Story of Fakhr-ul-Islam

Part 1

The following is a summarized biography of a formerly Christian scholar who embraced Islam after an experience in the Vatican … .

Mohammad-Sadeq Fakhr-ul-Islam, the Glory of Shari‘a

Birth

Mohammad-Sadeq Fakhr-ul-Islam [1] was born [4] about the year 1260 A.H [2], in a Christian family, residing in Kandy Church, in the city of Orumiyeh [3].

Ancestors

His father and ancestors were all great Christian priests and clergyman who spread the religion of Christianity throughout Orumiyeh.

Education

From the beginning of his childhood, Mohammad-Sadeq started to learn the rituals and beliefs of Christianity under the guidance of his priest father. Then he became a formal attendant of the study circles of the Christian scholars. He studied religious sciences with protestant and Catholic, male and female scholars and expertly learned the Bible and Torah and other prevalent Christian sciences of his time. [6]

Mohammad-Sadeq finished this phase of learning with enthusiasm and seriousness and attained priesthood while he was only twelve.

However, he didn’t consider this clerical rank enough, and left his hometown for Vatican. After bearing great sufferings and passing through many regions he reached his destination. He entered the world center for Christianity, in order to acquire great ranks in Christian theology. He learned religious precepts and sciences and gained higher ranks at that place.

His stay at Vatican lasted 6 years, and during this time, apart from specializing in Christian beliefs and rituals, he also acquired the principles of different sects and divisions of Christianity, and their practices skillfully. He was one of the elite students during his studying period, and was therefore respected by his masters. [8]

A Life-changing Event

Mohammad-Sadeq continued to study the Christian faith up to the age of 18, until an amazing event caused him to discover one of the greatest secrets of the world; an event that changed the path of his scientific, religious, and spiritual life, and guided him from the misguiding dead-ends of Christianity to the straight and luminous path of Islam. Therefore it paved the way for him to serve the One and Only Allah. He describes that event as follows [9]:

“After my arrival in Vatican, I learnt the Christian sciences, under the guidance of the scholars at that place; especially, a scholar from the Catholic sect, which had a great social rank, and was renowned for being ascetic and pious. Therefore he had many disciples and followers among the Catholics. The noble of dignitaries and aristocrats and the common of this sect would present him with valuable gifts. On the other hand, he had achieved great scholarly ranks, and was one of the prominent intellectuals of his time. Everyday, hundreds of male and female clerics attended his lectures and benefited from his vast knowledge with full devotion. Among his students he showed a particular attention towards me. Hence apart from showing kindness towards me, he had also given me all the keys to his quarters, except the key of a small room which he kept to himself. I had become skeptical of him and started thinking that in that room, he probably stored pricey things which were gifted to him and didn’t want me to see them, and thus pretended asceticism for worldly purposes. I never showed this inner feeling, until one day master became ill and did not attend class. He asked for me and said, “Tell my students that I feel unwell and I cannot be present at class, and ask them to go. I left him and went to the students. I found them discussing different religious issues, until their discussion reached the word, “Farqelita” ("Faraqlit"), whom Jesus had given glad tidings of his coming, mentioned in the fourth gospel, chapters 14, 15, and 16.

Everyone presented an opinion and then they dispersed. I returned to the teacher. He asked, “What were the students arguing about?”

I answered, “Different subjects, for instance the word, “Farqelita”, and every one had a different opinion about it”.

“What do you think,” He asked.

I told my teacher that I preferred the opinion of a certain Christian commentator.

He said, “You are not to blame, but all those opinions are far from the truth, because the truth about that word is only portioned to those who possess a profound knowledge of religion.”

The desire to understand this truth overwhelmed me, and with great perseverance I asked the interpretation of that word from my master. He shed tears and said, “My son! You are the dearest to me and I will not spare you anything. If I tell you the interpretation of that word, our lives will be in danger; unless you pledge not to name me, nor to attribute this interpretation to me, before and after my death; because before my death it would endanger my life, and after my death, my family’s.[i]

I swore by the names of God, that I will respect his wishes, and act to his conditions.

He said, “my son, this is one of the blessed names of the Prophet of the Muslims, which means Ahmad and Mohammad (the Praised one) [ii]. Then he gave me the key to the room which he had kept to himself and asked me to get two certain books from a chest in there. I did so.

The books were written on animal skins, in Greek and Syriac, before the appearance of the Prophet of Islam. He said, “Behold! My son, all Christian scholars, interpreters and translators, before the appearance of Islam, used to believe that “Farqelita” means Ahmad and Mohammad [iii]. Despite this fact, they distorted or destroyed all the explanatory books, lexicons, and related translations for the sake of leadership, and gaining wealth and worldly benefits, or out of malice and envy.

