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Sources for the Study of Shaykhism I

أحمد بن زين الدين الأحسائي

Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Din al-Aḥsā'ī

(d.1241/1826)

A Select, Annotated, Alphabetical Listing of Sources for the Study of the Shaykhi School of Shi`i Islam. I Arabic, Persian and other non-western sources.

Stephen N. Lambden, UC Merced.
^{Under revision and supplementation - last revised 27-03-2021.}

The alphabetically organized (bio-) bibliographical notes below will attempt to list books and other writings of importance for the study of al-Shaykhiyya (= Shaykhism), the name given to the twelver Shī`ī movement originating with Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī (d.1241/1826). Neither the latter spiritual genius nor his Persian successor Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī (d.1259/1843) intended to form a new sect or faction but to set forth Shī`ī, imamologically inspired insights into the significance of Islam in the, for some, eschatologically charged late 18th- early 19th century.

The foundational writings of Shaykh Ahmad al-Aḥsā'ī and Sayyid Kāẓim al-Husayni al-Rashti (d. 1259/ 1843) and their various Shaykhi successors (selectively listed in well-known Shaykhi Fihrist ("Index") of Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim ibn Zayn al-Abidin Khān al-Ibrahīmī , 1314-1389 /1896-1969) will, for the most part, not be listed below (see URLs on the main Webpage here). Included below are select biographical and general studies pertaining to the Shaykhi phenomenon and to the main Shaykhi leaders along with examinations of their thought, writings, milieu and other aspects of their lives, writings and associates. Persian, Arabic, and other non-wetsern language writings on the significance of the first two foundational Shaykhi leaders and the post-Sayyid Kāẓim (1259/1843) claimants to Shaykhī leadership will, in other words,be selectively detailed here. Diverse and varied Arabic and Persian materials pertaining to the Shi`i religious phenomenon known as al-Shaykhiyya (Shaykhism), will, in other words be detailed below in a loosely alphabetical order.

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHAYKHISM I

`Abd-Allāh ibn Ahmad al-Aḥsā'ī, Shaykh.

Sharḥ-i ḥālāt-i Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī. Bombay 1309/1892-3. A very influential Arabic or short Persian treatise upon the life of Shaykh Aḥmad by one of his sons.
Risālah-i Fārsīyah-i Sharḥ-i ḥālāt by ʻAbd Allāh Aḥsāʼī [Bombay : s. n.], 1310/1892-3. In Series: (Princeton University Arabic collection ; cn. 9100441.08). A Persian translation of the above from the Arabic by Muhammad Ṭāhir. 96 pp.
Sharḥ aḥvāl-i Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn Aḥsāʼī keh Muhammad Ṭāhir Khān... by ʻAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʼī. Kirman, Chāpkhāneh-yi Saʻādat , 1387/ 1967. "Tadhkirat al-awliyāʼ dar ṣharḥ-i aḥvāl-i Muḥammad Karīm Khān Kirmāni": p. 53-end.p. 53-end. + 7, 181 pp.

Shaykh`Alī Naqī ibn Shaykh Ahmad al-Aḥsā'ī (d. 23 Dhu'l-Ḥijjah 1246 / 4th June 1831).

Minhāj al-Sālikīn. 2nd ed. Kuwait : Jāmi` al-Imam al-Sādiq. 1419/1998 [Hajji Mirza `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā'iri al-Ihqāqī]. 514pp. [Index]. Has 5 sections with subsections and a conclusion. Part 1 is about al-`aql (the intellect) and `uqalā ("intellectuals") as well as `ilm (knowledge) and the `ulamā' (clerics, divines..)

This sizeable work of a son of Shaykh Aḥmad was completed 27th Dhu`l-Hijja 1244 AH = 30th June 1829, a few years before the passing of its author. For some further details see Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa al-awḥad, p. 221ff. where a further 9-10 of his works are listed.

al- Maʻād al-jismānī ʻinda al-Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī ("Bodily Return in Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i"). Beirut: Dār al-Maḥajja al-Bayḍā'. 2009. 137 pp.

al-Aḥsā'ī, Muhammad Taqi [son of Shaykh Ahmad]

محمد تقي الأحسائي ورسالته في الإجتهاد والتقليد هادي مکارم
Muhammad Taqi ibn Ahmad al-Aḥsā'ī and his Risala on Ijtihad and al-Akhbar. Majma' al-Dakha'ir al-Islami, 1294 Sh./1436 AH./2015 CE. 75pp.
PDf. https://archive.org/details/haady_201606

Amīr, ʻAbd al-Jalīl Amīr أمير، عبد الجليل .

فكر ومنهج : دراسة تحليلية حول فكر ومنهج مدرسة الشيخ أحمد الإحسائي = Fikr wa-manhaj : dirāsah taḥlīlīyah ḥawla fikr wa-manhaj madrasat al-Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʼī. Beirut : Dār al-Funūn, 1413 / 1993. 124pp.
PDf. 3rd ed. 1426/2005-6. 260pp. PDf. Fikr wa manhaj.pdf
شرح حياة النفس في حضرة القدس = Sharḥ ḥayāt al-nafs fī ḥaḍrat al-Quds by Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn Aḥsāʼī;. Beirut: Muʼassasat al-Balāgh lil-Ṭibāʻah wa'l-Nashr wa'l-Tawzīʻ, 2006.
كتاب المخازن واللمعات والبراهين الساطعة = Kitāb al-makhāzin wa'l-lamaʻāt wa'l-barāhīn al-sāṭiʻah
Kitāb al-makhāzin wa-al-lamaʻāt wa-al-barāhīn al-sāṭiʻah by كوهر، حسن. Ḥasan Kawhar; ed. ʻAbd al-Jalīl Amīr Beirut: Muʼassasat al-Balāgh : Muʼassasat Shams Hajr, 2006.

