Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan bin ÿAlë bin al-Ḥusayn al-Ḥurr al-ÿÃÂmilë al-Mashgharë (; 1033/1624 - 1104/1693), commonly known as Al-Ḥurr Al-ÿÃÂmilë (), was a prominent Akhbari Twelver Shia scholar, muhaddith, and poet. He is best known for his comprehensive hadith compilation known as Wasa'il al-Shia (also known as WasaâÂÂil ush-ShiâÂÂa) and as the second of the âÂÂThree Great Muhammadsâ in later ShiâÂÂa Islamic history.
He was born on Friday, 8th of Rajòab 1033AH/26 April 1624 CE in the Western Beqaa village of Machghara in the ÿÃÂmil mountains of Lebanon, a center of ShiâÂÂi Lebanese in the region, to Al-Hurr family descended from Al-Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi al-Tamimi. His early education began with a family of teachers that included his father, his paternal uncle, his maternal grandfather (Shaykh ÿAbd SalÃÂm b. Muḥammad), and one of his father's maternal uncles (shaykh ÿAlë b. Maḥmà «d; at á¸Âjòabÿ). He also studied under Ḥusayn b. Hasan b. Yunus áºÂahër and Ḥasan b. Zayn al-Dën ÿÃÂmili (d.1011/1602), who was the great-grandson of al-Shahid al-Thani, in al-Jaba, a nearby village. Ḥusayn Zahir was the first to give al-Ḥurr al-ÿÃÂmili ijaza, a license to teach and transmit ahadeeth.
Al-Ḥurr Al-ÿÃÂmili performed the hajj twice and went on ziyarat, visiting of holy ShiâÂÂa shrines, in Iraq. Other than these trips, he remained in the Jabal ÿÃÂmil for the first forty years of his life. He lived during the era of the Safavid Empire, which at the time was pushing Imami ShiâÂÂism upon the people of Iran. When Sunni ulama fled from the Safavid Empire, specifically the religious centers of Iran, the empire brought in many ShiâÂÂi scholars to replace them, a large amount coming from Jabal ÿÃÂmil.
Al-Ḥurr Al-ÿÃÂmili was one of the many scholars that migrated to take religious leadership positions in Iran at the time, eventually journeying to Mashhad, Iran and settling there in 1073/1663 where he became Shaykh al-Islam in the shrine of the 8th Imam, Ali al-Ridha. He settled after traveling first to Isfahan, Persia where he became acquainted with Muhammad Baqir Majlisi, the third of the Great Muḥammads (the first of the Three Great Muḥammads of later centuries is Muhammad Kashani, also known as Muhsin al-Fayz). The meeting between these two scholars left an impression on them both and they mutually granted each other ijÃÂza to transmit hadiths. Majlisi also introduced al-ÿÃÂmili to Shah Sulayman of the Safavid Empire.
Al-ÿÃÂmili died in Mashhad on the 21st of Ramadhan 1104 AH / 26 May 1693 CE and is buried there. He was succeeded by his brother Ahmad (d. 1120/1708-9) as shaykh al-Islam in Mashhad. Some have claimed that al-Ḥurr al-ÿÃÂmili actually died in Yemen in 1079/1669, but there is no evidence in support of this.
Al-Ḥurr al-ÿÃÂmili was not only known as a scholar, but also as a poet. He is credited with a diwÃÂn of approximately 20,000 verses, which includes several didactic poems (manáºÂumas), most of which constitute panegyrics to the Prophet Muḥammad and to his descendants. However, in two verses, he also expressed his inner struggle between his poetic and scholarly leanings: âÂÂMy scholarship and my poetry fought one another, then were reconciled / poetry reluctantly surrendering to scholarshipâ (ÿelmi wa-à ¡eÿri qatalàwa-á¹£á¹Âalaḥà/ fa-ḵaà ¼aÿa al-à ¡eÿro le-ÿelmi rÃÂḡemÃÂ); âÂÂMy scholarship objected to my being considered a poet / poetry, however, conceded that I be regarded as a scholarâ (fa-l-ÿelmo yaþbàan oÿadda à ¡ÃÂÿeran / waâÂÂl-à ¡eÿro yarà ¼Ã an oÿadda ÿÃÂlemÃÂ).