“My child, Christianity was abrogated after the appearance of Mohammad and many Christian clergymen and I have come to this fact; but we abstain from saying so because of our particular interests.

I asked, “Holy father, do you order me to be a Muslim?”

“Yes,” he answered. ‘If you desire the Hereafter and salvation, you must accept the religion of Truth, and I will always pray for you,”.

A Sparkle of Faith

When I saw those two books and heard my master’s words and confirmation, the love of The Last Prophet (PBUH&HP), encompassed me in such a way that the world, and everything related to it, seemed small and insignificant. At that time I had no thought in mind, but Islam and its Messenger. Therefore I bid farewell to my master and left in search of the Truth. [10]

Return to Homeland

After his discovery about the Truth, Mohammad-Sadeq left Vatican for Orumiyeh, his birthplace, and except for a few books and his personal belongings, he did not take anything with him. He entered Orumiyeh, while he had gone through many hardships, and then secretly met with Sheikh Hasan Mojtahed, one of the scholars of that town, informing him about his conversion to Islam. Sheikh Hasan Mojtahed, became glad of this event and due to Mohammad-Sadeq’s request, taught him a summary of the Islamic beliefs and rituals. Mohammad-Sadeq wrote these in Syriac, so he wouldn’t forget them. After this meeting, in order to be cleansed from the Christian impurities of blasphemy and polytheism, he performed a repentance ablution and attested to the Unity of the One Allah, and the prophet-hood of the Prophet of Islam, and formally became a Muslim.[11]

Islamic Sciences studies

After he accepted Islam, Mohammad-Sadeq refused to express his conversion to Islam, while being among his previous coreligionists, fearing that they may cause him troubles or because of his incomplete information about Islam they might lead him astray in their debates. Therefore he studied with scholars residing in Orumiyeh, such as Sheikh Hasan Mojtahed for gaining full knowledge over the basic and fundamental Islamic beliefs and sciences, and was able to finish the primary studies in a short time.

Then he traveled to Iraq in about the year 1285 A.H in order to attain higher levels of religious sciences. He attended the classes of great scholars and Islamic jurists, in the cities, Najaf, Karbala, and Samarra and learned jurisprudence (Feqh and Oosul up to the level of Ijtihad. As it is evident from his writings, he also became an expert in other fields, especially Islamic systematic theology and Qur’anic interpretation sciences. Thus he was introduced as a researching scholar, learned theologian, attentive researcher, deep and profound intellectual, expert against skepticism, and great debater who had vast information about different creeds, especially Christianity and Judaism. [12]

Gaining Spiritual Virtue

Sheikh Mohammad-Sadeq, apart from achieving religious sciences, also attempted to gain spiritual virtues in the cities Karbala, Najaf, and Samarra and benefited from the presence of the scholars of Gnostic theology and Ethics. Under the light of their guidance, he adorned his soul with spiritual virtues and splendors. He chose sincere worship of Allah, seeking assistance from the Infallible Ones (the Ahl-ul-Bayt), continuous association with the pious, and the gnosis of Monotheism and resurrection as methods to achieve true exaltation, and deeply felt the result of these endeavors in his soul. He narrates his own experiences:

What happened to me during my stays at Karbala, Najaf, Kazemain, and Samarra, can not be truly expressed by words. For instance, on the day of Ghadir-e-Khom, while I was in the vicinity of the Holy Shrine of Amir-ul-mo’mineen, the world of spirits, the Intermediate State (Barzakh), and the Afterlife were revealed to me in a vision. In this vision which its details are inexpressible, I saw the pious and righteous ones. At other times, I repeatedly saw the Last Prophet (PBUH&HP), Imam Sadeq (PBUH), and the rest of the Imams (PBUT), in my dreams, and benefited and sought spiritual profusion from them. In one instance there were twenty-six problems I had encountered in Principles and precepts, which had caused me great trouble, and whenever I asked the scholars, they were not able to provide me with an answer, so that I would have peace of mind, and assurance of heart. I implored Allah for the answers and sought assistance from the Prophet (PBUH&HP), until one night, the Messenger of Islam (PBUH&HP), and Imam Sadeq (PBUH) came in my dream, and I asked him the answer to my questions. The Prophet told Imam Sadeq, “my son! You answer him.” And he provided me the answers. (Fakhr-ul-Islam) [13]

Teachers

Although sheikh Mohammad-Sadeq benefited from many scholars in Orumiyeh, Najaf, Karbala, and many religious towns, however none of the names of his scholars and teachers, except Sheikh Hasan Mojtahed has been mentioned by neither him, nor any biographer.