Anvari, Muhammad Javad.

`al-Aḥsā'ī, Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Din ibn Ibrahim' in Dā'irat al-ma`ārif buzurg-i islāmī (`The Great Islamic Encyclopedia', in Persian and Arabic editions), ed. Kāẓim Musavī Bujnurdī, vol. 6, Tehran: Markiz Dā'irat al-ma`ārif buzurg-i islāmī ... 1373/1995), pp. 662-668.

A substantial article in a major, ongoing Persian [+Arabic] encyclopedia.

The Baraghani-Qazvini family: see URL on main page.

al-Būshafīʻ al-Aḥsāʼī, Aḥmad ʻAbd al-Wahhāb / أحمد عبد الوهاب البوشفيع الأحسائي (ed.)

شمس حجر = Shams ḥajar by Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn Aḥsāʼī , ʻAbd Allāh Aḥsāʼī; (ed) Aḥmad ʻAbd al-Wahhāb Būshafīʻ Beirut: Lajnat Iḥyāʼ Turāth Madrasat al-Shaykh al-Awḥad, 2003. 256pp.
نجاة الهالكين في بيان حصر العلل الأربع في محمد وآله الطاهرين = Najāt al-hālikīn fī bayān ḥaṣar al-ʻilāl al-arbaʻ fī Muḥammad wa-ālihi al-ṭāhirīn. Beirut : Dār al-Maḥabbah al-Bayḍāʼ : Lajnat Iḥyāʼ Turāth Madrasat al-Shaykh al-Awḥad al-Aḥsāʼī, 2003.
اسرار حديث الكساء وسر تكرار فاطمة في حديث الكساء = Asrār ḥadīth al-Kisāʼ wa-sirr tikrār Fāṭimah fī ḥadīth al-Kisāʼ. Beirut: al-Maḥajjah al-Bayḍāʼ, 1431/2010.
مختصر شرح حياة الأرواح = Mukhtaṣar Sharḥ Ḥayāt al-arwāḥ. Beirut: Lajnat Iḥyāʼ Turāth Madrasat al-Shaykh al-Awḥad al-Aḥsāʼī, 2003.
علم المحجة = ʻAlam al-maḥajjah.

Bū Khamsīn, Sāmī.

نظرية إبداع الوجود عند الشيخ أحمد بن زين الدين الأحسائي =

Naẓarīyat ibdāʻ al-wujūd ʻinda al-shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsāʼī. Beirut: Dār al-Maḥajjah al-Bayḍāʼ lil-Tibāʻah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ, 2011. 164pp.

Chahārdahī. Murtazā Mudarrisī (ADD-ADD). مرتضا مدرسى چهاردهى

Shaykh-i Aḥmad-i Aḥsā'ī. Tehran: ʻAlī Akbar ʻIlmī, 1334 Sh. / 1955 CE., 53pp.
Shaykhīgarī Bābīgarī. Tehran : Kitābfurūshī-i Furughī, 1966. 212pp.
شيخى‌گرى بابى‌گرى : از نظر فلسفه، تاريخ و اجتماع = Shaykhīgarī Bābīgarī : az naẓar-i falsafah, tārīkh va ijtimāʻ. Tehran : Furūghī, 1345/1966.
Shaykhīgarī Bābīgarī. 2nd Ed. Tehran: ADD 1351/1972.
MacEoin refers to these two vols. as confused and unreliable.
See also World Cat : Chahārdahī. Murtazā Mudarrisī

Dehkhodā, Alī Akbar Qazvīnī, (1879-1956). Born. Tehran c. 1297/1879 d. Tehran 7th Esfand 1334 Sh. / 26th February 1956.

His Persian [Shī`ī] Encyclopedic Dictionary, the Lughat-Nāmeh contains some useful entries covering Shaykhī subjects, including: ADD

Ḥasan Fuyūḍāt, ،حسن.فيوضات

‏مدخل الى فلسفة الشيخ احمد بن زين الدين الاحسائي ‏

Madkhal ilá falsafat al-Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsāʼī.‏ Beirut : Lajnat Iḥyāʼ Turāth Madrasat al-Shaykh al-Awḥas al-Aḥsāʼi : tawzīʻ Dār al-Maḥajjah al-Bayḍāʼ, 1424 / 2003 or 4. 118pp.

Ḥasan, Shaykh Muhammad.

Ākhir al-falāsifah : ruʼyah ʻaṣrīyah jadīdah fī fikr al-Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʼī. Beirut: : Muʼassasat al-Fikr al-Islāmī, 2003. 252pp. Listed in World Cat.

