Yusuf al-Bahrani
Bahraini theologian (1695–1772)
Yūsuf ibn ʾAḥmad al-Baḥrānī (1695–1772) (Arabic: يوسف البحراني) was a Bahraini muhaddith, faqīh and a key figure in the intellectual development of Twelver Shia Islam. Specifically, al-Bahrani was a key figure in the eighteenth century Twelver Shia debates between Akhbaris and Usulis on the nature of ijtihad and jurisprudence. He is known among Shia scholars for his book entitled al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira (“The blooming gardens”) (Arabic: الحدائق الناضرة) in jurisprudence. Indeed, he is often referred to as "The author of Ḥadāʾiq" (Arabic: صاحب الحدائق) among Shia clerics.
Biography
Al-Bahrani was born in the village of Māḥūz, in present-day Bahrain; his title of al-Bahrani is a reflection of this fact. Following an attack on the Bahrain island by Oman in 1717, al-Bahrani travelled to Qatif. He became the head of his family after the death of his father in 1719, and travelled back and forth from Qatif, and the island of Bahrain. He then travelled in 1722 to Iran, soon following the Afghan capture of Isfahan. There he settled in Shiraz for at least five years, and then moved to Fasā, in the southeast of Shiraz where he started writing his al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, a book he never completed. Following disturbances in the area, his home was attacked, and he lost his library.
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