He perfected his studies in Syria and Iraq and then went to...

He perfected his studies in Syria and Iraq and then went to Iran and for the first time, the position of Shaykh ul-Islam went to Iran when it was entrusted to him. The order that the ruling king of Iran (Shah Tahmaseb) wrote in Mutaqqiq Karaki’s name in which the king gave him complete control, declaring himself to be only his agent, is famous. A well-known book that is often spoken of in jurisprudence is Muhaqqiq Karaki’s Jam’i ul-Muqasid , which is a commentary on the Qawa’id of Allamah Hilli.

The arrival of Mutaqqiq Thani in Iran and his establishing a religious university in Qazvin and then in Isfahan, together with his training of outstanding pupils in jurisprudence, caused Iran for the first time since the time of the Saduqayn to become a center of Shia jurisprudence. He died between the years 937 A.H. and 941 A.H. He had been the pupil of Ibn Fahd Hilli, who had been the pupil of the pupils of Shahid Awwal, such as Fazlel Miqdad.

Shaykh Zayn ud-Din known as Shahid Thani, the “Second Martyr”, was another of the great Shia jurisprudents. A master of several sciences, he was from Jabal ‘Amal and a descendant of a man called Saleh who was a student of Allamah Hilli. Apparently, Shahid Thani’s family was from Tus, and sometimes he would sign his name “At-Tusi Ash-Shami”. He was born in 911 A.H. and martyred in 966 A.H. He travelled widely and experienced many teachers.

He had been to Egypt, Syria, Hejaz, Jerusalem, Iraq, and Istanbul, and wherever he went he learnt. It has been recorded that his Sunni teachers alone numbered twelve. Besides jurisprudence and principles, he was accomplished in philosophy, gnosis, medicine, and astronomy. Very pious and pure, his students wrote that he used to carry wood at night to support his household and, in the mornings, sit and teach.

He compiled and wrote many books, the most famous of them in jurisprudence being Sharh Lum’a , his commentary on the Lum’a of Shahid Awwal. He was a pupil of Muhaqqiq Karaki (before Muhaqqiq migrated to Iran), but Iran was one place that he himself never went to. The author of M’alim which is about the Shia ‘ulema was Shahid Thani’s son. Muhammad ibn Baqer ibn Muhammad Akmal Bahbahani, known as Wahid Bahbahani, who came in the period after the fall of the Safavi dynasty of Iran.