Abu al Fadl Burqa'i

Birth

‘Allama Sayyid Abu al-fadl Burqa‘i was an Iranian clerk and religious scholar. He was born at Qom in 1908.His father name was Sayyid Hassan who was the son of a religious scholar Sayyid Ahmed. His mother Skeena Sultan was the daughter of a well-known clerk.

Education

When he was ten or twelve years old, he got admission into Madrassah Radvi and continued his religious studies there. He authored a number of books, among these books 35 are in defense of Shiah and later, he wrote 40 books in which he criticized shiahs rituals and dogmas. He was a teacher or professor at the Qom Howzah Elmieh Qom, where he taught Rasael, makaseb and fiqh for more than 20 years. Due to his reformist views he was soundly beaten there in Qom Howzah by seminarians and furthermore he was deserted from the Howzah by Ayatollah Borojredi. He became prayer leader of “Masjid Wazeer guzar Daftar”in Tehran. Where, he continued his work as a leader of Jummah prayer and congregational prayers for 27 years.

Borqei wrote against the erroneous beliefs and aberrations in religious practices among his Shia countryman.He was considered the most learned mujtahid by many Iranians. He was against ghuluw and tafwiz.He was against seeking the help of imams in prayers.

Teachers of Sayyed Abul Fadl Burqae

‘Allama Sayyid Burqa’i studied in Howzah of Qom, Najaf and Mashhad for many years and he had many throughout his career. But some distinguished teacher who taught him was: · Sayed Abdul Qassim Kabeer Qomi · Hajj Sheikh Muhammad Ali Qomi Karbalai · Mirza Muhammad Samrayi · Syed Muhammad Hujjat koh Kamri · Sheikh Abdulkarim hairi · Syed Abul Hassan Asfahani · Agha Shah Abadi · Agha Buzrug Tehrani · Abdul Nabi najafi Iraqi · Syed Abul Qasim Kashani · Syed Shabuddin Marashi Najafi · Muhammad bin Rajabali Tehrani · Agha Khownsari

Children of Sayyid Abu al-fadl Burqa‘i

Ayatollah Burqa’i had two sons and three daughters.All of them were learned and educated.They always supported their father in every hard time,especially his daughter Fatimah and his son Hassan played very important role to release him from the prison.Name of borqae's children are:

· Sayyid Hassan Borqei · Sayyid Hussein Borqei · Sayyeda Zahra Borqei · Sayyeda Aneesah Borqei · Sayyeda Fatimah Borqei

Students of Sayyid Abu al-fadl Burqa‘i

Allama Burqa’i had a number of students while he was teaching in Howzah of Qom for twenty years. Some of his students who later became the authorities of Iranian government are:

· Sheikh Mahiuddin Anwari · Sheikh Muhammadi Gilani · Sheikh Lahooti · Sheikh Muhammad Raza Mahdi Kuna · Sheikh Abbas Mehfoozi · Sheikh Sayed Raza Borqei

Beliefs and Rulings

Sayyid Abu al-fadl Burqa‘i rejected many well-established Shia beliefs, as well as criticised many religious rulings which are common among Muslims. He rejected the return of Jesus Christ before the Day of Judgement. He questioned the existence of Imam Mahdi as well as rejected all the narrations of Islamic literature about Al-Mahdi. He believed that there was no Blasphemy Law during the life of Muhammad, and that it was concocted later by Muslim jurists. Hence he wrote many articles where he strongly condemned sentence of death against people who commit irreverence toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, or beliefs. Isra and Mi'raj is recorded in many religious books of Shias and Sunnis, and many miracles are famous during this incident. In his commentary of the Quran, Sayyid Abu al-fadl Burqa‘i rejected the well established concept of Mi'raj. He did not believe that the Holy Prophet had no corporal Me'raj.

In his book Islam Without Allah?: The Rise of Religious Externalism in Safavid Iran, Colin Turner quotes the content of Burqa‘i on various Islamic topics.

Tabishi az Qur'an

Tabishi az Qur'an is the commentry of Holy Quran with simple Persian translation by Sayyid Abu al-Fadl Burqa’i.The book was written in 1386/1966, several editions have appeared under a penname. Unlike most of the commentators Burqa’i has unbiasedly tried to find the real meaning and interpretation of Holy Quran using Quranic verses.This Tafseer contained in 2200 pages.

Sayyid Abil al-fadl `Alläma Burqa`i, Mugaddima bar tabishf az Qur'an is a notable work comprising 280 pages,and many western scholars have mentioned this Mugaddima(preamble) of Tabishi az Qur'a in their books.