Gawhar al-Shahīr, Shaykh / Mīrzā Ḥasan ibn `Alī .. al-Dāghī al-Tabrīzī (d. 1266/ 1849).
Sharh ḥayāt al-arwāḥ ("Commentary upon the Life of the Spirits"). 3rd edition (printing) Dawlat al-Kuwait : (`Abd al-Rasūl al-Iḥqāqī) Jāmi` al-Imam al-Muhammadādiq, 1423/2002. 881pp. + Index pp. 883-4. Hbk. Beautifully printed in Kuwait. this volume by the Adhirbayjani born anti-Babi Shaykhi with the laqab Jawhar or Gawhar deals with the centrally important Shi`i doctrines : Sect. 1 On Tawḥīd (the Divine Unity) pp.27-112 in 5 sub-sections; Sect.2 on `Adl (the Divine Justice) pp.115 -208 in 24 subsections; Sect. 3 on Nubuwwa (Prophethood ) pp. 213-302 in 5 (+1) subsections; Sect. 4 on the Imāma (the Imamate), pp.351-678 with 5 sub-sections; Sect. 5 On al-Ma`ad al-jismānī (On the [Eschatological] Bodily Return pp. 679-880 in 5 subsections. This very bulky volume... ADD details....

For biographical notes in Taliqani, al-Shaykhiyya, pp.183-6. ADD..

Ibrāhīmī, Ḥajjī Abul-Qasim Khān Ibrahimi [Kirmānī] (d. 1389/1969).

= ابراهيمى، ابو القاسم خان = ابو القاسم بن زين العابدين بن كريم

The Fihrist (Index) of Abū al-Qāsim Khān Ibrāhīmī..

فهرست كتب شيخ اجل اوحد مرحوم شيخ احمد احسائى و ساير مشايخ عظام و خلاصه شرح احوال ايشان
Fihrist-i kutub-i shaykh-i ajall-i awhad-i marḥūm Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʼī va sāyir mashāyikh-i `iẓām va khulāsah-i sharḥ-i aḥvāl-i īshān.
Fihrist-i kutub-i shaykh-i ajall-i awhad-i marḥūm Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʼī va sāyir mashāyikh-i `iẓām va khulāsah-i sharḥ-i aḥvāl-i īshān. 3rd ed., Chāpkhānah-i Saʻādat, 1974.
Fihrist-i kutub-i Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī va sā`ir mashāyik-i `izām. 3rd ed. Kirman: : Chāpkhānah-i Saʻādat, 1977. 653pp (+3pp of errata).
Fihrist-i kutub-i Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī va sā`ir mashāyik-i `uzām. 3rd ed. Kirman: : Chāpkhānah-i Saʻādat, / 1977. 653pp (+3pp of errata).

Partial Annotated Translations

Moojan Momen trans. in BSBM1 = Pt. 1 Shaykh Aḥmad, Fihrist, pp. 220-288, listing 132 items;
Stephen Lambden trans. Pt. II Sayyid Kāẓim, Fihrist, pp. 288-359 listing nos.133-304 (= 171 items) (ongoing; forthcoming). See here at

Isbir. Muhammad Alī,

العلامة الجليل أحمد بن زين الدين الاحسائ في دائرة الضوء = al-`Allāma al-jalīl Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā'ī fī Dairat al-Daw. 2 vols. in 1 Beirut: Dar al-Aṣāla, 1993.

al-Iḥqāqī - حسن ,حائري الاحقاقي

al-Iḥqāqī, [al-Uskū'ī], Āyāt-Allāh, al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan ibn al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Mūsā ibn al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Salīm al-Uskū'ī al-Ḥā`iri [al-Iḥqāqī, al-Uskū'ī].

= Āyāt-Allāh, al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Ḥāʼirī al-Iḥqāqī (b. Karbala 1896 d. Add 2000). (b. Karbala [Iraq] 2nd Muḥarram 1314 / 13th June 1896- d. 14th Ramadan 1421, 11th December 2000).

A prodigiously clever child Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Ihqāqī, al-Uskū'ī was studying the Qur'an and Arabic grammar aged six and reading the Persian Gulistan of Sa`di and more besides, at age seven. He early visited al-Aḥsā (in Eastern Saudi `Arabia) with his brother Mīrzā Ḥasan `Alī who also took him (when aged 16) to Najaf (Iraq) where they both resided. At the age of thirty Shaykh Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Iḥqāqī obtained ijtihād, he became a twelver Shi`i mujtahid like his father, grandfather and brother. In 1348/1930 he traveled to Uskū (S. of Tabriz, in Persian Adhirbayjān, NW Persia) where his grandfather had resided and where he lived for roughly six years. Around the time of WWII he lived for five years in Mashad (Iran) after which he returned to Tabriz where he taught and, among other things, renovated the Mosque of his grandfather Hujjat al-Islam Mamaqani (=? Mīrzā Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Salim al-Uskū'ī al-Ḥā`iri, Tabrizi ? d. 1303/1885?). See URL below.

It was on his brother Mīrzā Ḥasan `Alī 's death in Kuwait in Ramadan 1384 / January 1965 that Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Iḥqāqī was begged to remain in this country by devoted Shi`i followers. This he did in the light of the internationalism of this country and from there he guided a vast number of Shi`i Muslims (in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi `Arabia [al-Ahsa, etc] India, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey as well as parts of Africa, America and Australia, etc) and engaged in various educational and charitable activities. ADD (see al-Taliqani, al-Shaykhiyya, 20002; Letter from the Shi`ites, 7ff ADD).

Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan Iḥqāqī authored many books in Arabic and Persian one of which has been translated into English, his Persian Nāmih-Shi`ayan which was compiled in Mashad in 1363/1942 and first published there in 1366/1945 (2nd printing in 1369/1948 and 3rd in 1397/1976). The English translation was entitled `Letter From the Shi`ites' San Rafael (California, USA): The Islamic Foundation, 1983. ISBN 0-9610614-0-5. Hbk. 221pp. This work contains a few biographical notices. ADD.......

For some further details see Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa al-awḥad, pp. 33-40 where a 13 of his works are listed.

Select further works of حسن ,حائري الاحقاقي

توضيح الواضحات : ردود على اعتراضات السيد برقعي حول فكر الشيخ الاحسائي =

Tawḍīḥ al-wāḍiḥāt : rudūd ʻalá iʻtirāḍāt al-Sayyid Burqaʻī ḥawla fikr al-Shaykh al-Aḥsāʼī. ed. Rāḍī Nāṣir Salmān: Beirut: Muʼassasat Fikr al-Awḥad, 2003. 223pp.

Ḥasan Ḥāʼirī al-Iḥqāqī + Rāḍī Nāṣir Salmān

حل مشكلات شرح الزيارة الجامعة الكبيرة للشيخ الاوحد الاحسائي = Ḥall mushkilāt Sharḥ al-Ziyārah al-jāmiʻa al-kabīrah lil-Shaykh al-Awḥad al-Aḥsāʼī . Beirut : Muʼassasat Fikr al-Awḥad : Muʼassasat al-Balāgh, 2003. 143pp.

al-Ḥajji Mīrzā Mūsā al-Iḥqāqī al-Ḥā`irī al-Uskū'ī (b. Karbala 25th Shawwal 1279/ 15th April, 1863 - d. ADD 5th Ramadan 1364/ 14th August 1945)

Ihqāq al-ḥaqq ("The Verification of the Real Truth") Ed./ Pub. Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī 4th ed [printing], Kuwait: Jāmi` al-Imam al-Sādiq, 1421/2000. HBk. pp.643+ (index) pp.645-661. (1st printed in Najaf in 1343/1924-5).
Available at: 42379823 : Internet Archive. 42379823 : ed. 4th ed. Kuwait. Manshurat Jāmi` al-Imam al-Sādiq, 1421/2000. PDf.Ihqaq al-haqq-txt.pdf

A massive Arabic defense and exposition of early Shaykhī doctrinal and theological perspectives, including al-Ma`ād (Eschatology) and the nature of the Mi`rāj of the prophet Muhammad... General Index pp.1-14, prolegomenon to the 2nd ed. with an Arabic account of the life of the author by his son Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Ali b. Mūsā al-Ḥā`irī with a list of 16 his mostly Arabic (and Persian) writings, pp. 15-28 (+ picture, p.17 see above) which include a translation from into Arabic of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashti's Persian Uṣūl al-aqā'id ("Doctrinal Fundamentals", see p.22). This writer was the son of Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā Mūsā Khallaf Āyāt-Allāh Ākhund Mīrzā Bāqir al-Uskū'ī (d. 1301/1883-4...)... ADD and check details...

See further al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa, pp. 76 (see above =photo) - 83. On page 78 of this latter Arabic work fifteen of his works are listed.

عبد الرسول الاحقاقي الحائري

al-Ihqāqī, Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā`irī (b. Kuwait 1348/1928 - d. ADD 1424/2003).

^{Demise of Mirza Abdul Rasul al Ihqaqi (QS)}

al-Ihqāqī, Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā`iri (b. Kuwait 1927 d. 2 Shawwal 1424/ 26 November 2003), son of Āyāt-Allāh, al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Ihqāqī, [al-Uskū'ī] (see above).

This learned Shi`i-Shaykhī lived in Ādhirbayjān for many years before he, along with his father and uncle, became a leading figure in the Kuwayti centered branch of Shi`i / Shaykhis. He became an expert Arabic writer, editor (and publisher) of several Shaykhi books including new editions of Arabic works of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and Sayyid Kazim Rashti. In a few publications his photograph appears alongside these two foundational figures (see above). For notice and some details of these publications of writings of the first two founders of Shaykhism see the bibliographical URLs to on this site ......

A short Arabic (10 or so page) life of `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī by Tawfiq Nāṣir al- ADD-Albu `Ali (?), can be found at the Kuwaiti Shaykhī URL (zip downloadable) : http://www.alahsai.net/lib/ (4th item listed).

`Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā`irī al-Ihqāqī

al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa al-awḥad (Pt. 1) ("The Verified realization of the most singular [Shaykhī] Madrasa [School]") Dawlat al-Kuwait: Jāmi` al-Imam al-Muhammadādiq, 2nd ed. Pbk. 1424/2003. 284pp.+285-293 (= sources and index). A very useful (and b&w picture-rich) synopsis of many of the key Shi`i-Shaykhī individuals prominent in Adhirbayjan, NW Iran and of Tabrizi roots.

Tawḍīḥ al-wāḍiḥāt : rudūd ʻalá iʻtirāḍāt al-Sayyid Burqaʻī ḥawla fikr al-Shaykh al-Aḥsāʼī ed. ʻAbd al-Rasūl Ḥāʼirī; Rāḍī Nāṣir Salmān : Beirut : Muʼassasat Fikr al-Awḥad, 2003. 223pp.

