Kamal al-Din Maytham al-Bahrani (Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani)

Who is Kamal al-Din Maytham al-Bahrani (Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani)?

Kamal al-Din Maytham ibn Ali, known as Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani, was a thirteenth-century Twelver Shia theologian, philosopher, and author from Bahrain, living from around 1238 to 1299. He belonged to a notable circle of Bahraini scholars of the period who became known for blending rigorous rational theology with philosophy and mysticism, a combination that set the "Bahrain school" apart from more purely traditionalist centers of learning. His most influential work is a major commentary on Nahj al-Balagha, the classical collection of sermons and letters attributed to Imam Ali, titled Misbah al-Salikin, which he wrote at the encouragement of the statesman Ata al-Mulk al-Juwayni; he later produced a condensed version of the same commentary. Beyond this, he wrote extensively on core Twelver doctrines such as free will, the infallibility of prophets and imams, and the imamate, as well as on philosophical questions of epistemology and ontology. His commentaries remained standard reference works in Shia seminaries for centuries after his death, and he is still studied today as one of the foremost intellectual figures Bahrain has produced.

Sources: Wikishia, "Ibn Maytham al-Bahrani" · Wikipedia, "Kamal al-Deen Maitham al-Bahrani"