An Introduction to a Manuscript of SharaI al-Islam and Its References to Arais al-Majalis

Abstract

Many manuscript margins and colophons contain valuable historical and scholarly insights. Despite their significance, these details often receive little attention from researchers. Such annotations frequently include rare historical information about the Imami school and its academic traditions, with some sections authored by renowned scholars of the sect or transcribed from their original writings. This highlights the necessity of studying and preserving this historical and intellectual heritage.
This study introduces a manuscript of Sharai al-Islam by al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli, dated 827 AH, copied by a scholar from the Ataiq region in the city of al-Hilla—Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Ataiqi—who was a student of Ibn Fahd al-Hilli. At the beginning of the manuscript, he recorded important notes on the history of al-Hilla and its scholars. Additionally, he transcribed two pages from a historical work authored in al-Hilla by one of al-Muhaqqiq al- Hilli’s students, titled Arais al-Majalis. These pages provide a brief account of the lives of al-Muhaqqiq and Ibn Nema al- Hilli, along with other historical insights related to al-Hilla.