Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi

ʾAbū al-Ḥasan Alī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qummi أبو الحسن عليّ بن إبراهيم القمّي
Title	Al-Shaykh al-Aqdam
Personal life
Born	9th century
Died	919
Era	Islamic golden age
Region	Iran and Iraq
Main interest(s)	Ḥadīth, Tafsir
Notable work(s)	Tafsir al-Qummi
Religious life
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Twelver Shia
Jurisprudence	Ja'fari
Teachers	Ahmad ibn Ishaq Ash'ari Qomi, Ibrahim b. Hashim al-Qummi, Aḥmad al-Barqī
Muslim leader
Influenced by Ali al-Hadi, Hasan al-Askari, Ibrahim b. Hashim al-Qummi
Influenced Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qummi (Persian: علی بن ابراهیم قمی; Arabic: علي بن إبراهيم القمي), also known by his patronymic "Abu al-Hasan" or nickname "al-Shaykh al-Aqdam", was a 9th century Shia Muslim commentator and jurist who lived during the times of Ali al-Hadi (835–868) and Hasan al-Askari (868–874). He was a student of Ahmad ibn Ishaq Ash'ari Qomi, a companion of the ninth, tenth and eleventh Shia Imams. He's one of the teachers of Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (864–941), the author of famous Shia hadith collection Kitab al-Kafi, and many traditions in al-Kafi were transmitted by him and his father. He spread the "Kufan" traditions (Hadiths) in Qom and collected Hadith from his teachers. He wrote more than 15 books, famously his commentary Tafsir al-Qummi which utilizes hadith from the Shia Imams to explain the meanings of Quranic verses.

His other works include Akhbār Al-Qurʾan, Nawadir al-Qurʾan, al-Nasikh wa al-Mansukh (Abrogator and Abrogated books), al-Sharā'i' (Laws or Revealed religions), and al-Tawhid wa al-Shirk (Monotheism and Polytheism).

Birth, Demise and Family

His birthday is unknown; but it is certain that he lived during the second half of the third/ninth and beginning of fourth/tenth centuries. He died in 919.^[1]

His father, Ibrahim b. Hashim, was one of the famous Shia hadith transmitters and a companion of ninth Shia Imam Muhammad al-Jawad (811–835), who moved from Kufa to Qom. It is said that he was the first person who disseminated the hadiths of the Kufans in Qom. He is reported to have met Imam Ali al-Rida (765–818).^[2]

'Ali b. Ibrahim's brother, Ishaq, and sons Ahmed, Ibrahim and Muhammad, were all religious scholars of their time.^[3]

Works

Ali b. Ibrahim wrote many books. Al-Tafsir, commonly known as al-Tafsir al-Qummi, is his most famous book. He compiled it based on traditions of imams without any explanation. He narrated most of the hadiths from his father, Ibrahim b. Hashim. This book is one of the earliest and most important available Shi'a exegetical sources.

• Al-Nasikh wal-mansukh (Arabic: الناسخ والمنسوخ) (The Abrogator and Abrogated)
• Qurb al-isnad (Arabic: قرب الإسناد)
• Al-Shara'i' (Arabic: الشرائع) (Laws)
• Al-Hayd
• Al-Tawhid wa l-shirk (Arabic: التوحيد والشرك) (Monotheism and Polytheism)
• Fada'il Amir al-Mu'minin (Arabic: فضائل أمير المؤمنين) (Virtues of Amir al-Mu'mineen)
• Al-Maghazi
• Al-Anbiya' (Arabic: الأنبياء) (The Prophets)
• Al-Mashdhar
• Al-Manaqib
• Ikhtiyar al-Qur'an

^[4]

References

1. Ayoub, Mahmoud (2014-09-16). "History of the Qur᾽an and the Qur᾽an in History". The Muslim World. 104 (4): 429–441. doi:10.1111/muwo.12070. ISSN 0027-4909.
2. "al-ṬŪSĪ". Encyclopédie de l’Islam. doi:10.1163/9789004206106_eifo_sim_7653. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
3. Ayoub, Mahmoud (2014-09-16). "History of the Qur᾽an and the Qur᾽an in History". The Muslim World. 104 (4): 429–441. doi:10.1111/muwo.12070. ISSN 0027-4909.
4. at-Tusi, Mohammad Ibn Hasan. Al Fihrist. p. 152.

• Tahoor Encyclopedia: Ali Ibn Ibrähim Qomi commentary
• Scripture and Exegesis in Early Imāmī-Shiism, By Meʼir Mikhaʼel Bar-Asher at Google Books