Shahid Awwal

Shahid Awwal (Arabic: "ash-Shahid al-Awwal" الشهيد الأول) was the first Islamic martyr and the author of al-Lum'ah al-Dimashqiya"اللمعة الدمشقية). He was one of the greatest Shi'a scholars.

His Life

Shahid Awal was born in 734 A.H (ca. 1334 ) in Jabal 'Amel.He was killed on Thursday the ninth of Jumada al-awwal, 786 A.H. (ca. 1385).According to the fatwa of a jurisprudent from the Maliki sect which was endorsed by a jurisprudent of the Shaf'i sect, he was martyred.

He was a pupil of the pupils of Allamah Hilli, amongst them Allamah's son, Fakhr ul-Muhaqqeqin. The Shi'a schools were banned and almost detoriarated in Jabal 'Amel. When Mohammad bin Makki was 16 years old he ventured to al-Hilla in Iraq where he was certified by Fakhr al-MuHaqqiqin the son of the famous al-Hilli.

By the age 21, he returned to Jabal 'Amel and was already certified to narrate hadiths by many other famous scholars of Shi'a and Sunni doctrines of Najaf, Hebron, Makka, Medina, Quds, Damascus, and Baghdad. He also built good relations with Sultan Ali ibn al-Mu'ayyad (Arabic: علي بن المؤيد) of Khorasan.

He was killed by the sword then crucified and then stoned in Damascus in the days of the Sultan Barquq after he was imprisoned one full year. Due to the crusaders wars the area was suffering from poverty and ignorance was rampant as the Mamlukes took over and established a despotic rule in the region.

Shahid Awal came from a very distinguished family, and the generations that succeeded him preserved this honour. He had three sons who were all 'ulema and jurisprudents, and his wife and daughter were likewise jurisprudents.

His work

While imprisoned he wrote the most famous Shi'a book of the time and still referenced to today "The Damascene Glitter"(Arabic:"al-lum'ah al-Dimashqiya"اللمعة الدمشقية) in which he combined all religious practices according to shi'a school of thought. It is said that he wrote it in seven days.

Muhammad ibn Makki, known as Shahid Awal ("the First Martyr"), one of the great Shi'ite jurisprudents. He is of the rank of Muhaqqiq Hilli and Allamah Hilli. He was from Jabal 'Amel, an area in today's south Lebanon which is one of the oldest centres of Shi'ites and still is today a Shi'ite area.

The famous books of Shahid Awal on jurisprudence include Al-lum'ah which he composed during the brief period he remained in prison awaiting his martyrdom. Amazingly, this noble book was subject to a commentary two centuries later by another great jurisprudent who suffered the same fate as the author. He too was martyred and thus became called Shahid ath-Thani ("The Second Martyr"). The famous book Sharh ul-lum'ah which has been the primal textbook of the students of jurisprudence ever since is the commentary of Shahid th-Thani.

Other books of Shahid Awal include Durou, Thikra, Bayan, Alfiyeh and Qawa'id. All of the books of the First Martyr are among the priceless writings of jurisprudence.

See also

*Shahid Thani
*Mohammad Baqir as-Sadr

External links

* http://www.annabaa.org/nba48/aalamshia.htm and references therein.