Draft:Sayyid Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi
Sayyid Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi (born in Country of Tunisia) is a renowned Islamologist and leader of the Shias of Tunisia and professor at Sorbonne University in France who changed his school of thought from Sunni to Shiism. Dr. Tijani was initially a follower of the Maliki school. After a trip to Arabia, he leaned towards Wahhabism and engaged in propagating Wahhabi beliefs. However, following an acquaintance with one of the professors at the University of Baghdad, he traveled to Iraq. During this trip, he met and conversed with Shia scholars, became acquainted with Shia beliefs and, after research, chose the Shia school. After accepting the Shia school, he wrote works in defense of Shia Islam and in the book Thumma Ah tadait, he reported the story of his conversion to Shiism and his meetings with Shia scholars. Tijani's conversion to Shiism faced various reactions from Wahhabis. According to Tijani, the books Al-Muraja'at and Al-Nass wa al-Ijtihad by Sharaf al-Din, as well as Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, one of the Shia sources of emulation, had the greatest influence on his conversion to Shiism.
Birth and Education
Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi was born in 1936 CE in the city of Gafsa in southern Tunisia[1]. According to Tijani, his family was originally from Samawah, Iraq, who migrated to North Africa during the Abbasid era[2].
Education
He completed his high school education there and then continued his studies at the Faculty of Science and Industry, achieving the rank of engineering. From childhood, he had a great interest in religious knowledge and, with his extraordinary talent, became known for knowledge and piety, and at a young age became the Imam of Congregation of the city and also taught Quranic exegesis and Jurisprudence[3].
Tijani memorized half of the Quran during his childhood. Therefore, during the months of Ramadan, he participated as an Imam in Tarawih prayers[4]. According to him, the name Tijani is derived from the Tijaniyyah order, which is common in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, etc. They believe that all sheikhs and saints of God acquired their knowledge from each other, except Sheikh Ahmad al-Tijani, who acquired his knowledge directly from the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny)[5]. Tijani completed his preliminary studies over two or three years at Zitouna University of Tunisia[6]. He made numerous trips to Egypt, Hejaz, Iraq, and other countries to gain knowledge and awareness and perform Hajj and Umrah, and during these trips and encounters, he realized the validity of the Shia school and officially declared his Shiism. Following harassment by the Tunisia regime, he migrated from that country to Paris[7].
He attended Franco-Arab schools (French-Arabic). Then he became an assistant professor at the Yousbay Pre-University Institute and taught there for about 17 years[8].
Tijani spent more than eight years at Sorbonne University and the Paris Institute of Higher Education, conducting comparative studies among religions, especially monotheistic religions, and graduated from Sorbonne University with a specialized research master's degree in this field. Then he received an international PhD from this university in the field of Philosophy and Humanities, and subsequently in the specialized field of History and Islamic Schools. The topic of his doctoral thesis was Islamic Thought in Nahj al-Balagha, thus he translated Nahj al-Balagha into French. After obtaining his PhD, he taught for one year at Sorbonne University and three years at the Balzam Institute in Paris[9].
Choosing the Shia School
200px|بیقاب|چپ Tijani was a follower of the Maliki school[10]. In 1964 CE, he participated in a conference in Mecca regarding Muslim Arabs, and during this trip, he leaned towards Wahhabism and subsequently engaged in propagating their beliefs[11]. During a trip to Beirut, Tijani became acquainted with one of the Shia professors at the University of Baghdad named Mun'im. In this meeting, he accused Shias of infidelity and polytheism, but Mun'im invited him to Iraq to become acquainted with Shiism.[12] Tijani accepted Mun'im's invitation and during his trip to Iraq, he visited the shrine of Imam Ali (peace be upon him), the shrine of Kazimayn, and the tomb of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani, and met with some Shia scholars[13]. Meeting with Ayatollah Khoei and Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, who were among the Shia sources of emulation, caused some of his beliefs about Shias to be corrected and his questions to be answered[14]. He has spoken about the influence of Shia scholars, especially Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, on himself, and in the book "Then I Was Guided", he reported these meetings, the questions raised, and Ayatollah Sadr's answers[15].
After meeting with Shia scholars in Najaf, Tijani engaged in research to reach the truth. He said regarding this: "I made a pact with myself to consider authentic hadiths agreed upon by Shia and Sunni as definitive evidence and documentation, and to set aside hadiths that one sect relies on to the exclusion of the other[16]. He proceeded to study Shia beliefs. The most important book that influenced him in this matter was Al-Muraja'at and Al-Nass wa al-Ijtihad written by Sayyid Abdul Husayn Sharaf al-Din[17].
Works
After converting to Shiism, Tijani wrote books proving the validity of Shia and refuting the theories of Sunni, some of which are as follows.
Thumma Ihtadaytu: In this book, Tijani has written about the story of his change of religion from Sunni to Shia. While recounting his biography, he reports the story of his trip to Iraq, and his meetings and conversations with Shia scholars. In this book, the author has defended the beliefs of the Shia school of thought by citing Sunni hadiths. This book has been translated into fourteen languages and printed several times in Iran. Its Persian translation is named Then I Was Guided. Ahl al-Bayt, the Key to Problems, The Real Sunni, With the Truthful, Ask the Knowledgeable, The Path to Salvation, and Travels and Memories are among his other works[18]. The book Summary of Thoughts is a summary of six of Tijani's books collected by Hussein Ghaffari Saravi[19].
Reactions
After writing books proving the validity of Shiism and refuting and denying the beliefs of Wahhabism, Tijani came under attack by Wahhabis and Saudis[20]. Initially, they claimed that Tijani al-Samawi was a fictional name created by Shia scholars, then they claimed that the book Thumma Ihtadaytu was the work of the Zionist regime, to cause people to doubt. Later, they announced that Tijani was neither Shia nor Sunni, but had become an apostate[21].
See also
Notes
- ↑ Biography of Sayyid Muhammad Tijani
- ↑ "Detailed Interview of Fars with Ayatollah Tijani al-Samawi"
- ↑ Biography of Sayyid Muhammad Tijani
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, pp. 11-12.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, pp. 12-13.
- ↑ "Detailed Interview of Fars with Ayatollah Tijani al-Samawi"
- ↑ Biography of Sayyid Muhammad Tijani
- ↑ "Detailed Interview of Fars with Ayatollah Tijani al-Samawi"
- ↑ "Detailed Interview of Fars with Ayatollah Tijani al-Samawi"
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, pp. 28-29.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, pp. 16-17.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, pp. 29-31.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, pp. 45-46.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, p. 49.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, pp. 53-60.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, p. 76.
- ↑ Tijani, Thumma Ah tadait, Madinat al-Ilm Publications, p. 75.
- ↑ Collection of Books by Dr. Muhammad al-Tijani
- ↑ Summary of Thoughts
- ↑ Detailed Interview of Fars with Allamah Tijani al-Samawi
- ↑ Detailed Interview of Fars with Allamah Tijani al-Samawi