The Scientific and Cultural Activities
After the decision of Threshold of His Majesty ‘Abd ol-‘Azim (Astaan-e Hazrat-e ‘Abd ol-‘Azim) and Dar ol-Hadith Scientific-Cultural Institute for holding the congress of Sayyid Murtada ‘Alam ol-Huda, the first consultative meeting of the supreme council of the congress was held in late ۲۰۱۰ and the aspects, size and expansion of the congress was delineated to some extent. In the second meeting of the supreme council in late ۲۰۱۱, the head of the congress and the members of its scientific council were determined.
Before the congress of Sayyid Murtada, the congress for commemoration of Ayatollah Meshkini was on the agenda of the center of the scientific and free-research conferences of Dar ol-Hadith. Therefore, the official activities for Sayyid Murtada’s congress started in the second half of ۲۰۱۴. The activity of this congress, the policy of which was outlined in four sessions by the scientific council, was arranged in three lines:
First Line: Correction of Sayyid’s Works
Considering the fact that almost all of Sayyid’s works had been published repeatedly in various intervals, the first step in this line was to evaluate the published works. The study revealed that most of the copies suffered from inadequacies concerning research method and revision techniques. The problems included: use of a limited number of and recently published manuscripts; unsound understanding of the text; oldness of revising techniques, etc. Despite the fact that some of the versions were very reliable, their revision techniques were not up to date. Therefore, the scientific council of the congress decided that there was further research needed for most of the works and in some cases complementary research was necessary.
The following points should be mentioned about the correction of Sayyid’s works:
۱. All of Sayyid Murtada’s works have been published, except Al-Masaa’il al-Sallaariyah and Al-Tirablosiyaat al-Oulaa.
۲. Among the works, the best and the most technical and comprehensive correction has been performed on Sayyid Murtada’s Al-Amaali by Abulfazl Ibrahimi; however, the researcher has not used the ancient copies available in Iran.
۳. Most of Sayyid Murtada’s works have been corrected in a very preliminary manner, the weakest ones of which respectively include: Rasaa’il al-Sayyid Murtada; Al-Zakhirah; Al-Molakhkhas fi Osul a’-Ddin; Al-Fosul al-Mokhtarah.
۴. There is only one identified manuscript for some of Sayyid Murtada’s works, including: Al-Zakhirah, Al-Molakhkhas fi Osul al-Ddin, Al-Mawdih ‘an Jahah I’jaaz al-Qur’an (Al-Sarfah), Al-Shahaab fi Shayb wa al-Shabaab, and a part of Rasaa’il al-Sayyid Murtada.
۵. The oldest available copy of Sayyid Murtada’s works is a copy of Al-Zakhirah, written in ۴۷۲ (After Hijrah), and it is kept in Russia. Of course, it is not a complete copy; rather it includes more than half of the content of Al-Zakhirah. The next oldest copy is a copy of Al-Sarfah, written in ۴۷۸ (After Hijrah), from which a number of initial pages are missing.
Next in the order among the oldest copies, there stands Al-Amaali, written in ۴۸۲ (After Hijrah).
Among Sayyid Murtada’s works, the most number of the ancient available manuscripts are copies from Al-Amaali; so that more than twelve manuscripts from the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries are available.
۶. In the new corrections, it has been tried to collect and use the oldest and most reliable copies.
۷. As a whole, about ۱۲۰ copies of Sayyid Murtada’s works were collected; and also ۳۲۰ copies of his treatises, i.e. an average of seven manuscripts for each treatise, were collected.
۸. Considering the fact that some of Sayyid Murtada’s works (e.g. Masaa’il al-Khilaaf, Al-Misbaah fi al-Fiqh, …) are missing, it has been tried to re-create them based on the other available books.
The new process of research and revision of the works consisted of ۱۰ steps:
۱. Comparison with reliable copies;
۲. Strengthening the texts based on available copies;
۳. Completion of extraction of traditions and quotations;
۴. Translation of complicated terms;
۵. Translation of un-famous people’s names and place names;
۶. Adding details to the texts;
۷. Revising, punctuating, and adding titles;
۸. Adding a minimum account of vowels to the text;
۹. Extracting and arranging a list of common individuals;
۱۰. Adding an introduction to each text about its content, its available manuscripts and printed copies, explanation of the way of its revision, etc.
