 The grand jurist said Muhammad Bakr Majlisi was born in the year 1037 after Hijrah. His father is the scholar Muhammad Taqi Majlisi who was one of the students of the grand scholar Sheikh Bahai. His father was considered as one of the greatest scholars in his time. As he compiled many books including the explanatory version of the book Reviving the Hadiths, his mother was the daughter of Sadr al-Din Muhammad Ashuri who grew up in a religious family. He started his religious studies with his father at the ages of four. He showed high intelligence from an early age and as a result he got permission from the Muslim philosopher Mullah Sadr to reveal Hadiths at the age of 14. Then he continued his studies with Hassan Ali Shushteri, Amir Muhammad Mu'min Istarabad, Mirza Jazairi, Sheikh Huramili, Mullah Mohsen Istarabadi, Mullah Mohsen Feroz Kashani and Mullah Saleh Mazandarani. He learned a number of religious lessons from every single one of these scholars. He has had more than 21 well-known religious teachers throughout his lifetime and benefited from their ideologies and knowledge in the field of theology. He mastered a number of sciences such as eloquence and rhetoric, mathematics, history, philosophy, Hadiths and narrations, fundamentals of faith and jurisprudence in a short time. He also led the prayers and taught theology at the school of Mullah Abdullah and after the demise of his respected father, he led the prayers and taught religious science at the Grand Mosque of Isfahan, where more than a thousand seminary students attended his lectures and benefited from his knowledge. In the name of Allah, the Compassion, the Merciful. May the Lord bless Prophet Muhammad and his pure descendants. I am standing beside the shrines of the two well-known Mejlisi scholars. The first scholar is Muhammad Taki Majlisi, who was one of the prominent scholars among the Shia Muslims. And the second scholar is Said Muhammad Bakr Majlisi, the author of the Shia Encyclopedia of Bihar al-Anwar. The Grand Scholar Said Muhammad Bakr Majlisi passed away in the 27th of the month of Ramadan. This exact date is written on the tombstone of the grave of the Grand Scholar in the form of a poem, and it reveals some details such as the day and the month in which he died. This Grand Scholar was born in the year 1037 after Hijrah in one of the villages of the province of Isfahan in Iran, and he died in the year 1111 after Hijrah. There are a couple of reasons that he is called the Majlisi Scholar. Some say that one of the reasons is that he was born in a village inside the province of Isfahan called Majlis. This village was one of the dependent villages to the village of Natanz, and thus he was later known as the Majlisi Scholar. Some others suggest that his grandfather, the well-known poet Maksud, was known as Majlisi, and thus he was named after his grandfather. However, there is a third reason which is more accepted by the people, and it suggests that the reason he is known as Majlisi is because after his birth and when he was just an infant, his father had a dream. In that dream, he brought him along to a gathering where the infallible Imams, Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali and Imam Mehdi, peace be upon them, were present. His father, Mullah Muhammad Taki, handed him to every single one of the Imams and asked them to pray to God so that he would become one of the preachers of the religion of Islam. Some even say one of the religious scholars from the province of Quraasan took a trip to the province of Isfahan, because in that time, the Islamic seminary of the province of Isfahan was one of the grandest seminaries in the world. And the grand scholar said, As soon as I finished my pilgrimage trip, and before I head back to the holy city of Quraasan, I will go to the province of Isfahan and meet with the grand scholar, Muhammad Taki Majlisi, the father of Muhammad Bakr Majlisi. He continues, On my way to the province of Isfahan, I fell asleep in a roadhouse and had a dream. I dreamt that I entered the gathering where Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali and the rest of the infallible Imams, including the awaited Savior, Imam Mehdi, may God hasten his reappearance, were present. I was sitting beside the door. All of a sudden, I saw the grand scholar, Muhammad Taki Majlisi, the father of the grand jurist, Muhammad Bakr Majlisi, enter through the door. He was carrying his infant child. He brought his child and handed him to Prophet Muhammad and said, Almighty God has gifted me with this child today. Ask Almighty God to make him one of the preachers of the religion of Islam. Prophet Muhammad took the child and prayed the God for him. Then he gave him to Imam Ali, peace be upon him. Imam Ali prayed for him as well. After that, Imam Ali gave him to Imam Hassan and Imam Hassan gave him to Imam Hussein, peace be upon them. Moreover, they handed him to the other infallible Imams, peace be upon them. They all prayed to God for the child and then gave him to the awaited Savior, Imam Mehdi, may God hasten his reappearance. After that, Imam Mehdi gave him to the scholar who had come all the way from the province of Qurasan. The scholar continues, I prayed for him as well and then I woke up. After that, I wondered what the dream was all about. Hours have passed and