Because his Islamic studies, before the year 1301 A.H, took sixteen years, (meaning that he was in Iraq during the years 1285 - 1301 A.H), thus the scholars who taught during these years could have been Mohammad-Sadeq’s possible teachers. These scholars include,

In Najaf:

Hussein Kohkamari (year of passing away: 1299 A.H); Seyyed Mahdi Qazvini (1300 A.H); Sheikh Abdullah Ne’mah (1303 A.H), Sheikh Jafar Tostari (1303 A.H); Mirza Saleh Qazvini Helli (1304 A.H); Mohammad-Hasan Shirazi (1312 A.H); Mohammad-Hasan AleYasin (1308 A.H); Mohammad-Taqi Ardekani (1306 A.H), and others. [14]

In Karbala:

Zayn-ul-‘Abedin Mazandarani Haeri (1309 A.H); Seyyed Hashem Qazvini (1327 A.H); Hadi Tehrani Modarres (1321 A.H); Sheikh Ali Bahrani (1321 A.H), and others. [15]

Return to Hometown

After completing his studies in Islamic sciences, Sheikh Mohammad-Sadeq bade the scholars of Iraq farewell, and returned to his hometown Orumiyeh, to carry out his mission of delivering the message (of Islam) and guiding and directing (others).

This return was itself the beginning of interesting long events in his scientific and religious life.

It is inferred from what he has said that he stayed in this town for a few years and preceded with teaching religious sciences and performing religious duties. [16]

A memorable Journey

Apart from traveling to Vatican and the Holy cities of Iraq, Sheikh Mohammad-Sadeq also had a trip to the holy city of Mashhad. He left Orumiyeh for Mashhad in the month of Sha’ban, 1304 A.H, to go on pilgrimage of the eighth infallible Imam (PBUH).

This trip was a very long, memorable one which also caused great blessings. He traveled via the towns of Salmas, Khoy, Iravan, Teflis, Badkubeh and … to reach that holy city [17]. People of these towns welcomed him greatly when they realized that he was in their urban area, and asked him to have a long stay in their town and deliver speeches and lectures, and conduct debates with religious minorities. In response to these requests he would give lectures about Islamic beliefs and knowledge. Apart from these he lamented the hardships of the Ahl-ul-Bayt (PBUT) and if the opportunity was ripe he debated with the Christian scholars of those towns.

One instance of his stops was at the town of “Salmas”. The people of this town greeted him warmly and because the month of Ramadan was coming, they asked him to be their guest during that blessed month and give sermons for them. He accepted their invitation and people received him, in a way that several thousand people gathered at his sermons.

It was during his stay at Salmas that a group of Christian priests gathered at the house of one of the nobles of the city by the name of “Hajji Ahmad Delmaqani” and asked Sheikh Mohammad-Sadeq to debate with them. Mohammad-Sadeq calmly accepted their invitation and accompanied by those interested, entered the Hajji’s house. An interesting and amazing debate took place between him and the priests. By presenting many proofs, from the Christian books, Sheikh Mohammad Sadeq proved the legitimacy of Islam and gave convincing and documented answers. It was during this meeting that eleven Christians embraced Islam. [18]

After traveling and bearing many hardships and stopping on the way which took several months, finally on the eleventh of the month of Rabi’-ul-Aval of the year 1305 A.H he entered Mashhad. After visiting the holy shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH), he preached and delivered the message of the religion for a few months in the Razavi (PBUH) Haram (holy shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH)).

Mohammad-Sadeq left Mashhad for Tehran after a last visit of the Razavi (PBUH) Haram and arrived in Tehran towards the end of the month of Sha’ban, the year 1305 A.H. The intellectuals, the renowned scholars, and religious and science-loving people of Tehran, rushed to welcome him and his companions after they found out that he had arrived and for a long time they received him in their homes.

King Naser Addin, who had also heard about his fame, arranged a meeting with him. It was during this meeting that this great scholar was titled by the Qajar king as Fakhr-ul-Islam (meaning the Glory of Islam) and the king encouraged him to defend the boundaries of Islam against the instill of false skepticisms from the Christians.

From what is left of the collection of Sheikh Mohammad-Sadeq’s works, it can be inferred that his last destination in his long trip had been Tehran, and he stayed in this city until the end of his blessed life, engaging in scientific and religious services.

To be continued …