Based on the scholarly consultations and predictions, Sayyid Murtada’s works, after the new research and topic-based organization, will be rendered in ۳۵ volumes in the following order:
Volume ۱-۲: Al-Amaali;
Volume ۳: ‘An Jihah I’jaaz al-Qur’an (Al-Sarfah);
Volume ۴: Al-Risaalah al-Qur’aniyah wa al-Hadithiyah (۴ treatise);
Volume ۵: Jomal al-‘Ilm wa al-‘Amal, along with an annotation to Jomal al-‘Ilm wa al-‘Amal;
Volume ۶: Al-Molakhkhas fi Osul a’-Ddin;
Volume ۷-۸: Al-Zakhirah fi ‘Ilm wa al-Kalaam;
Volume ۹: Tanzih ol-Anbiyaa wa al-A’immah;
Volume ۱۰-۱۳: Al-Shaafi fi al-Imamah;
Volume ۱۴: Al-Moqni’ fi al-Gheibah, accompanied with Takmilah al-Moqni’ fi al-Gheibah and Risaalah fi al-Gheibah;
Volume ۱۵: Al-Fosul al-Mokhtarah min al-‘Oyoun wa al-Mahaasin;
Volume ۱۶: Al-Tiraablosiyaat (al-Ulaa, Thaaniyah wa al-Thaalithah);
Volume ۱۷: Al-Rasaail al-Kalaamiyah (۲۴ treatises);
Volume ۱۸-۱۹: Al-Zari’ah ila Osul al-Shari’ah;
Volume ۲۰-۲۱: Al-Intisaar;
Volume ۲۲: Al-Nasiriyaat; volume ۲۳: Al-Rasaa’il al-Fiqhiyah wa al-Osuliyah (۲۳ treatise);
Volume ۲۴: Sayyid Murtada’s original Diwaan (never published before(;
Volume ۲۵: Teyf ol-Khiyaal;
Volume ۲۶: Alshahaab fi al-Shayb wa al-Shabaab;
Volume ۲۸-۲۹: Diwaan al-Sharif al-Murtada (the present published version);
Volume ۳۱-۳۲: Al-Rasaa’il al-Mokhtalifah (۱۲ treatise);
Volume ۳۲: Al-Rasaa’il al-Mansoubah wa al-Mostakhrajah;
Volume ۳۳: Al-Fahaaris al-‘Aammah;
Volume ۳۴-۳۵: Al-Fihrist al-Mawzou’i.
The Second Line: Writing a number of works about Sayyid Murtada, under the general title of “A Research Work on Sayyid Murtada”
In this line as a whole, nine books have been predicted, the characteristic of each of which is as the following:
۱. Sayyid Murtada’s Thoughts, written by Hojjat ol-Islam wa al-Muslimin Dr. Seyyed Hassan Islami, in ۱ Volume;
۲. Sayyid Murtada’s Theological Thoughts, written by Dr. Hassan Ansari, in one volume;
۳. Sanaa’ ol-Kowkab fi Sharh-i Akhbaar al-Mazhab (a clarification of Sayyid Murtada’s beliefs), written by Wassam Khattawi, in ۲ volumes;
۴. A Selection from among the Published Articles, edited by Hojjat ol-Islam wa al-Muslimin Seyyed Mohammad Tabatabaie, in ۲ volumes;
۵. A Translation of Some English Articles; Edited by Dr. Hamid Ataie, in ۱ volume;
۶. A Bibliography, compiled by Seyyed Mohammad Hussein Hakim, in ۱ volume;
۷. A report on the Dissertations about Sayyid Murtada (from Iran and abroad), compiled by Mohammad Qanbari, in ۲ Volumes;
۸. Interviews with Current Scholars and Thinkers about Sayyid Murtada, edited by Hojjat ol-Islam wa al-Muslimin Mohammad Mahdi Me’raji, in ۱ volume;
