| Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi | |
| Native Name: | محمد ابن مسعود عیاشی |
| Native Name Lang: | fa |
| Birth Place: | Samarkand |
| Death Date: | 932 |
| Known For: | Tafsir Ayyashi |
Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi (Persian: محمد بن مسعود عیاشی) or Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi Samarqandi (Persian: محمد بن مسعود عیاشی سمرقندی) (probably died on 932), known as Ayyashi (Persian: عیاشی), was an eminent Shia Islam scholar. He had many works in the field of exegesis of the Quran, Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic literature and hadith. His exegesis of the Quran, known as Tafsir Ayyashi, is his most famous book.[1]
His full name was Mohammad ibn Masoud ibn Mohammad Ayyashi Salami Samarqandi (Persian: محمد بن مسعود بن محمد عیاشی سلمی سمرقندی) or Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi Iraqi Kufi (Persian: محمد ابن مسعود بن عیاشی عراقی کوفی) and his kunya or teknonymy was Abu Nazr (Persian: ابوالنضر). From the date of his birth and the birthplace of him, has not been recorded in history and only he has been mentioned as Samarkandi, Iraqi and Kufi. However, there is a narration which tells he was from Tamimi tribe.[2] [3] The great Shiite and Sunni scholars, such as: Ibn al-Nadim, Shaykh Tusi, Najashi, Ibn Shahr Ashub, Allamah Al-Hilli, Ibn Davoud Hilli, Abdollah Mamaghani, Muhammad Ardabili, Abbas Qomi, Agha Bozorg Tehrani and Seyyed Hassan Sadr consider him from Samarkand in Transoxiana[4] [5] [6] [7]
The father of Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi was from a wealthy and well-known family in Samarkand. All of his fund was three hundred thousand dinars of the common currency of that era. His son, Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi, spent all of the fund in spreading Islam science and literature and promoting the culture of Ahl al-Bayt.[5] [6] [8] [9] [10]
Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi was proficient in fields such as Fiqh, Politeness, Tafsir and Hadith and was considered one of the leading contemporary Shiite scholars with Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni.[11] Mohammad Ali Modarres Tabrizi said that Muhammad ibn Umar al-Kashshi, the author of famous rijali book Rijal al-Kashshi, was one of the Ayyashi 's disciples. Modarres Tabrizi has also said that Ayyashi in sciences such as medicine, astronomy and jurisprudence has more than 200 volumes of books. Tafsir Ayyashi is one of his most important books, which is based on the assertions and hadiths of the Twelve Shiite Imams.[12] [13]
Ayashi was originally Sunni due to his birth in a predominantly Sunni area (which was around Samarkand and Bukhara), but after researching Shiite works, he converted to Shiism. He then traveled to Kufa, Baghdad and Qom to study Islamic sciences.[14]
After studying in the theological seminary of Kufa, Baghdad and Qom, Ayyashi returned to Samarkand and taught and promoted religious and Shiite teachings at his house.[10] It is said that his house, like a mosque, was full of Quran readers, hadith narrators, scholars, students and commentators. He held two sessions: a scientific meeting for the general public and another assembly for the students.[15] [16] [17] [6]
Two hundred and eight works in various scientific fields such as history, jurisprudence, literature, exegesis and astronomy have been mentioned for Ayyashi.[18] [19] Unfortunately, most of his works have been lost. The remaining book Tafsir Ayyashi includes only the first half of it up to Al-Kahf Sura, which was available in the cities of Mashhad, Zanjan, Tabriz and Kadhimiya. The masters of these versions have been removed for brevity.[20] Therefore, only the first volume of his exegesis works remains. Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai has spoken about the possibility of a second volume of the Tafsir Ayyashi in the southern regions of Iran.[21] Some of his other works are as follows:[22]
The exact date of death of Mohammad ibn Masoud Ayyashi, despite all the investigations that have been carried out, has not been determined yet, only Al-Zirikli, author of al-Aʻlām, has considered the death date of Ayyashi in 932 AD (320 AH),[23] but it is not clear from what source. It is probable that his death occurred in the same years as the death of Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (864-941), considering that Ayyashi was a contemporary of him.