ʻAbd al-Rasūl al-Iḥqāqī al-Ḥāʼirī ; ed. Rāḍī Nāṣir al-Salmān ; Trans. Muḥammad ʻAlī Dāʻī al-Ḥaqq.

توضيح الواضحات : ردود على اعتراضات السيد برقعي حول فكر الشيخ الاحسائي
Tawḍīḥ al-wāḍiḥāt : rudūd ʻalá iʻtirāḍāt al-Sayyid Burqaʻī ḥawla fikr al-Shaykh al-Aḥsāʼī. Beirut: Muʼassasat Fikr al-Awḥad, 2003. 223pp.

`Abd al-Hamid Ishrāq Khavari, اشراق خاوري (b. Mashshad, 1902 – d. Tehran, 1972). A Baha'i from 1927.

In his 4 volume Commentary on the Kitāb-i iqān (Book of Certitude, c.1861) of Bahā'-Allāh, this Baha'i apologist has occasion to write about the teachiongs of the first two Shaykhi leaders viewed as forerunners of the Bab, referred to by the founder of the Baha'i religion as the nurayn-i nayyirayn ... Ahmad and Kazim., "the twin shining lights, Ahmad and Kazim":

On Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim : Qamus-i iqan, vol. 4:1662-1664. PDf. Qamus 4.pdf

Kashmīrī, Mullā Muhammad `Alī ( XXX-XXX = 1844-1891-2).

محمد علي الكشميري

كتاب نجوم السماء في تراجم العلماء = Kitāb nujūm al-samāʼ fī tarājim al-ʻulamāʼ

[Kitab] Nujūm al-samā'. Lucknow: ADD, 1303/1885-6. pp. 367-74 on Shaykh Ahmad.
Kitāb nujūm al-samāʼ fī tarājim al-ʻulamāʼ. Qum: Maktabat Baṣīratī, 1974.
Kitāb nujūm al-samāʼ fī tarājim al-ʻulamāʼ. Qum: Maktabat Baṣīratī, 1396/1976. [Persian].
Kitāb nujūm al-samāʼ fī tarājim al-ʻulamāʼ. ed. Shihāb al-Dīn Marʻashī Najafī. Qum: Maktabat Baṣīratī, XXXX/198?.

إسماعيل بن أسد الله. كاظمي

Kāẓimi, Ismāʻīl ibn Asad Allāh + Rāḍī Nāṣir Salmān

دفاع عن الشيخ الأوحد الأحسائي : حول المعاد، المعراج، العلة الفاعلية =
Difāʻ ʻan al-Shaykh al-Awḥad al-Aḥsāʼī : ḥawla al-maʻād, al-Miʻrāj, al-ʻillah al-fāʻiliyya. Ismāʻīl ibn Asad Allāh Kāẓimī; Rāḍī Nāṣir Salmān. Damascus : Muʼassasat Fikr al-Awḥad, 2004. 136pp.

Khalafī, ʻAbd al-ʻAẓīm ibn Badawī Khalafi -

‏‏خلفي، عبد العظيم بن بدوي

‏‏الأربعون المنبرية :‏ ‏‏شرح أربعين حديثا من جوامع الكلم ‏ = al-Arbaʻūn al-manbariȳya : sharḥ Arbaʻūn ḥadīthan min Jawāmiʻ al-kalim. Dimyāṭ : Dār Ibn Rajab, 1996. 381pp. Apparently a commentary on 40 Hadith from the Jawāmiʻ al-kalim compilation of Shaykh Ahmad's writings.

Kirmani : Ḥajji Mirza Muhammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī (d. 1288/1871) and his successors. These major fighures in the history of Kirmani Shaykhism have the (place) Kirmani and/ or (desent) Ibrahami as personal indicators. The Kirmani Shaykhī leaders derive this aspect of their name from the above first Kirmani leader. On these six or more persons and their writings see this main new UC-Merced Shaykhism and related pages and the URLs given there.. SEE URL on the main page.

Karīm Khān Kirmānī was the son of Ibrāhīm Khān Ẓahīr al-Dawla (d. 1240/1824-5), a cousin and son-in-law of Fatḥ `Ali Shāh (1771-1834), the second Qajar Shah who ruled from 1797 until 1834. Kirmani's father was at one time the governor of Khurasan and later, for the last 21 years of his life, was governor of Kirmān and Baluchistan (Raḍawī, Tadhkirat al-awlīyā, 56 ref. MacEoin, 1982). He apparently had forty wives and something like 20 sons and 21 daughters. The mother of Kirmani, who gave birth to him on 18 Muḥarram 1225/ 23rd February 1810 was the daughter of Mīrzā Raḥīm the mustawfi of Tiflis (ibid, 8+refs.).... ADD

Karīm Khān Kirmānī clalmed leadership of the Shaykhī school after the passing of Sayyid Kazim Rashti (d.1259[60]/1843[4]) its second leader. He very early on rejected the messianic and related claims of the Sayyid `Ali Muhammad (1819-1850) the Bāb in his رساله ازهاق الباطل فى رد البابيه Risāla izhāq al-bāṭil fī radd al-bābiyya ("The Crushing of Falsehood in Refutation of Bābism") and produced six or more anti-Babi-Baha'i tracts and works. See URL on main page.

