Was Shaykh Ahsai an Akhbari or an Usooli?

post # 8 from SC topic (contribution by a user)

Shaykh wasn't akhbari. He was usooli and one of his teachers was Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al-'Ulum Tabataba'i from whom he received letters of ijtihad as well as Kashifu'l Ghita & others. He did have akhbari teachers since Bahrain was a major center of akhbari activities in the late 1700s and they didn't mind teaching him.

According to some reports by the time of his death in the 1820s, about a 25% of Iran's population gave him taqlid. During his heyday, he was one of about 7 marjas in Yazd and Kermanshah but his followers were considered to be unusually attached to him & his teachings. He was originally from eastern Arabia and taught in Bahrain and attended the hawzas of Najaf & Kerbala. He refused to acquiesce to other ulema on his views and he refused to be legitimized by the Fath 'Ali Shah, the Qajar king.

The major source of issue for some about him was that he was an arif and because of this sometimes the views of the arif contrast with those who are juristic in background. He viewed the Shi'ite jurisprudent as a mystic and one who should be overwhelmingly spiritual by nature. The concept, as totally expounded by Shaykh, is similar to the Sufi concept of a qutb. In simpler terms, another form of legitimacy for the jurisprudent was through the qalb (heart) via dreams and he based his views on various Qur'anic passages as well as from certain hadith.

He had takfir pronounced upon him by Mulla Muhammad Taqi Baraghani of Qazwin but none of the ulema of the first order such as Shaykh Musa, the son of Kashifu'l Ghita, Mulla Ali Nuri or Mulla Ahmad Naraqi to name a few would do such. Really, there's nothing much different (from my unknowledgeable eyes) that's different from the school of Isfahan. Had Shaykh lived 200 years earlier, he would have been included among them.

...Shaykh al-Ahsai did not have anything to do with the creation of the Shaykhi school of thought, although again, his views were considered controversial among Usoolis & Akhbaris alike. He had influence on them but Sayyid Kazim Rashti, one of al-Ahsai's disciples, was the actual founder and even he didn't see himself or the latent Shaykhi movement as something seperate from the Usooli school.


Shaykh al-Ahsai never saw himself outside of the mainstream flow of Shi'ite ideology. Some of Shaykh's writings are confusing when read but you would need a qualified spiritual instructor to get through some of his letters. The Bahais like to use him because of his writings on the Perfect Shiite or the Perfect Man (Insan-e-Kamal). There's a lot more. You can read an article on him from Juan Cole who has written extensively on him and there's another work I read on Shaykh but I can't remember the author's name right now but it was very profound because it dealt with the metaphysical aspects of Shaykh's views and it was the author's thesis. I'll know in two weeks because there's a brother I know who has the book and I'll see him next weekend.

Shaykh Ahmad Ahsai bio.