Arbaeen Hosseiniyah (Book)
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| Original title | اربعین حسینیه یا چهل حدیث حسینی |
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| Language | Farsi |
The book Arbaeen Hosseiniyah or Chehel Hadis-e-Hussaini is a book that first criticizes some funerals and maqtal-writers, then tells forty hadiths and narrations about Imam Hossein and concerning the beliefs of the Shia religion, examines some cases such as Rajʿat (a belief that says a group of people who have died will return to the Earth shortly after the reappearance of the twelfth Shi'a Imam), Barzakh (an Arabic word meaning "barrier". In Islam, it is a world between this world and the resurrection), miracles and dignity of imams.
About the author[edit | edit source]
Mohammad Arbab Qomi is the son of Mohammad Taghi Beik Arbab Ameli, born in Qom in 1373 AH. He passed the advanced levels of the Seminary (Hawze) in Al-Atabat Al-Aliyat and then returned to his hometown and started teaching, writing and guiding the believers. He is one of the reasonable and reliable comprehensive scholars and one of the founders of the seminary of Qom.
He finally died due to pneumonia in 1341 AH. Among the works of Arbab Qomi, we can mention Tosheed Al-Bunyan al-Futawi al-Boyyan (commentary on the book of Al-Abayan by Shahid-e-Aval) and commentary on Qaseedah al-Hamiri.
Qomi wrote the book Arbaeen Hussainiyyah with this motivation, which may be an example of the hadith "man hafeza ala umati arbaeena haditha …”. In addition, Mir Sayyid Mohammad Baqer Hussaini, the custodian of Hazrat Masoumeh's threshold, had requested the author to provide such a book, and he wrote and compiled it to obey the order.
About the book[edit | edit source]
The book Arbaeen Hussainiyah was compiled in 1328 AH and a little later in 1330 AH, it was first printed in the form of lithography. The author introduces his book as follows:
"In this book, forty hadiths from the news related to Sayyid al-Shuhada, are translated and explained."
At the beginning of the book and in its foreword, Arbab Qomi criticized the state of performing some ta'ziah ceremonies and in this regard, he wrote:
"It is appropriate to completely avoid indecent things during the ta'ziah ceremony such as playing musical instruments and melodious singing, however, there are many joyous gatherings that are not very suitable for Ta'ziah ceremonies. Incompetent people will pay full attention to any action that leads to worldly benefits, like mentioning the sufferings of Ahl al-Bayt, which has become one of the reliable means of livelihood, until it gradually reaches a point where explicit falsehoods are mentioned in the gatherings of religious scholars and it is not possible to forbid this mistake."
In this regard, in the "conclusion" of the first hadith, Arbab Qomi writes instructions for Hussaini mourners and how to hold Ashura mourning ceremonies, which begin with the following sentences:
"Ashura is the day of sadness and grief of our pure Imams and it is appropriate for their friends and followers to perform this act according to the principles of Shar’ai. Therefore, wearing black clothes and not applying henna on the body is good. Tearing the collar of clothes, slapping one's face and beating one's breasts and other things that are customary in Shia countries during the days of Ashura are bowing to Allah's rites, provided that Sharia prohibitions such as playing musical instruments and wearing women's clothes are not included. But it is forbidden to scratch or scar the forehead."
The general framework of the text of the book is based on mentioning forty hadiths about the personality of Imam Hussain. In a regular order, under each hadith, first the Arabic text and then its translation is mentioned. After that, various subtitles are given below.
Of course, among the hadiths and traditions narrated in the book, there are also cases where the narration was narrated by someone who is not innocent (ma’soom). For example, the text below the hadith number 23 is not a quote from an Innocent Imam, but it is a narration from Atiya Awfi about the visiting the grave of Imam Hussain by Jabir, the son of Abdullah Ansari, and his words during this pilgrimage. Also, Hadith number 5 (p. 61), 10 (p. 113), and 39 (p. 365) are in this category. The author says under the fifth hadith:
"It is not quoted from Imam (P.B.U.H) and it is like the narration of historians" (p. 62).
The author has used many sources in the compilation of Arbaeen Hussainiyah, each of which is mentioned as a reference in the footnotes of the pages. But the book lacks a general list of sources.
The content of the book[edit | edit source]
The book begins with a comprehensive index. In this list, hadiths are specified by number and their topic is not mentioned. Then there is the author's preface to the book, which explains the reason for its compilation and he gives advice to the Maqtal-writers and mourners of Imam Hussain. Some of the contents of the book are as follows:
- crying for Imam Hussain
- his grave pilgrimage
- The spiritual reward of visiting Abu al-Fadl
- Imam Hussain's prophecy about Ibn Sa'd
- The similarity between Imam Hussain and John the Baptist
- Imam Sajjad's behavior after his father's martyrdom
- Imam Hussain's dreams
- The benefits of Imam Hussain's grave soil
- Eclipse on the day of Ashura.
The first hadith from Imam Ali bin Musa al-Reza (P.B.U.H) is dedicated to expressing the importance of mourning and crying on Ashura and the martyrdom of Imam Hussain. The total explanation of the above-mentioned Hadith is expressed in seven parts, most of which are in Arabic.
As pointed out by Arbab Qomi in the preface of his book, forty hadiths look at different aspects of Imam Hussain's life. In this regard, hadith number 24 is about Imam playing with children.
In the book, which is not devoid of critical and ijtihadi content, the author talks about several issues, such as Rajʿa (pp. 111-87) and the prevalence of "lies" and "superstitions" among elegy singers (pp. 9, 243, and 302). Before starting the main text of the book, he also criticizes some non-documented Ashurai Maqatil and chronicles and expresses his opinion about some of them (up to 1328 AH). In the last part of the preface of the book, he talks about the unauthenticity of "Qasim's Wedding in Karbala" and considers Abu Mokhnaf's Maqtal book to be lost, and he considers the existing book to be of unknown origin, with unknown authorship that although it contains some hadiths of Abu Mokhnaf, is not trusted by scholars.
The value and importance of the book[edit | edit source]
Arbab Qomi's writing style and the topics of his interest, as well as the topics presented in the Arbaeen Hussainiyah book, are a reflection of the prevailing beliefs and opinions in the early 14th century, regarding the category of Imam Hussain, Ashura, and Karbala. In addition, during the explanation and interpretation of hadiths and narrations, Arbab Qomi raises, discusses, and examines many issues regarding the different aspects of Imam Hussain's life and martyrdom, which, in turn, has been documented to raise similar issues by other writers and researchers in the last century.