Seyyed Hashem Bahrani

Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani (Arabic: السيد هاشم البحراني) also known as Sayyid Hashim al-Tublani (Arabic: السيد هاشم التوبلاني) (d. 1107 or 1109 AH) was a Twelver Shia jurist, muhaddith, exegete, and historian from Bahrain. Shia scholars frequently praised him, including his contemporary Shaykh Al-Hurr al-Amili, author of the comprehensive hadith compilation Wasa'il al-Shia, which remarked his virtues and high status. He is considered by Shaykh Yusuf al-Bahrani to be second only to Allama Majlisi in terms of compilation and collection of Shia hadith.

Biography Al-Bahrani is said to be a descendant of al-Sharif al-Murtada Alam al-Huda, and thus of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, He has the surname of sayyid meaning descendant of Muhammad. He was born in the village of Katkan in Tubli, Bahrain;

Teachers There is little information about al-Bahrani's teachers, and only a handful of scholars that granted him ijazah are known. He completed an important part of his education in Bahrain, but also made several trips to Mashhad, and Najaf. In Mashhad, he studied under Abd al-ʿAẓīm b. ʿAbbās al-Astarābādī which was an Akhbari scholar, and a pupil of Shaykh Baha al-din al-Amili, and al-Bahrani received an ijaza from him.

Works Al-Bahrani is said to have authored 75 works, most of them concerning religious sciences. He is especially known for his Al-Burhan Fi Tafsir al-Quran, which is one of the most important traditionary (riwayi) commentaries on the Quran based on Shia hadith.

Al-Burhan Fi Tafsir al-Quran Sayyid Hashim completed Al-Burhan in 1097 AH. Al-Burhan was dedicated to the Safavid Shah Sulayman, and it covers many areas of religious sciences like narratives about the prophets, and traditions highlighting the virtues of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, and their correlation to the verses of the Quran.

In Al-Burhan, al-Bahrani confines himself to hadith citations, and does not add any personal comments. He cites the hadith, without noting the strength or weakness of its sanad. The commentary is devoid of any personal comments of al-Bahrani, except for the comprehensive introduction, in which he adds his own understanding and analyses. In the introduction, al-Bahrani says that the only true custodians of the Quranic sciences are the spiritual successors of Muhammad, and that none but the "pure Imams" (al-a⁠ʾimma al-aṭhār) are capable of providing commentary on the Quran. He then provides serious objections to the tafsirs of his time like Al-Kashshaf of al-Zamakhshari, criticizing them for not following Muhammad's advice, and neglecting the virtues of the Imams. Al-Bahrani also strongly forbids others from writing tafsirs other than based on the traditions of the Imams, stressing that only the Imams have access to the Quranic knowledge, and the inward true meaning of the Quran.