The Kirmani based Shaykhi descendants and successors of Karīm Khān Kirmānī [1] headed the Persian Kirmani Shaykhi division are are named :

[II] Āqā Ḥajjī Muhammad Khan Kirmānī (d.1323/1906). The 2nd Kirmānī Shaykhī leader.
[III] Zayn al-`Abidin Khān Ibrahīmī, Kirmānī (d. 1360/1941). The 3rd Kirmānī Shaykhī leader.
[IV] Ḥajjī Abul-Qasim Khān al-Ibrahīmī, Kirmānī (d. 1389/1969). The 4th Kirmānī Shaykhī leader.
[V]. Ḥajjī `Abd al-Riḍā' Khān al-Ibrahīmī (d. 1400/1979). The 5th Kirmānī Shaykhī leader.
[VI] Ḥajjī `Sayyid `Ali Mūsāwī al-Ḥifzih Khān (d. ADD ). The 6th Shaykhī leader is situated outside Iran in Iraq (Basra) primarily associated with Basrah and Karbala as well as Iran and the Persian Gulf regions.

For biographical details and publications of these Kirmani Shaykhi leaders see the main Shaykhism page and associated links.

al-Khwānsārī, Mīrzā Muhammad Bāqir al-Mūsawī (1811-1895). Born Khwānsār, 27 Safar 1226/ 23rd March 1811. Died 8th Jamadī I 1313 / 27 October 1895.

al-Khwānsārī moved in late 1253/ 1838 to Najaf. He wrote around 20 (largely Arabic and a few Persian) works mostly relating to Shī`ī doctrine, ethics and legalism ( aqā'id, adab, fiqh uṣūl al-fiqh...). His frequently printed 8 volume rijāl work contains an important section on Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī. Only a few editions can be mentioned here:

Rawḍāt al-jannat fī aḥwāl al-`ulamā' wa'l-sādāt. Tehran: xxx. 1304/1887.
Rawḍāt al-jannat fī aḥwāl al-`ulamā' wa'l-sādāt. 8 vols. Tehran: xxx. 1390-2/1970-2.
Rawḍāt al-jannat fī aḥwāl al-`ulamā' wa'l-sādāt. 8 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Islamiyya. 1411/1991. In this recent Beirut edition the section on `...Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn ibn Shaykh Ibrāhīm al-Aḥsā'ī' is in vol.1 section 22, spanning pp. 97-103.

Khurāsānī, Maḥmūd "Shahābī"

النظرة الدقيقة في قاعدة بسيط الحقيقة = al-Naẓrah al-daqīqah fī qāʻidat basīṭ al-ḥaqīqa. Tehran: Anjuman-i Shāhanshāhī-i Falsafahʼi Irān, 1396/1976. Refers to the view of Shaykh Ahmad. In Persian. xx+192pp.

Maḥūẓ. Ḥusayn `Alī (ed.)

1376/1957 Hadirat al-shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī. Baghdad: Maṭba'at al-ma'ārif. (pp.24).Copy in Univ. Toronto - call number = BP80 A4677 M3. This Arabic work consists of 2 short autobiographical pieces by Shaykh Aḥmad himself. They can also be found printed in the Kirmani, Fihrist.

Māmaqānī and the Shaykhis of Tabrīz - see URLs on main Shaykhism page of this website.

Shaykh Muhammad Taqī, Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (b. Tabriz 1248/1832 -- d. ADD 11th Ramadan 1312/ 8th March 1895),

^{Pages scanned from `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa.. (Pt.1) 60-61}

Mu`īn, Muhammad.

"Havaqalya" in Majallih-i Dānishkada-i Adabiyyāt. vol. 1/3 (1333 Sh./ 1954). pp.78-105.

Naqvi, Syed Hussain Arif.

`The Controversy about the Shaikhiyya Tendency among Shia `ulamā' in Pakistan' pp. 135-149 in Brunner & Ende, The Twelver Shia -- see below. Also of central interest is the article by Guido Steinberg `The Shi`ites in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (al-Aḥsā), 1913-1953' in ibid. pp. 236-254.

Rafati, Vahid.

A Baha'i scholar who wrote his doctoral thesis on Shaykhism (see below). The following Persian (+ Arabic) volume is essentially a compilation of statements of the central figures of the Babi-Baha'i religions pertaining to Shaykhism with occasional expository notes:

The development of Shaykhī thought in Shī'ī Islam. Ph. D. University of California, Los Angeles 1979. x, 231 pages.
Nasim-i-Sahari, Shaykhi concepts in the Babi and Baha'i Writings / Breeze at Dawn (in Persian +). Germany, Hofheim. Baha'i Verlag. 2014/171 BE. 264 pages with index.

Sayyid Kazim Rashti (d.1259/1842), successor to al-Ahsa'i.

Dalail al-mutahayyirin ("Proofs for the Perplexed") - see Rashti Bibliography on main Shaykhism page for the Arabic text and Persian translation(s) in PDf.

Şadr, Aḥmad + Kamran Fānī + Bahā' al-Dīn Khurramshāhī (eds.),

Dā'irat al-mu`ārifiyyīn tashayu` ["Encyclopedia of the Shi`a" ] Vol.1 = [Entries] Āb-Iḥyā. Tehran: Charity and Cultural Foundation, 1369 Sh. /1991.This Persian Encyclopedia contains the entry `al-Ahsā'ī, Shaykh Aḥmad (1166-1241)' pp. 500-501.

