User:Positron010/History of Islamic sciences in Bahrain (600 AH - 1300 AH)

The scholarly movement in Bahrain refers to the intellectual movement in Islamic and Arabic disciplines that occurred in the island of Bahrain from the 7th century AH till the end of the 13th century AH.

The Bahrani heritage has hundreds of works in Islamic sciences by prominent scholars as such as mutakallim & philosopher Shaykh Maitham Al Bahrani, muhaddith and exegete Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, and faqih Shaykh Yusuf al-Bahrani, among many others.

Overview
Bahrain in its modern borders, meaning specifically the island of Awal has been a country in which many intellectuals in various fields of knowledge have flourished. This can be acknowledged in the biographical books that include the names of Bahrani scholars as such as Shaykh Ahmad ibn Saada al-Sitrawi (d. b. 672 AH / 1273 AD), philosopher Shaykh Maitham Al Bahrani (d. 699 AH / 1299 AD), Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Mutawaj (d. 820 AH / 1417 AD), Sayyid Hussain al-Ghuraifi (d. 1001 AH / 1592 AD), Sayyid Majid al-Jidhafsi (d. 1028 AH / 1618 AD), Shaykh Ali ibn Sulayman al-Qadami (d. 1064 AH / 1653 AD), Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani (d. 1107 AH / 1695 AD), Shaykh Sulayman al-Mahuzi (d. 1121 AH / 1709 AD), Shaykh Abdullah al-Samahiji (d. 1135 AH / 1722 AD), Shaykh Yusuf al-Bahrani (d. 1186 AH / 1722 AD), Shaykh Hussain al-Usfur (d. 1216 AH / 1801 AD), Shaykh Abdulla al-Sitri (d. 1267 AH / 1850 AD), and Shaykh Ahmad bin Saleh al-Taan (d. 1315 AH / 1897 AD) among hundreds of others.

It is proposed that because of Bahrain being famous as an advanced Islamic center, and because of the large number of Islamic jurisprudents in it, the Safavids depended initially on Arabic Shia scholars including from Bahrain to spread Shiism in Iran. It is also for the large number of jurisprudents in Bahrain, that other jurisprudents took the behavior and history of Bahrani scholars as evidence in controversial jurisprudential issues. Indeed, German explorer Carsten Niebuhr noted the high intellectual position of Bahrain among the Shia, and that Persian intellectuals often headed to Bahrain to learn Arabic, as to understand the Quran. Ali al-Oraibi even proposes that the Bahrani school played a major role in introducing philosophy and mysticism into Shiism.

Isa al-Wadai states that the works of Bahrani scholars mentioned by Agha Bozorg Tehrani in Al-Dharīʿa ilā Taṣānīf al-Shīʿa are found to be approximately 1000 works, which he considers a large number of works for an island with a relatively small population then.

The Bahrani school
The origins of the Bahrani school are mysterious and not well documented. Early prominent names include Shaykh Nasir al-Din Rashed bin Ebrahim bin Ishaq al-Bahrani (d. 605 AH / 1208 AD). Prominent names of the like of Shaykh Ahmad ibn Saada al-Sitrawi, and Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrani followed.

The Bahrani school did not achieve the same high rank historically as with other schools like the school of Baghdad, Hilla, or Cairo. This is proposed to have happened due to several reasons including that Bahrain is an island that is difficult to travel to and from, and the isolation of the school of Bahrain from the aforementioned central schools.

It can be said that the Bahrani school is indebted to the philosopher, and theologian Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrani for achieving its highest fame and rank among the other schools. This is because Shaykh Maitham responded to a letter from the scholars of Iraq that urged him to leave his isolation in Bahrain. Al-Bahrani went to Iraq, and many of its most prominent scholars studied under him, including Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, and Al-Allama al-Hilli. Several later scholars including Shaykh Hussain al-Amili, the father of Shaykh Baha al-Din al-Amili, migrated and lived in Bahrain arguably in part due to the high position it had by the fame of Shaykh Maitham.

Prominent centers
Several villages in Bahrain became known for Islamic knowledge, and thus, students travelled from all over the country towards them to study. Shaykh Abdullah al-Samahiji, for example, left his village Samaheej to study in Mahooz under Shaykh Sulayman al-Mahoozi. Moreover, Shaykh Hussain al-Usfur migrated from Diraz to study in Shakhura. Many other institutions and schools were present in the country. Some schools, however, were prominent and notable among the other schools, due to them being the political capital of the country, or because the Marja of the country lived in it. This for example includes the school of Bilad Al Qadeem that considered the Khamis Mosque as its central location, and that became the central school in Bahrain. This was followed by the school of Shakhura, the house of Shaykh Hussain al-Usfur being its central location.

Scientific movement in the Bahrani school
The Bahrani school had a considerable lively scholarly movement, where students were encouraged to write books and epistles in the various fields of knowledge including Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, and Arabic studies, among others. Shaykh Abdullah al-Samahiji mentions, for example, that it was his teacher Shaykh Sulayman al-Mahoozi that encouraged him to write and publish. Teachers even went further to order their students to write explainers on various texts, whether these texts were written by the teachers themselves, or by other scholars. Another point is the propagation of debates among the scholars of the Bahrani school. It shall be noted however, that there were fruitful positive debates, and negative debates of tension and envy, the latter arguably being more common in the final years of the Bahrani school.

Deterioration and decline
Several reasons are proposed to have lead to the deterioration of the Bahrani school including the decline of the Safavid rule in Iran that lead to the decline in the status of the religious scholars, and the spread of corruption in the country. Another reason is that Bahrain became a center for foreign attacks by historical Oman and other forces that targeted the scholars and burned their publications. These reasons, among others, have lead to the decline of the scientific movement in Bahrain, and the migration of scholars from it to other countries, a thing that is evident in the writings of scholars that lived in Bahrain during those times.

Contributions of Bahrani scholars to scientific disciplines
The scholars of Bahrain left many contributions to the various Islamic disciplines, including in Fiqh, the Quran, hadith, Arabic studies, and even Kalam.

Fiqh
The interest of Bahrani scholars in Fiqh and Islamic jurisprudence seems to be as old as the beginnings of the Islamic scholarly movement in Bahrain. Bahrain gave birth to many Islamic jurisprudents or fuqahā, with early Bahrani scholars like Shaykh Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Bahrani (was alive in 529 AH / 1134 AD), and Shaykh Ibrahim ibn al-Hussain ibn Ibrahim al-Bahrani (died after 669 AH / 1270 AD) being described in their biographies by scholars as being fuqahā.

Works of Fiqh only starting from the end of the 8th century AH, and the beginning of the 9th century AH have reached us. Early works in Fiqh by Bahrani scholars were commentaries on the major works of Fiqh in the Shia Imami circles. We then start to have standalone works that became of the most important sources of Fiqh that scholars studied and referred to later on. One of the most important contributions of the Bahrani school to Fiqh is the comprehensive encyclopedia of Fiqh by Shaykh Yusuf al-Bahrani entitled "The Blooming Gardens" (الحدائق الناضرة), which represents a new encyclopedic approach to Fiqh. The other approach was the specialized approach, in which the scholar studies one specialized topic in Fiqh in detail. Bahrani scholars for example wrote multiple epistles on the ruling of Friday prayer in the time of occultation.

Akhbaris and Usulis
By surveying the texts of Bahrani scholars, it can be stated that the debate between Akhbaris and Usulis was seen among Bahrani scholars as a purely scholarly debate. The debate was less severe among Bahrani scholars, as compared to the Iraqi, and Irani religious circles. Shaykh Abdullah al-Samahiji, which had an Akhbari stance, for example, studied under Shaykh Sulayman al-Mahoozi which had a purely Usuli stance. Al-Samaheeji even complements his teacher, and further mentions that he had several Usuli friends.

Quranic sciences
The Bahrani school also contributed to the Quranic disciplines. There is no mention, however, of Quranic Bahrani works in biographical books before the works of Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Mutawaj (d. 820 AH / 1417 AD) which is mentioned to have written three exegeses of the Quran.

The heritage of the Bahrani school regarding the exegesis of the Quran (tafsir) can be divided into three phases: the first phase is what could be called tafsir by tradition (التفسير بالمأثور) with Al-Burhan Fi Tafsir al-Quran by Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani (d. 1107 AH / 1694 AD) being a famous example. The second phase is the phase of tafsir by a combination of tradition and Arabic studies. An example of the second phase is Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ali al-Maqabi al-Bahrani (was alive 1186 AH / 1772 AD) tafsir entitled (صفوة الصافي والبرهان) which is a summarization of al-Burhan and Tafsir Safi with linguistic additions by al-Maqabi. The final phase is the phase of linguistic tafsir (التفسير اللغوي) with the tafsir of Shaykh Abdulla al-Sitri entitled (نزهة الناظرين في تفسير القرآن المبين) being its example.