I entered the province of Isfahan and stopped by the house of the grand scholar, Muhammad Taki Majlisi. I sat in his house and talked to him for a while. All of a sudden, Mullah Muhammad Taki went to their room and stayed there for a while. Then he returned carrying his infant child and gave him to me. And then he said, Almighty God has gifted me with this child today. Pray for him to Almighty God to make him one of the preachers of the religion of Islam. He says, only then I realized that the dream I had was true and the infallible Imams have something special in store for him. Therefore, he was later known as the Majlisi scholar because he had attended a gathering where the infallible Imams and the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them, were present. The late scholar Muhammad Bakr Majlisi is one of the scholars in whom the Shia Muslims take great pride. His friends and enemies bear witness to this fact. They all stand witness to the invaluable services and works he had conducted to serve the religion of Islam and the message of Prophet Muhammad and his family. One of such examples is the Sunni Muslim scholar Abdullah Aziz, who said about the eminent Majlisi scholar, it would be fair to say that the Majlisi scholar is the pillar of the Shia sect in the religion of Islam because he has made it his cause to serve this sect and religion. It is estimated that if we collect all the writings and books of the Grand Scholar and divide them on 70 years of his life, we would have 53 pages per day. You can do the math and see for yourself how much work he has conducted for the religion of Islam. For this very reason, he is a well-known scholar amongst all segments of people. Another example is Nuri, who wrote in his book Dar es Salaam, quoting from the author of the book of Jawahar, saying, I had a vision that there was a gathering, which included grand scholars and jurists. I was sitting among them, I looked around and saw the grand Majlisi scholar sitting among the dignitaries in the gathering. The author of Jawahar book continues, I asked the doorkeeper of the reason that the grand scholar Majlisi is referred to as the top scholar among the attendees. The doorkeeper said, Don't you know? The grand scholar Majlisi is the representative of the Imams. He is the representative of the Imams. This is a clear statement and a great description regarding Majlisi the scholar. You can see in the beginning of the book of Bihar Al Anwar, which was written by the grand scholar Majlisi, that the author has written on the cover page of the first volume of his book, the following statement. Back in time, when we were studying religious subjects, most people studied philosophy and theology. However, I studied jurisprudence and the fundamental concept of the religion of Islam, although many have studied philosophy and theology and undermined the science of Islamic jurisprudence and the Hadiths of the household of Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, I thought to myself, should I follow what others expect me to and what the seminary students accept? Or should I work sincerely for my afterlife? Thus, I decided to compile the Hadiths of the household of Prophet Muhammad in any books they may be, even if they were in faraway lands. Think about it, 300 years ago, there was a lack in facilities and equipment to publish a book in comparison to this period of time where the computers and other equipment dominate the world. Nowadays, you can easily download a book into your computer and have the computer categorize it for you. Or even classify it the way you see fit. Back in time, there was a lack of equipment and the technology has not been developed like today. Nevertheless, the Grand Scholar Mejlisi compiled an encyclopedia of the Hadiths and narrations quoted from Prophet Muhammad in his household and wrote a book which is now considered as an encyclopedia for the Shia Muslims regarding the Hadiths of the household of Prophet Muhammad. The scholar Mejlisi, his students, and a number of other religious figures, all of whom were well-known scholars, took part in compiling the book of Bihar-e-Lanwar. This encyclopedia indicates that the Shia Muslims are on the righteous path which defines the religion of Islam. Mejlisi, the Eminent Scholar, wrote for every single Hadith and interpretation or extra definition and information. The extra explanations include information regarding the interpretation of the Hadiths, the science of Islamic jurisprudence, the history of the Hadith tellers, and so on and so forth. The knowledge of this Grand Scholar was not limited to one or two fields of sciences. Rather, he mastered all the aspects and sciences in the field of the religion of Islam. Not only did he master the science of jurisprudence and other similar religious sciences, such as the fundamental concept of the religion of Islam, history of the Hadith tellers, astronomy, medicine, history, and the interpretation of the Holy Quran, but also he set an example in fulfilling the acts of worship perfectly, praying to Almighty God with humbleness, and implementing the orders of the Lord in his life. You can find many people who are knowledgeable and know the orders of Almighty God and have written various books, but they do not implement those orders in their