Qutbuddīn Rāvandī

Birth

Sheikh Qutbuddīn, Abul-Hasan or Abul-Husein, Sa’īd son of Abdullāh son of Husein son of Hibatullāh son of Hasan Rāvandī Kāshānī, was the great Shi’a scholar, Muhaddith (narrator), Mufassir (exegete), Mutakallim (theologian), Faqīh (Islamic Jurisprudent), philosopher, and historian in the 6^th century Hegira. Sometimes he is attributed to his ancestor and is called as ‘Sa’īd son of Hibatullāh Rāvandī’.

He was born in Rāvand near Kāshān. His father and grandfather were great Islamic scholars of that time.

Education

He took his elementary education from his father. Afterwards he took advantage of three great scholars, namely Sheikh Abū Alī Tabresī, Imāduddīn Tabarī, and Sayyid Murtadhā Rāzī. Then he headed for Qum in order to take advantage of the scholars of that city, and soon afterwards turned into a renowned Shi’a figure.

Scientific Position

Sheikh Qutbuddīn has dealt with various Islamic subjects in his works, and presented lots of writings in the fields of Tafsīr (Exegesis of the Holy Qur’ān), Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), Hadīth (Traditions), philosophy, theology, history and other branches of Islamic science to the Islamic world.

In his writings, Qutbuddīn goes profoundly through the subjects and studies everything in detail, and does not content himself with a superficial glance at matters. He quotes the others’ viewpoints either pro or con, and carefully investigates all existing standpoints, as he seeks truth for the sake of truth. That is why all people who intended to introduce him, have used expressions that indicate his dignity and nobility.

His intrinsic talent and genius can easily be detected in his writings and compilations. He has made a profound research in all of his works, and achieved some attractive, delicate points, which had remained concealed to many scholars and luminaries.

Teachers

Some of his teachers are as follows:

1-   His honorable father

2-   Sheikh Abū Ali, Fadhl son of Hasan Tabresī (the writer of ‘Majma’-ul-Bayān’, an exegesis on the Holy Qur’ān)

3-   Imāduddīn Muhammad, son of Abul-Qāsim Tabarī

4-   Safīeddīn Sayyid Murtadhā, son of Dā’ī Rāzī, and his brother ‘Sayyid Mujtabā’

5-   Sayyid Abul-Samsām, Dhulfaqār, son of Muham-mad son of Ma’bad Huseinī

6-   Sheikh Abū Ja’far Halabī

7-   Muhammad, son of Hasan (the father of Khājeh Nasīreddīn Tūsī)

8-   Abū Abdillāh, Hasan Muaddab Qummī

9-   Abul-Qāsim Hasan, son of Muhammad Hadīqī

10-Abū Mansūr, Shahriār son of Shīr-e-weyh son of 

     Shahriār Deylamī

 Pupils

Some of his pupils are as follows:

1-   Nasīreddīn Husein son of Sa’īd Rāvandī (his son)

2-   Zahīreddīn Muhammad son of Sa’īd Rāvandī (his son)

3-   Qāzī (the judge) Ahmad, son of Ali son of Abdul-Jabbār Tūsī

4-   Qāzī Jamāluddīn Ali, son of Abdul-Jabbār Tūsī

5-   Faqīh Alī son of Muhammad Madāenī

6-   Faqīh ‘Izzuddīn Muhammad son of Hasan Alawī Baghdādī

7-   Zaynuddīn Abū Ja’far Muhammad son of Abdul-Hamīd son of Mahmūd Da’wīdār

8-   Rashīduddīn Muhammad son of Alī son of Shahr-Āshūb Māzandarānī

9-   Sheikh Muntajabuddīn

Compilations

Number of his works exceeds sixty books on different Islamic subjects. Some of them listed below:

      1-   Fiqh-ul-Qur’ān

2-   Sharh-e Āyāt-ul-Ahkām

3-   Ihkām-ul-Ahkām

4-   Al-Ikhtilāf Bayn-ul-Mufīd Wal-Mrtadhā Fī Ba’dh-il-Masāil-il-Kalāmīyyah (difference of opinion between Sheikh Mufīd and Sayyid Murtadhā in some theological subjects)

5-   Asbāb-un-Nuzūl

6-   Al-Aghrāb Fil-I’rāb

7-   Alqāb-ur-Rasūl Wa Fātimah Wal-A’immah (A.S.)

8-   Al-Injāz Fī Sharh-il-Ijāz Fil-Farāidh

9-   Tahāfat-ul-Phalāsiphah

Death