Bahrani scholars also contributed to other Quranic disciplines, as evident in works such as (الكامل في الصناعة) attributed to Shaykh Jafar bin Kamal al-Din al-Bahrani (d. 1088 AH).

Hadith sciences
Just like other Islamic schools, the Bahrani school also gave importance to Hadith and its studies as it constitutes the second source after the Quran for deducing Islamic rulings. It is however starting from the 11th Hijri century that we find Bahrani scholars giving evident special importance to Hadith studies, specializing in it, and teaching it not in only in Bahrain, but also in other Islamic centers. Notable scholars of Hadith in that period include Sayyid Majid ibn Sayyid Hashim al-Sadiqi al-Jidhafsi (d. 1028 AH / 1618 AD) which is the first scholar to spread Hadith science in Shiraz, and Shaykh Ali ibn Sulayman al-Qadami al-Bahrani (d. 1064 AH / 1653 AD) which returned to Bahrain and spread Hadith studies in it. Other notable scholars include Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, which is considered by Shaykh Yusuf al-Bahrani to be second only to Allama Majlesi in terms of compilation and collection of Shia Hadith.

Bahrani scholars also contributed to Rijal studies, and wrote critics of their contemporary books. Shaykh Yaseen al-Biladi (d. 1147 AH / 1734 AD) for example, wrote critics of Rijal al-Kashshi, and Rijal al-Najashi. Other scholars that published in Rijal studies include Shaykh Sulayman al-Mahoozi (d. 1121 AH / 1709 AD), and his disciple Shaykh Abdullah al-Samahiji (d. 1135 AH / 1722 AD).

Bahrani scholars had different hadith currents that each delt with hadith differently. One current is the literal Akhbari with its epitomes being Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, and Shaykh Yusuf al-Bahrani. Another current is the rationalistic current, with its epitome being Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrani.

Kalam
Kalam and philosophy can be considered the oldest disciplines that the Bahrani school gained fame in; this is due to prominent scholars such as Shaykh Ahmad ibn Saada al-Sitrawi, and Shaykh Ali ibn Sulayman al-Sitrawi, which were contemporaries of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. In fact, Shaykh Ahamd ibn Saada al-Sitrawi wrote an epistle entitled Treatise on Knowledge (رسالة العلم) that Nasir al-Din al-Tusi wrote a commentary on. This is further indicated by considering later scholars which were proficient in kalam and philosophy, especially Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrani, a disciple of Shaykh Ahamd ibn Saada al-Sitrawi.

Kalam and Islamic philosophy were further established in Bahrain by the hands of Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrani (d. 699 AH / 1299 AD) which was proficient in both disciplines and wrote several works in them. He wrote for example a book entitled Qawāʿid al-marām fī ʿilm al-kalām (قواعد المرام في علم الكلام) in kalam, and several other books in Islamic philosophy. Indeed, Mulla Sadra is stated to have extensively referenced a book entitled (المعراج السماوي) by Shaykh Maitham. Several lateral Bahrani scholars also specialized in Kalam and wrote in it.

Some Bahrani scholars however, opposed the discipline of kalam if its conclusion did not have support in the Quran or the Hadith. This line is exemplified by Shaykh Abdullah al-Samahiji (d. 1135 AH / 1722 AD) which criticized several positions held by the scholars of kalam and philosophy.

Arabic studies
As with its counterparts, the Bahrani school also had its contributions to Arabic studies. Biographical and bibliographical books however do not reference any linguistic Bahrani work before the end of the 8th century AH, the work being of Ismail ibn Ibrahim al-Bahrani which has finished it in 795 AH / 1392 AD. This has several proposed reasons, but should not, however, be taken to indicate the lack of contribution and specialization in Arabic by Bahrani scholars, as this is countered by the substantial number of Bahrani scholars contributing to linguistic Arabic studies. Notable works include Usul al-Balagha by Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrani, as well as his commentary on Nahj al-balagha.

Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrain
Shaykh Maitham al-Bahrani was a notable scholar in theology and philosophy. Indeed, he is considered along with Nasir al-Din al-Tusi to have contributed to establishing Shi'i theology on philosophical grounds. He is also notable for his attempt to introduce mysticism into Shi'i thought; his citation of al-Ghazali is unprecedented in Shi'i history. Haydar Amuli postulates that Maitham was influenced in his mystical orientation by his master Ali ibn Sulayman al-Bahrani.