Scientific and Political Position of Mullah Abd al-Wahed ibn Ali Shushtari

Mullah Abd al-Wahed ibn Ali Shushtari, a jurist, fundamentalist and scholar of rational and narrative Shiite sciences, lived in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries AH. Despite his fame in his time, in some books he is known only as the master of the third martyr, Ghazi Nurollah Shushtari, to the extent that one of his most important works is attributed to the Ghazi. During his life, he traveled to different cities of Iran, including Shiraz, Isfahan and Ardabil, in order to acquire knowledge from scholars such as Khajeh Jamal al-Din Mahmud Shirazi, Aghajan Shirwani and Mir Abolfath Sharfeh. Mullah's scholarly status was at a level where he was chosen as the Crown Prince's master by his contemporary scholars, but he resigned due to the unfavorable political situation. Among his students, in addition to Ghazi Nurollah and the Crown Prince of Safavid, we can mention Mirza Makhdum Sharifi and Afzal al-Din Torkeh. Mullah had several works, among which the manuscripts of Sharh Mokhtasar al-Osul, Sharh Tahzib al-Osul and al-Taklif fi Zaman al-Ghaybah are left in the National Library, the Library of Astan Quds and the Library of Ayatollah Golpayegani. The power of reasoning, wise judgment and mastery over the views of Sunni fundamentalists are some of outstanding features in the mentioned works.