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Bihar al-Anwar

() is a comprehensive collection of hadith (pl. ahadith) compiled by Shia scholar Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi (). It is the secondary Shi'ite hadith verification source after the Four Books.

Overview

Bihar al-Anwar is the most comprehensive hadith collections, documenting over 100,000 items of Twelver Shia hadith along with Majlisi's commentary on these narrations. He used about 400 sources written by such Sunni and Shia scholars as Shaykh al-Saduq, Shaykh Tusi, Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, Sharif al-Murtaza, Muhammad Jamaluddin al-Makki al-Amili, Sayyed Ibn Tawus, Al-Hilli, Zayn al-Din al-Juba'i al'Amili.

The full title of the book is:<blockquote>Biḥār al-ʾAnwār al-Jāmiʿah li-Durar ʾAkhbār al-ʾAʾimmah al-Aṭhār

()

(lit. Oceans of Lights: The Compendium for Pearls of Traditions of the Pure Imams)</blockquote>This lengthy title indicates Majlisi collected anything he had access to in the book. His primary goal was to preserve the knowledge for future generations and prevent forgery. Majlisi has acknowledged the forgery issue in the preface of Bihar al-Anwar, emphasizing that the traditions collected were not included without extensive scrutiny, although a consequence of his approach was that he has gathered both "pearls" and "pebbles".

The compilation of Bihar al-Anwar took 36 years, during which Majlisi received aid from other scholars and his students.

Author

Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi was born in 1617 in Isfahan, the capital city of the Persian Empire. A student of Mulla Sadra, he was described in the journal Orient as "an unprecedentedly influential author in the world of Imami Shi'ism". On 1687, he was appointed as Sheikh ul-Islam of Isfahan by the emperor Sultan Husayn. He developed the Twelver doctrine by investigating Shia and Sunni hadith. He wrote over 100 books in Arabic and Persian.

Editions

  • MajlisÄ«, Muḥammad Bāqir al-, Biḥār al-nwār al-JāmiÊ¿ahli-Durar Akhbār al-Aʾimmat al-Aá¹­hār [The Oceans of Lights: A Compendium of the Pearls of the Narrations of the Pure Imāms], 110 vols (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Wafāʾ, 1983).

Commentaries

  • MashraÊ¿a Biḥār al-Anwār – by Muḥammad Asif Mohseni
  • Durrar al-Biḥār – by al-Mawlā NÅ«r al-DÄ«n Muḥammad ibn Murtaḍā
  • Commentary on Biḥār al-Anwār – by Ê¿Abd al-AÊ¿lā al-MÅ«sawÄ« al-SabzawārÄ«
  • GharÄ«b al-ḤadÄ«th fÄ« Biḥār al-Anwār (“Strange Expressions in Biḥār al-Anwār”) – by Ḥusayn al-ḤusaynÄ« al-BÄ«rjandÄ«
  • Anwār al-Biḥār – by Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad HādÄ« al-NāʾīnÄ«
  • Manāhil al-Abrār fÄ« TalkhÄ«á¹£ Biḥār al-Anwār – by Ḥusayn DargāhÄ«
  • TalkhÄ«á¹£ al-Biḥār – by al-MÄ«rzā Muḥammad Ṣādiq al-ShÄ«rāzÄ«
  • ḤadÄ«qat al-Azhār fÄ« TalkhÄ«á¹£ al-Biḥār – by al-MÄ«rzā Muḥammad ibn Ê¿Abd al-NabÄ« al-NÄ«shābÅ«rÄ«
  • TalkhÄ«á¹£ al-Anwār – by al-Mawlā Muḥammad TaqÄ«, known as Āqā NajafÄ« Iá¹£fahānÄ«
  • MashrÅ«Ê¿ Biḥār al-Anwār (“Biḥār al-Anwār Project”) – by Muḥammad Āṣif MuḥsinÄ«
  • TalkhÄ«á¹£ al-Biḥār – by al-MÄ«rzā IbrāhÄ«m ibn Ḥusayn ibn Ghafār al-DunbulÄ« al-Khūʾī
  • Durrar al-Biḥār – by al-Mawlā Muḥammad TaqÄ« ibn Muḥammad al-Khūʾī
  • Banādir al-Biḥār – by Fayḍ al-Islām
  • Muntakhab Biḥār al-Anwār – by Muḥammad HādÄ« ibn Murtaḍā al-KāshānÄ«

See also

References

External links