lives. However, when it comes to the Grand Scholar Mejlisi, the case is different. One of his students, Said Namatullah Jazeeri says, I've been his student for many years and I was around him all day long and I would learn from him my religious duties. With that being said, not once have I ever seen him perform a permissible deed. As you know, the actions we perform are divided into four categories, such as the obligatory acts, the recommended acts, the detestable acts, and last, the permissible acts. He did not commit any sins during his lifetime and he fulfilled all the obligatory acts of worship, you know? The acts of eating and drinking water are considered as permissible acts. His student says, not once have I ever seen him perform one of these permissible acts. What does that mean? Does it mean he did not rest, eat, or drink water? Of course he did. But as you know, he would turn the permissible act into a recommended one. In other words, a Mustahab did, through declaring his intentions of performing it, seeking God's pleasure. For he believed that doing so would give him the strength to fulfill his acts of worship and serve the cause of Prophet Muhammad and his household peace be upon them. This would turn the permissible act into a recommended one. This is the reason that the grand scholar, Said Namatullah Jazeiri says, I have never seen the grand scholar Majlisi. May he rest in peace, perform a permissible act. The grand scholar, Majlisi, was a high ranked religious leader. One day, the grand scholar Muhammad Bahrel Ulum, who was one of the well-known Shia religious leaders, said, I wish it was possible to collect all of my books and writings and give the reward to the grand scholar Majlisi. And in return, Almighty God would give me the reward of only one of the books which were written by his Eminence in the Farsi language. This is what the grand scholar Muhammad Bahrel Ulum said. Only the late scholar Sheikh Murtada Ansari and other religious leaders such as Wahid Bahbani knew the great rank of the grand scholar Majlisi and the services he has provided for the religion of Islam and the Shia sect in general. Some of the well-known books written by the late scholar Majlisi are the four reference books of the Shia Muslims, such as Kaafi, Tahdeeb, Stibsar, and Mullah Yuhadur Ul Faki. He also wrote explanatory versions of these books, where he explained the mind-boggling words that were used in the context of the aforementioned books. Another one of the services that the grand scholar provided include writing the book of Bihar Lanwar in 110 volumes, where he collected the valid hadiths of Prophet Muhammad and his household from the Shia and Sunni books all over the world and compiled this encyclopedia for the Shia Muslims to use as references for hadiths. The grand scholar followed his master Fayyad and walked in his footsteps to immortalize the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and his household. He did not acquire the laws of nature. Instead, he acquired the science of religion and learned the teachings which come from the hadiths. His first step was to write an explanatory version for the aforementioned books. The grand scholar followed the cultural needs of the people in his time and thus he wrote a variety of books with different subjects. When he felt that people needed the science of astronomy, he wrote a book in this regard, such as the book of Iqtiyarat. And when he felt that the people are deviating from the right path and going astray, he wrote a book regarding morality, such as Aynul Hayat. The people have benefited so much from this book and Persian. These books laid the ground for leading people to the righteous path. If you go to the houses of the Shias, you should find some of his books in their houses. His audience were the seminary students, scholars and other segments of the society, including women and children. One of the services that this man provided for the religion of Islam is as follows. When he first started writing, the religious books in the Farsi language were so few. Therefore, the grand scholar Mejlisi wrote a number of books in Persia and increased the number of Shias in Spain and all over Iran and even different parts of the world. The books of history indicate that when the book of Hakkul Yakin, which was written by the grand scholar Mejlisi, was published for the first time, one print of the book was taken to the city of Damascus in Syria. As a result, 70,000 Sunni Muslim individuals who read the book converted to Shia Islam. Think about it. This is only one of his services for the religion of Islam. He also has served the religion of Islam in many other ways. This is the reason that the grand scholar Bahrain Uloom says, I wish for all of my books to be collected and for the reward to go to the scholar Mejlisi and instead the divine rewards of one of his books in Persian would be given to me in the hereafter. The books of the grand scholar Mejlisi are invaluable. The eminent scholar has also provided services in ways other than writing books. In his time, the grand scholar Mejlisi was a high-ranked religious leader and he would bid goodness and forbid evil amongst the people in addition to solving their problems, especially those of the Shia Muslims. He even had influence over the royal family of the Safavi