Ṣāliḥ, Aḥmad `Abd al-Hādī al-Muhammad Ṣāliḥ. صالح، أحمد عبد الهادي المحمّد

•أعلام مدرسة الشيخ الأوحد في القرن الثالث عشر الهجري =

Alʻām madrasat al-shaykh al-Awḥad fī al-qarn al-thālith aʻshar al-Hijrī, Beirut : Dār al-Maḥajja al-Bayḍāʼ, 2006. 584pp.
Masāʼil ḥawla al-ḥaqīqah al-Muḥammadiyya : ajwibat masāʼil al-Mullā Rashīd by Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn Aḥsāʼī, ed. Aḥmad `Abd al-Hādī al-Muhammad Ṣāliḥ : Ḥārat Ḥurayk / Dār al-Maḥajjah al-Bayḍāʼ, 2006. 63pp.
Muṣṭalaḥāt ʻilm al-kalām : ʻinda Muṣṭalaḥāt ʻilm al-kalām : ʻinda al-Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʼī. Beirut: Dār al-Maḥajjah al-Bayḍāʼ 2009. 168pp.

Salmān, Rāḍī Nāṣir (ed./ comp.)

Ruʼá ḥawla al-asrār al-Ḥusaynīyah fī Madrasat al-Shaykh al-Aḥsāʼī. Beirut: Lajnat Iḥyāʼ Turāth Madrasat al-Shaykh al-Awḥad al-Aḥsāʼī, 2001.

Sarḥadī, Āg̲h̲ā Mubīn Sarḥadī

Takhkirah-yi Shaykh al-awḥad Shaikh Aḥmad Aḥsāʼī ḥaqāʼiq kī raushnī men̲. Faiṣalābād : Muballigh-i Aʻẓam Akaiḍmī, 1980. In Urdu. 224 pp., + one leaf of plates.

طالاني، محمد حسن.

al-Ṭāliqānī [al-Najafī], Sayyid Muhammad Ḥasan ibn `Abd al-Rasūl ibn Mashkūr al-Ḥusaynī, al-Ṭāliqānī, al-Najafī. (b. Najaf, 1350/1931 d. ADD).

الشيخية : نشأتها وتطورها ومصادر دراستها

al-Shaykhiyya, nasha'āthā wa taṭawwūrhā wa maṣādir dirāsathā nishāti-hā ("Shaykism, its origins, its evolution and the sources for its study") Beirut: al-Ṭaba`at al-Alwaī, 1420/1999. 409pp. Index pp. 406-409. This work was apparently completed by the author in 1394/1974 and the ms. placed on one of the shelves of his library.... Contents =
•Prolegomenon and preliminaries including a few pages on the Akhbārī and Uṣūlī Shi`i factions and the Bābī and Bahā'ī religions... pp.7-29.
Pt. 1 The development of thought within Shī`īsm in the 13th cent. AH.... pp.31-52
Pt. II Shaykh Aḥmad-i Ahsā'ī pp. 53-113.
Pt. III Sayyid Kazim Rashti pp.117-173.
Pt. IV [Post al-Ahsā'ī] Shaykhī factions and the proliferation of leadership claimants is discussed on pp.175-221. Included are details regarding Shaykh Ḥasan G[J]awhar and about the Shaykhis of Tabrīz, including the role of Shaykh Muhammad Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī, or Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ḥusayn ibn Zayn al-Ābidīn ibn `Alī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Māmaqānī (d.1269/1852) as well as Mīrzā Muhammad Ḥusayn Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (d. 1303/1885), Shaykh Muhammad Taqī Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (1248-1312/1832-1895), Shaykh Ismā'īl Muhammad Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (d.1317/1899) and Mīrzā Abu'l-Qāsim Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (d.1362/1943)... Details are also set out regarding the Kirmani Shaykhi leaders from Hajji Mirza Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani (No. III) until Abu'l-Qāsim Khān Ibrāhīmi (d.1389/1969) and Hajji `Abd al-Riḍā Khān Ibrahami and the Iraqi Shaykhi leader Sayyid `Abd-Allah al-Mūsawī (b. 1314/1899-----)..
Pt. V deals with the designations and doctrinal idiosyncrasies of the Shaykhī school including bodily return (at the eschaton), 239f; the nature of the Mi`raj of the Prophet Muhammad 273f; the alleged ghuluww ("extremist") opinions, p.281ff and the issue of the `speaking Imam' and the rukn al-rabi` (Fourth Pillar/Support). 298ff.

Following the author's conclusion (pp. 333-350) there is a lengthy bibliography (pp.351-405) divided up into Arabic works (355 items) and then Persian writings (61 items) many of which have a direct or indirect bearing upon Shaykhi history and doctrine. There follows another two useful alphabetical bibliographies of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī (pp. 375-389) and (another for) Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī (pp.391-405).

الشيخية : نشأتها وتطورها ومصادر دراستها = al-Shaykhīyah : nashʼatuhā wa-taṭawwuruhā wa-maṣādir dirāsatihā. Beirut : al-Āmāl lil-Maṭbūʻāt, 1999.

