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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Portraits of Youths in Quran and the History of Islam Muhammad Ibn Babawayh An Enlightened Adolescent And A Teacher Of Aged Pupils Muhammad ibn Babawayh, known as Shaykh Sadooq in the world of knowledge, lived in the fourth century Hijri. He is considered the father of the science of traditions and is a well-known personality of Shias.

His father was Ali Ibn Babawayh and he was the most prominent scholar of Qom and he wrote twenty books, which are well known in the literary circles. He had married the daughter of his uncle but even after the passage of so many years they did not have any issue. In 305 A.H. he traveled to Baghdad and met Husayn Ibn Rauh Nawbakhti, the special deputy of the twelfth Imam (a.s) and through him sent a request letter to the Imam of the time.

Husain ibn Rauh conveyed his request to the Imam who replied as follows: “You will not have any children with this wife. I have petitioned Allah in this regard and soon you will get two righteous and worthy sons from a lady of Daylam.” Shaykh Sadooq has mentioned this episode in the introduction to his book, Kamal uddin . Thus not many days passed when Ali Ibn Babawayh married a Dailamite lady and two sons were born through her. One he named Muhammad and other Husain.

The two became well known scholars of their time. The elder was Muhammad who later became famous as Shaykh Sadooq. He had extraordinary intelligence and an analytical mind and he was incomparable in his intellect, wisdom and perfections. Muhammad was born in Qom . He first studied under his respected father, and then received instructions from Muhammad ibn Walid Qummi and other scholars of Qom . Not much time passed when he earned for himself a distinguished place in the literary circles.

While yet in his youth he occupied the position of a teacher and also initiated the work of writing and compilation. His honorable father expired in 329 A.H. and from that very year he acquired the position of “point of reference” (Marjaiyat) and the people of areas around Qom used to refer to him regarding their problems and religious questions. Traditionalists and jurists, senior in age used to attend his classes.

Despite the fact that he had just stepped into his youth, many senior scholars used to attend his daily lectures on the science of traditions. This proves that he possessed extraordinary capabilities and an exceptional memory.