Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī’s Kashf al-Rība ʿan Aḥkām al-Ghība and Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn

The treatise Kashf al-rība ʿan aḥkām al-ghība (“The Removal of Doubt from the Rules concerning Malicious Gossip”) was composed in 949/1542 by the famous Twelver jurist Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī (d. 965/1558), known as al-Shahīd al-thānī. It is argued here that Zayn al-Dīn created this treatise by rearranging and editing several sections of al-Ghazālī’s great compendium on Islamic theology and ethics, Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn, that focus on “malicious gossip” (ghība), “bearing tales” (namīma), “speaking with two tongues” (kalām dhī l-lisānayn), and “envy” (ḥasad), and by adding Shīʿite ḥadīths and other reports culled from the Kāfī of al-Kulaynī (d. 329/941), Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn Zuhra al-Ḥalabī’s (fl. 13th c.) collection of forty ḥadīth reports, and other Shīʿite works. In addition to producing a useful ethical work directed at a Shīʿite audience, Zayn al-Dīn may have intended this work to address negative reactions to his popularity as a teacher in Jabal ʿĀmil and particularly to his claim to have attained the rank of mujtahid, which he had made public in 948/1541.

Bibliographic Information

Title: Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī’s Kashf al-Rība ʿan Aḥkām al-Ghība and Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn

Author(s): Devin J. Stewart

Published in: Shii Studies Review

 Language: English

Length: 21 pages

Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī’s Kashf al-Rība ʿan Aḥkām al-Ghība and Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn