Endeavour and Islamic religions

The book “Endeavour and Islamic religions” is the name of a work composed in Arabic by the pre-eminent scholar “Aqa Bazorg Tehrani”.

The author

Ayatollah Sheikh Mohsen (Agha Bozorg) Tehrani, prominent Shia scholar and bibliographer, born in 1875 in Tehran.  (Agha Bozorg means Great Mr).

He started studying religious sciences at 10 in Tehran. During 12 years, studied different sciences:  literature, logic, the Quran, jurisprudence & methodology and calligraphy under great masters.
Agha Bozorg emigrated to Iraq and continued his studies in the presence of great scholars:
Mullah Kazem Khorasani and Seyyed Kazem Yazdi and other famous scholars.  He learnt Hadith under Mirza Hasan Nuri.
Allameh Tehrani was one of the most prolific Islamic scholars, wrote the greatest Shia bibliography. He quoted Hadiths from many great Shia and Sunni scholars. After “Muhaddeth Nuri”, he is the most well known transmitter of Prophetic Hadiths.
Agha Bozorg was permitted to quote Hadith from the following scholars:

1-    Muhaddeth Nuri
2-    Ayatollah Hasan Sadr
3-    Sheikh Saleh Bahrani
4-    Sheikh Ali Khaghani
5-    Seyyed Ali Abdul Azim
6-    Muhammad Kazem Khorasani
7-    Seyyed Ahmad Tehrani
8-    Seyyed Murteza Keshmiri
9-    Seyyed Ali Shushtari
10- Seyyed Abu Torab Khansari
11- Seyyed Hebat Allah Shahrestani

The scholars who were permitted to quote (Prophetic Hadiths) from him:
-    Ayatollah Boroujerdi
-    Allameh Amini
-    Allameh Tabatabaei
-    Allameh Shushtari

His masters in Tehran:
1-    Sheikh Hossein Khurasani
2-    Sheikh Abdul Karim Lahiji
3-    Sheikh Ali Nuri
4-    Mirza Mahmoud Qomi
5-    Sheikh Baqer Tehrani
6-    Zain al-Abedin Mahallati
7-    Seyyed Hasan Astar Abaadi

Works:
There are left 100 books of him on 25 subjects; the following are the most important:

1-    al-Zarie’ “The Means” (in 25 volumes, which have described 53510 books of Shia authors)
2-    The categories of Shia personages (in 20 volumes, on biography and works of Shia scholars from the 10th to the 20th century)
3-    A gift presented to Mirza Shirazi ( on biography of Mirza Shirazi; celebrated Iranian scholar), etc.

Agha Bozorg Tehrani died in 1965.

The book structure

In this book, the author presents a scientific analysis of endeavour (Ijtehad the expertise to interpret religious and legal matters independently) and its genesis, the book is arranged in the following chapters

1- The meaning of Ijtehad (endeavour)

2- The general meaning of endeavour

3- The spread of endeavour

4- Evolutionary course of endeavour during history

5- Inactive religions

6- Endeavour in the presence of the Holy Imams

7- The Koran and the Prophet's family

8- The sources of endeavour

9- The factors of assent ion and descent of religions

10- The intellectual origin of endeavour

11- False endeavour

12- The main factors in monopoly religions

Sources

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