الشيخية : نشأتها وتطورها ومصادر دراستها = al-Shaykhiyya : nashʼatuhā wa-taṭawwuruhā wa-maṣādir dirāsatihā. [Jami` al-Huquq MaKhfuza], Baghdād : Dār al-Kitāb al-ʻArabī, 2007. 409pp. + Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-`Arabi / Dar al-Amira, 1428/2007. 409pp.
PDf. al-Shaykhiyya.pdf

Tehranī, Shaykh Muhammad Muḥsin, (1876-1970), known as Āqā Buzurg ("Grandfather")

Born. Tehran, 11th Rabi I 1293/ 6 April 1876. Died. 13th Dhu'l-Ḥijja 1380 / 20th February 1970 and buried in his private library in Najaf. He travelled to study at Najaf (Iraq) in 1315/1897 with leading Shī`ī authorities. In 1329/ 1911 he moved to Kāẓimayn then Sāmarrā (both in Iraq) where he began work on his massive 26 volume (+ vol. 9 in 4 parts) bibliography al-Dharī`a which has some 42, 440 entries and includes some valuable notices upon Shaykhī and Babi-Baha'i mss and publications. Āqā Buzurg returned to Najaf in 1353/ 1935 and remained there for most of the rest of his life.

The first volume of al-Dharī`a appeared in 1355/1937 and the rest throughout Āqā Buzurg's lifetime, the last volume being published posthumously by his pupil Sayyid Ahmad Ashkevari. Eight or more vols. have been published which supplement al-Dharī`a, including al-Mustadarak al-Dharī`a (Supplement to the Dharī`a) by Sayyid `Aziz-Allah Ṭabāṭabā'ī (Qumm: Ahl al-Bayt, ADD) which adds 10,000 entries. Printed fascicles of al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a. began to appear in Najaf [Tehran] from 1335/1936 onwards.

al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a.
al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a. 3rd printing al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a. 26 (+) vols. Beirut: Dar al-aḍwā' 1983/1403.

Āqā Buzurg Tehrani also wrote his rijal volume, the Ṭabaqāt a`lām al-shi`a ("Generations of the Learned among the Shi`a"). This bibliography was due to span the 4th cent. AH/ 12th cent. CE until the mid. 20th cent. CE though only 6 vols. dealing with the learned of the 13th and 14th centuries AH were published. ADD. See furthwr on Āqā Buzurg Tehrani see, for example, Hamid Algar, Āqā Bozorg Tehrānī, EIr. 2:169-170; Sayyid `Alī Shahbāz, Islamic Personalities (3) `Shaykh Aqa Buzurg Tehrani', in Thaqalayn 4:3-4 Autumn & Winter, 1419/ 1998-9, pp. 87-102.....

Tunukabūnī, Mirza Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān (c. 1234-1302 AH =1819-1884 CE).

Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. 1st ed. [Tehran] n.p. n.d. [1887-8]. On Shaykh Ahmad see pp.
Kitāb Qiṣaṣ al-'ulamā'. Tehran: Kitab-Furūshī-i `Ilmiyya-yi Islāmiyya . n. d. [1887-8?] (465 pp.)
Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. Tehran: Islamiyya, 1364/1944??
Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. ed. Muhammad Rida' Barzgar Khaliqi and Uffat Karbasi. Tehran: Intisharat `Ilmi va Farhang, 1383Sh/2004 (xxxiv+777+1 pp.). On Shaykh Ahmad in this 2004 edition see No. XX pp. ADD. See also pp.

This important Persian Shi`i rijāl book includes a lengthy treatment of Shaykh Aḥmad and his doctrinal position by one sympathetic to his person and teachings. Numerous sometimes bowdlerized editions and Arabic translations of his Qiṣaṣ al-`ulamā' exist; including, ADD

Tehran 1319/1901. Ar. trans. Qiṣaṣ al-`ulamā' . trans by Shaykh ADD Beirut: Dar al-Hujjat al-Bayḍā', 1992/1413. pp. 9-490 + index (491-6).

Zaki Ibrahim, Sayyid Muhammad = السيد محمد زكي ابراهيم

al-Madrassa al-Shaykhiyya. Beirut: al-Maḥajjah al-Bayḍāʼ /Dar al-Rusul al-akam. 2004. 258 pp.
= المدرسة الشيخية
PDf Download here : http://www.narjes-library.com/2015/09/blog-post_50.html

Zarandī, Muhammad, Nabil-i A`ẓam. (d. Acre 1892).

The bulky Persian Tarikh-i Zarandī in a partial edition and Eng. trans. by Shoghi Effendi (d.1957), with the title The Dawn-Breakers, Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation (1st ed. 1932), is a recreation of early Shaykhī and Babi history by the Guardian of the Baha'i religion based upon the ms. notes of Zarandī. It opens with a Chapter 1 `The Mission of Shaykh Aḥmad-i Ahsā'ī (pp.1-18) and continues at Chapter 2 `The Mission of Sayyid Kāẓim-i Rashtī (pp.19-46). Here the twin founders of Shaykhism are pictured as forerunners of the Bāb as the expected messianic Qā'im and of Bahā'-Allāh as the eschatological Qayyūm ("Deity Self-Subsisting"). For On-line versions of Chapters 1 and 2 see

Sources for the Study of Shaykhism I

Select further works of حسن ,حائري الاحقاقي

دفاع عن الشيخ الأوحد الأحسائي : حول المعاد، المعراج، العلة الفاعلية =

‏‏خلفي، عبد العظيم بن بدوي

طالاني، محمد حسن.

الشيخية : نشأتها وتطورها ومصادر دراستها

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