۹. A Collection of the Articles (Persian and Arabic), written by Iranian and Iraqi researchers, in ۶ volumes.
Until now about ۱۸۵ articles have been submitted to the congress secretariat, the status of which is as follows:
۱. Accepted ۸۲ articles (۴۰ Persian ۴۲ Arabic);
۲. Being revised: ۱۱ articles (Persian);
۳. Being reviewed: ۳۲ articles (۵ Persian ۲۷ Arabic);
۴. Being written: ۲۳ articles (۲۱ Persian ۲ Arabic);
۵. Rejected: ۳۷ articles, most of which were rejected in the preliminary review (۲۳ Persian ۱۴ Arabic);
۶. It is predicted that, as a whole, ۱۲۵ to ۱۳۰ accepted articles will be collected; i.e. to be collected in about ۶ to ۷ volumes (Persian and Arabic).
It is also added that about ۱۲ researchers have promised to write articles. This has not been included in what was mentioned above.
The Third Line: Promotive Cultural Side Events
Besides the two mentioned lines, a number of promotive cultural events have also been arranged, some of which have been completed and the rest will be completed up to the time of holding the congress. They include the followings:
۱. A commemorative stamp was designed and printed; this was suggested by the congress secretariat and was accomplished by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
۲. Sayyid Murtada’s name was included in the UNESCO’s list of celebrities. This was suggested by the congress secretariat and it was accomplished by the national commission of UNESCO in Iran and Dr. Jalali, Iran’s ambassador in UNESCO. This issue was first approved by the executive council of UNESCO, and in November ۲۰۱۵, it gained the final approval by the General Assembly of the Organization.
۳. Based on the agreements with three journals including: “Basatin”, “Kitab-e Shi’e” and “Ayene-ye Pazhuhesh”, the journals will allocate one of their issues to Sayyid Murtada.
۴. A number of Sayyid Murtada’s manuscripts will be published in the form of facsimile.
۵. The Congress newsletter is published in five issues, two of which were published before, and two more will be published after the present issue.
۶. Since the congress is international, part of the content concerning the Congress of Sayyid Murtada will be published in the comprehensive database of Dar ol-Hadith congresses, in Arabic and English languages.
۷. Like the previous congresses, the software of the congress work collection will be published in the form of DVD. The necessary preparations to his end have been arranged with the NOOR Computer Center, and the preliminary steps have been taken.
۸. In the sideline of the congress, there will be an exhibition of the congress work collection, along with formerly published works, so that visitor can make a comparison between these works. Furthermore, some of the works and documents concerning Sayyid Murtada and the Congress for his commemoration will be presented in the exhibition.
۹. There will also be an appeal to art for reporting Sayyid Murtada’s life and also the activities of the congress. To this end a short documentary film about Sayyid Murtada’s life will be produced and played in the congress.
The Centers Contributing in Holding the Congress
The institutes and centers which have contributed in holding this congress, along with Astaan-e Hazrat-e ‘Abd ol-‘Azim Hassani and Dar ol-Hadith Scientific-Cultural Institute, include:
۱. The Community of Cultural Works and Outstanding Characters of the Country;
۲. Islamic Research Foundation of Astan Quds Razavi;
۳. The Institute of Islamic Sciences and Culture;
۴. Al-Mustafa International University;
۵. Dar al-Torath – Al-Najaf al-Ashraf;
۶. The University of Religions and Denominations;
۷. Islamic Culture and Relations Organization;
۸. Specialized Libraries Dependent to the office of His Majesty Ayatollah al-‘Ozma Sistani;
۹. National Commission of UNESCO – Iran;
۱۰. Ahl ol-Bayt World Assembly;
۱۱. World Proximity Assembly of the Islamic Religions;
۱۲. The Assembly of Islamic Resources;
۱۳. Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences;
۱۴. The Research Assistant of the Center for Seminary School Management;
۱۵. The Institute of Shiite Bibliography.
