in his Justice; and of the Prophetic Traditions (Hadith), which are valid until the day of Resurrection." Beyond this, he warned, the seeking of knowledge is "a waste of one's life," unless it is for the purpose of better enjoining the good. The worse fear of his critics today is his assertion that this would "generally lead to apostasy and heresy, in which case the likelihood of salvation is remote." Clearly, this would be in hypothetical cases were science would be used to enjoin evil, and prohibit good. To make this matter clear, there is no evidence that he directed or issued edicts prohibiting the aquisition of natural sciences, for example. Moreover, there is no evidence that the long tradition of scientific discovery and invention was interrupted as a direct result of his authority. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.101.55.15 (talk) 15:09, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Excuse me, but why are his beliefs called "Akhbari" in this article if in fact there wasn't any division of Shi'a Twelver Islam at that time? 83.149.19.112 (talk) 15:14, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Jurisprudence: Akhbari
So I am going to make a slightly controversial edit that I feel someone in the future is going to attempt to revert. To pre-empt that I have made this section. Now I have a source which explicitly states that he is an Akhbari.

"an akhbari scholar like Muhammad Baqir Majlesi (d. 1699)..."

- Mirshahvalad, Minoo. "Can Iranian Women Compensate for Their Absence from the World of Fiqh?." Jura Gentium: Rivista di filosofia del diritto internazionale e della politica globale 14.2 (2017): 86-107.

Moreover this is reinforced in other sources.

"Majlesi, who is  affiliated  to  the  Akhbari  current,  issued  a  fatwa  in  1106  AH  /  1694  CE  to  Shah  Husayn  Safavid  against  Sufism  from  Isfahan,  the  capital,  prohibiting  the  performance  of  dhikr,  and  the  practice  of  every  tradition  related  to  Sufism."

- Al-Sayyad, Mohammed Sayad. "The Akhbaris and Politics in Iran."

There are also neutral sources that side with him being an Akhbari over any middle position (or being an Usuli).

"Gleave... called him a 'marginal' Akhbari"

- Newman, Andrew J. "University of Edinburgh." Safavid Persia in the Age of Empires: The Idea of Iran Vol. 10: 157.

I understand there is also a view that he was in a middle position between being an Usuli and Akhbari (which contradicts the sources I have brought), as well as the weakest view - source-wise - that he is an Usuli. However, as it is explicit in these sources, and as we cannot edit based off of OR, I suggest that his jurisprudence remains as Akhbari. Also, I have not brought all the sources that state he is an Akhbari.

Please do not revert his jurisprudence, discuss it on here first. ParthikS8 (talk) 11:29, 21 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Before someone mentions this, yes some people claim that the Akhbari movement started with a later figure. So they claim that identifying him as such is back-projecting. Let me be clear - your Original Research and own analysis does not matter on Wikipedia. The academic sources have listed him as Akhbari, so you have a problem with the sources, you cannot remove what the sources have said based off of you own independent reasoning. ParthikS8 (talk) 11:34, 21 March 2021 (UTC)