213 – Shaykh al-Mufīd Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Baghdādī *

The leading scholar of the Rāfiḍa and a prolific writer. Shaykh al-Mufīd—whose full name is Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Baghdādī, a Twelver Shīʿī—was also known as Ibn al-Muʿallim.

He mastered many fields: dialectics, kalām (speculative theology), Muʿtazilite doctrine, and belles-lettres.

Ibn Abī Ṭayy (1) records him at length in his History of the Imāmiyya, speaking expansively and saying:

“He was unrivalled in every branch of knowledge: the two fundamentals (theology and legal theory), jurisprudence, transmitted reports, narrator criticism, Qurʾānic exegesis, grammar, and poetry.

He debated people of every creed, while enjoying great prestige under the Būyid dynasty and high standing with the caliphs. He possessed a strong spirit, was exceedingly charitable, intensely humble, abundant in prayer and fasting, and wore coarse garments. He was constantly reading and teaching and was among the most retentive of men.

It is said that he did not leave a single book of the opponents unmemorised; by that means he could resolve their objections. He was also one of the keenest in teaching—roaming the elementary schools and the copyists’ shops, spotting an intelligent boy and hiring him from his parents—meaning, leading him astray. Thus his pupils became many.

It is further related that ʿAḍud al-Dawla would sometimes visit him and say, ‘Intercede and you shall be granted intercession.’ And he was…"