Second Imami Martyr- Zayn al- Deen

Dr.Mazhar Naqvi

Zayn al-Deen al-Jubai al-Amili was one of the greatest Imami scholars. He is popularly known as Shaeed-E-Thani (Second martyr).Imamis hold him in high esteem for carrying out the mission of Ahle-Bait in most adverse circumstances. He was beheaded by a fanatic who was opposed to his endeavors to propagate Deen-E-Haque. Shaeed-e-Thani was born in 1506. He studied under famous scholars of all Islamic schools in Jabal Amel, Damascus, Cairo, and Jerusalem. Some of his teachers included luminaries like Shaykh Muhammad,  Shams al-Din Dimashqi, Al Al-Shaykh, Abu l-Hasan al-Bakri, Al-Shaykh Abu l-Latif al-Maqdisi, Mulla Hasan Jurjani, Mulla Muhammad Astarabadi, Mulla Muhammad 'Ali jilani, Shahab al-Din ibn al-Najjar al-Hanbali, Zayn al-Din al-Hurri al-Maliki and Al-Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Talawi. 

Always in pursuit of knowledge, he studied from nearly twelve Non-Jafrii Ulema of fiqh. Apart from the proficiency in fiqh, he was well versed in Usool, Philosophy, Irfan, Medicine and Astronomy. He also studied from Muhaqqiq Karaki before the latter migrated to Iran. He was respected by the scholars of all Islamic  scholars and authorized to teach Muslims in the Nouriyah Islamic school in accordance with the principles of five schools of thoughts.
 He became a Mujtahid at age 33 after his visits to Iraq. Since Ijtihad was forbidden and followers of Ahle-Bait had a long history of persecution in the area, he traveled widely and visited Egypt, Syria, Hijaz, Baitul Muqaddas, Iraq and Constantinople (Istanbul).He must have spent considerable time in TUS, for he has occasionally put his signature as "alTUSI, al-Shami "

Like a true follower of Masoomeen, he believed strongly in high thinking and simple living. His most popular saying is mentioned in his work Kashful Rabi. He has narrated messenger of Allah and Sixth Imam Jafar Sadiq “the thing nearest to infidelity is that a person listens to a word from a person and remembers it for using it later to insult him by telling it to others. Such people can never make a gain in the hereafter”.He was a man of piety and famous for his austere life. His students have mentioned in his biography that Shaeed-e-Thani eked out his living by selling woods cut by him. To maintain his family, he used to cut wood at night and teach his students in the day to fulfill his duty as a teacher and preacher of Imami faith. During his stay in Balbak, he conducted classes in Fiqh according to five schools, i.e. Jafari, Hanafi, Shafei, Maliki and Hambali. He also wrote the first sharh of Shaheed-e-Awwal Abu  Abd Allah Shams ud Deen Mohammed’s celebrated work Al Lumah ad-Dimashqiya( The Damascene Glitter).He gave the name to the sharh  as   Ar-Rawda al-Bahiyah fi Sharh al-Lum'ah ad-Dimashqiya  (The Beautiful Garden in Interpreting the Damscene Glitter).His work is part of the curriculum of almost every Hawza even today.

As his influence and popularity grew as a great scholar among the followers of all Islamic school of thoughts, some fanatics hatched a conspiracy against him. They informed the ruler that Amili was a heretic and substantiated their claim on false and petty evidence. As a sequel, the ruler summoned Amili to explain his views on the allegations leveled against him. Being aware of his caliber, the opponents knew that he would be able to defend himself before the ruler. In a bid to get rid of him, they got him beheaded in 1558 while he was on his way to meet the ruler. Upon coming to known about the incident, an infuriated ruler not only got arrested his killer but also ordered his execution. Some Turkmen who were aware of his stature erected a shrine at the spot where he was killed. Like Shaheed-E-Awwal, His successor Amili also attained martyrdom at the age of 52. The second martyr is also devoid of any shrine over his grave as his body was reportedly thrown into sea. ( References available on request)