dynasty. As long as the grand scholar was alive, none of the divine sects such as the Sufis and Wahhabis found a way to spread their divine ideologies because he wouldn't allow that to happen and he would confront them using the genuine teachings and jurisprudence of Prophet Muhammad and his household. As a result, they would become mesmerized and fascinated by the teachings and the hadiths of the household of Prophet Muhammad. He taught and familiarized the people with many of the teachings and hadiths which were revealed by the household of Prophet Muhammad. Another one of the keys to the success of the Mejlisi scholar is that his father would pray for him to Almighty God in his midnight prayers. His father wrote in his memoir, One night, as I was in the middle of performing the midnight prayer, I felt something. I had a feeling that God the Almighty is going to grant me whatever I would ask him to. So I thought to myself, what should I ask God for? In that moment in place, while praying, I asked myself, what should I ask Almighty God to grant me? At first, you think you need to ask Almighty God to prolong your life or make you wealthy or even make you respected among the members of the society. The Grand Scholar Muhammad Mejlisi continues, I was praying to God and performing my midnight prayer and when I reached the unit of winter, which is the second unit in the midnight prayer, I thought to myself, now that I feel Almighty God would grant me whatever I ask for, what should I ask him? All of a sudden, I heard the voice of my infant son crying. He was in his cradle, crying in the middle of the night. Therefore, I prayed to God and asked him to make my son one of the promoters and preachers of the religion of Islam. His father prayed to God in the middle of the night so that his son would be able to provide these services for the religion of Islam. Even if I went on and on about the Mejlisi, this great scholar, I'd still not be able to give him his due. One of the people of Bahrain became fascinated with the Allama Mejlisi, his books and the services he had provided for the religion of Islam. Hence, he took a trip from Bahrain to the province of Isfahan in Iran to meet with the grand scholar so he can talk to him and benefit from his words of wisdom. As you know, the transportation system in that time was not as good as it is today. The man left Bahrain and traveled towards the province of Isfahan. But when he arrived to this city, he was informed that the grand scholar Mejlisi had passed away. He became so upset because he had come all the way from Bahrain to the city of Isfahan. Yet he never got to meet with him before he passes away. The man says, When I slept at night, I dreamt that I was a part of a gathering where they set up a tribune for the last messenger, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The holy prophets stood behind the tribune and the commander of faithful Imam Ali, peace be upon him, sat on the side near the tribune. There was a long line of prophets and messengers of Almighty God standing in front of the tribune. Suddenly, I saw Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, calling out the grand scholar Mejlisi and telling him to come closer. I looked carefully and watched the grand scholar Mejlisi coming closer until he stood near the tribune. The holy prophet then told him to sit. The grand scholar Mejlisi told the prophet, peace be upon him. How can I sit when there is a long line of prophets and messengers behind me and they all are standing? Then Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, asked the other prophets and messengers to be seated. When the prophets and the messengers sat, the grand scholar Mejlisi sat near the tribune alongside Imam Ali, peace be upon him. It was then that I realized the great rank that this religious scholar had in the afterlife. And what an important person he is to the holy prophet and his pure household. Now, what is our duty towards this grand scholar? And how can we honor his services for this religion? Well, first, we must be thankful enough and value the services he provided for us and put them into good use and pass down his name to the next generations. There is another thing that has drawn the attention of the public towards this man and it is the significance of visiting his grave and paying homage to him. The grand scholars who lived in the past in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq would ask the people who lived in the province of Isfahan to go and visit the grave of this scholar on their behalf. And in return, they would visit the grave and the shrine of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, on their behalf. They knew the great rank of the grand scholar Mejlisi and the importance of visiting his grave and paying homage to him. Nowadays, you can witness that the people come to visit the grave of Mejlisi during the week, especially on Fridays. Trust me when I say this, if people had not been granted their wishes and had returned home empty handed, they never would have come to visit this place. But the truth is, many problems have been solved by beseeching to this grand scholar and asking him to intercede with Almighty God on behalf of the people. This place in sight was rebuilt and renovated a number of times and later the