Muhammad Amin al-Astarabadi
Encyclopedia
Muhammad Amin al-Astarabadi (died 1627) was an Iranian theologian and founder or proponent of the conservative (akhbari
) strand in Twelver Shi'a Islam
ic belief, that is, those who favor hadith
over fatwā
s.
Astarabadi saw himself as a "reviver" of a lost tradition. He was followed by a number of scholars who explicitly identified themselves with the akhbari. These scholars called for the return to the hadith sources, in a belief that the words and actions of the imams were readily seen, but had been corrupted by centuries of excessive commentary.
Akhbari
The Akhbārīs are Twelver Shī‘a Muslims who reject the use of reasoning in deriving verdicts, and believe only the Qur'an, aḥadīth, and consensus should be used as sources to derive verdicts . The term Akhbārī is used in contrast to Usūlī...
) strand in Twelver Shi'a Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic belief, that is, those who favor hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
over fatwā
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
s.
Astarabadi saw himself as a "reviver" of a lost tradition. He was followed by a number of scholars who explicitly identified themselves with the akhbari. These scholars called for the return to the hadith sources, in a belief that the words and actions of the imams were readily seen, but had been corrupted by centuries of excessive commentary.