The First Crossing of the Bridge of Sirát – Page 5

Mullá Husayn of Bushrúyih

Like his master, Shaykh Ahmad, Siyyid Kázim could discern the inner workings of the heart of each of his disciples. He could foresee their spiritual potential and the path they would take. He demonstrated particular confidence in one young student named Muhammad Husayn.

Muhammad Husayn was born 1813/1814 to a relatively well-to-do family in the hamlet of Zírak

close to the town of Bushrúyih

. Bushrúyih is in the southern part of the very large Khurásán region in northeastern Persia. The Khurásán region is bordered on the north by Russia and on the east by Afghanistan, and its main city is Mashhad (a city which we will come across many times soon in our story). Husayn was the eldest of five children . His father was a cloth dyer who also owned a small tract of land. When he was twelve, Husayn was sent to a madrasa

(religious school) in Mashhad

to study the Qur’án and Usulí

Islamic law. After Mashhad, he continued his religious studies in the city of Isfáhán

, which is in the east-central region of Persia. By the age of twenty-one, he was declared to be a mujtahid and from then on generally known as Mullá Husayn-i-Bushrú’í

[Note: For a short description of how Fársí names are constructed see Resources: Fársí Names & Transliteration].

⁶⁸There are different schools of interpretations of Shí’a Islamic law. The two major ones in Twelver Shí’a [Ithná-’Asharíyyih] in Írán were: Usulí and Akhbarí, with the usulí school being in the majority. These schools sometimes bitterly oppose each other. The Shaykhí school would be considered a minor school different from the two main ones.

⁶⁹Mujtahid means someone who is learned in Islamic law. To become a mujtahid, one has to study Islamic law under other senior learned mujtahid[studies can take many years]. The person is eventually granted the status of a mujtahidallowing them to be an authority to practice Islamic law. A mujtahid can issue fatwas [authorized legal opinions]. They further can take on and train other students, preach in the mosques and head congregations.

⁷⁰Details of Mullá Husayn’s background see Amanat Resurrection and Renewal Chapter 4, p156-159; Merabkhani Mullá Husayn – Disciple at Dawn Chapters 1-2, p1-14.

⁷¹ Dawn-Breakers Chapter 3, p49

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