people decided to make a shrine for this scholar. During the renovation process, a part of the grave was destroyed. Even though more than 300 years have passed since the departure of the grand scholar, but the people witnessed that the body of the grand scholar Mejlisi had remained safe and had not been decayed. This is the story of the sincere follower of Prophet Muhammad and his household who also is the servant of the religion of Islam and the Shia said, I hope that Almighty God would grant us all the opportunity to benefit from the services of the grand scholar Mejlisi. Some other traits of the grand scholar Mejlisi are his followers. He was a distinguished religious authority. He had a great level of knowledge. He wrote numerous books and he would always eulogize the martyrdom of the Momsen, peace be upon him. In the past, when people would decide to go on pilgrimage trips to the holy shrines, including the ones in the holy city of Karbala, one or two people would eulogize for the Imams on behalf of the rest. Right before he heads on a pilgrimage trip, he would say, whoever wishes to visit the holy shrine of Imam Hussein in the holy city of Karbala, then he must trust in God and start his pilgrimage. Whoever wants to pay homage to the master of martyrs, Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, then he must trust in God and go on his pilgrimage trip. When the grand jurists would eulogize, the people would become so excited and more zealous to visit the holy shrines. There were some people with permanent disabilities who have been informed by their doctors that there is no cure for their illnesses in that time. The believers would put these people in the way of the caravans of pilgrims and as the caravans move towards the shrines, the dust which was flying around the moving caravans would have them cured. In the past, the people had such an unshakable faith and thus, the patients would always become cured. They say that Majlisi, the scholar, is the first one to publicize the act of eulogizing for Prophet Muhammad and his household. Although he was a higher-ranked religious scholar, he would always eulogize for the household of Prophet Muhammad, hardly, and he was the first to publicize this symbolic act. He would also hold commemorative ceremonies for the household of Prophet Muhammad, especially Imam Hussein, peace be upon him. These were only some of the traits of this grand scholar. He has served the religion of Islam in many ways. And I only mentioned the small part of them. One person has had a vision that goes as follows. The grand scholar Majlisi was behind a tribute in the holy shrine of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, teaching religious subjects. As he finished his session, you know in the past, the scholars would eulogize the martyrdom of the household of Prophet Muhammad before starting the session and after finishing it. The man continues, I saw the grand scholar Majlisi behind a tribute and there were many seminary students sitting and listening to his lecture. When the session ended and the class was dismissed, he started to recite eulogies for Imam Hussein, peace be upon him. All of a sudden, a person came out of the holy shrine of Imam Hussein and said, Oh the grand scholar, Lady Fatima Al-Zahra, peace be upon her, says, If you want to eulogize the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him. Recite some farewell eulogies of my son Imam Hussein's grave. This vision shows that this man was blessed enough to be a servant of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him to eulogize his martyrdom. It also shows that Lady Fatima Al-Zahra, peace be upon her, says so much about the eulogies of the farewell, which are recited in honor of her son Imam Hussein, peace be upon him. Oman Samani, the poet, in honor of the Imam says, The sister of Imam Hussein was running toward her brother while she was beating on her chest and her head. She screamed and cried aloud to the point that the oppressive troops became stunned. She moved towards the troops and begged them to stop slaying her brother. She went into the cave of the king. Every time she went to the palace, she went to the sky, and the guards were on her back. My life is a waste of time. The Grand Scholar Majlissey has written many books other than the Encyclopedia of the Shi'a Muslims, which is called Bihar al-Anwar. Some of his books in Persian include Haqqul Yaqeen, Aynu al-Hayat, Haliyat al-Muttaqeen, Hayat al-Gulub, Mishkat al-Anwar, Jalal al-Uyun, Zad al-Ma'at, Maqais al-Masabih, Rabi'u al-Asabib, The Script of Heaven and Hell, Resala of Istighara al-Aiyam, the translation of the Treaty of Imam Ali peace be upon him, Tumalik al-Ashtar, Mishkat al-Anwar, the costumes of reciting the Holy Quran and written prayers, the explanatory version of Joshan kebir, written prayer, Resala Dar-u-Rajat, the prayer costumes, religious rulings on zakat, and more than 30 other books regarding the Islamic topics in different fields, the translation of different written prayers and other books regarding faith and Islamic rulings. This Grand Scholar departed from this life on the 27th of the month of Ramadan in the year 1110 after Hijrah and he was buried near the Grand Mosque in the province of Isfahan in Iran. May he rest in peace and his followers increase.