Ibn Sufi

Ali ibn Muhammad Alawi Umari with the full name of Najmuddin Abul-Hasan Ali ibn Abul-Ghanaim Alawi Umari known as Ibn Sufi (born AD/CE AH in Basra, died AD/CE AH in Mosul) was a prominent Shiite genealogist and the author of the famous Arabic historical genealogy book "Al-Majdi fi Ansabi al-Taalebiyin" (in , ).

Life and lineage Ibn Sufi was born and raised in Basra, and is known as "Umari" and also "Alawi" due to his ancestry to his grandfather, "Umar al-Atraf", the son of the first Shia Imam, "Ali", known as "Ibn Taghlibiyah".

Ibn Sufi's father, "Abu al-Ghana'im Muhammad", known as "Ibn Mahlabiyah", was considered as an authority on the genealogy science. In fact, genealogy had a long history in Ibn Sufi's family, and even his sixth grandfather, "Muhammad Sufi", to whom Ibn Sufi is attributed and who was killed by order of Harun al-Rashid (the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Empire), was also a genealogist.

It seems that Ibn Sufi spent most, if not all, of his time in Baghdad between 1016 AD/CE to 1029 AD/CE (407 AH to 420 AH). Ibn Sufi migrated from Basra to Mosul in 1032 AD/CE (423 AH), where he married and settled down.

Ibn Sufi, in his account of the lineage of Zayd ibn Ali, referred to Twelver school of thought as his own sect. According to Ibn al-Tiqtaqa (a prominent historian) in his book "Al-Asili", Ibn Sufi died in Mosul.

Educations As Ibn Sufi himself says, from childhood he studied various sciences, especially genealogy, and benefited from the presence of great masters. Ibn Tawus (a Shiite jurist, theologian, historian and astrologer) considered Ibn Sufi as the foremost genealogist of his time, and according to Ibn Inabah (a Shiite historian and genealogist), Ibn Sufi's statement in the field of genealogy was a proof. Ibn Sufi traveled to many lands and cities to gain experience and knowledge in sciences specially in genealogy, such as Ramla, Nusaybin, Levant, Mayafarfin, Egypt, Oman, Kufa, and Ukbara.

His masters In various historical Shia books, the names of 20 of Ibn Sufi's masters are mentioned. Ibn Sufi mentioned the names of some of his masters in his book "Al-Majdi fi Ansabi al-Taalebiyin" (in , ) too. Among Ibn Sufi's masters, the following prominent individuals can be mentioned:

Ibn Sufi was a contemporary of Sharif al-Murtaza (one of the greatest Shia scholars of his time), and Ibn Sufi met with him in Baghdad in 1034 AD/CE (425 AH). According to Sayyid Ali Khan Madani (a Shiite scholar), Ibn Sufi studied a while under the supervision of Sharif al-Murtaza and narrated hadiths from him and his brother Al-Sharif al-Radi, but Ibn Sufi himself does not mention this.

His works The writings of Ibn Sufi are more famous in the field of Islamic genealogy. The following can be mentioned among others: "Abu Talib Muhammad", the son of "Majd al-Dawlah Abul-Hassan Ahmad", asked Ibn Sufi to write a brief book on genealogy. Ibn Sufi also attributed the book to him in recognition of the kindness of "Majd al-Dawlah" and called it "Al-Majdi" in the first phrase of the book name which means "Attributed to Al-Majdi". The book "Al-Majdi fi Ansabi al-Taalebiyin" is written on the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad and the Shiite Imams up to lineage of Muhammad al-Jawad (a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the ninth of the Twelve Imams) and their children and grandchildren, and Ibn Sufi has also included the schools of thought of genealogists and their differences of opinion in this work. and some, including Ali ibn Tawus al-Hilli (a Shiite jurist, theologian, historian and astrologer), have written commentaries on it. The book "Al-Majdi fi Ansabi al-Taalebiyin" was edited and republished in Qom in 1989 AD/CE (1409 AH), by Ahmad Mahdavi Damghani (an Iranian scholar and university professor). This book has not been obtained yet;

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