Mughatil ibn Bakri

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Mughatil ibn Atieh Bakri (مقاتل بن عطیه بکری) was allegedly a Medieval authority of the Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad, and son in law of Nizam al-Mulk. He is known only by a treatise that he wrote, in which he recounts in detail a Sunni - Shia debate taking place in the court of Sultan Malik Shah I.

The text was written in Arabic under the title "مؤتمرعلماء بغداد" and has been translated into Persian under the title In search of Truth in Baghdad (در جستجوی حق در بغداد). It has also appeared under the title "راهي به سوي حقيقت" with ISBN 964-93287-8-5. The texts authenticity is under question, as well as it's attribution to ibn Atieh Bakri in light of the fact that few copies of it were known and all from centuries after the death of Mughatil.

According to the text, the debate took place with the Shah and his vizier Nizam ul-Mulk as arbiters, while the Sunni and Shia sides each offered their case to the Sultan. The debate finally ends with the Shia side convincing the Sultan and his Vizier (both of whom were followers of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam) to voluntarily convert to the Shia faith.^[1] This, according to the author, aroused the rage of some extremists of the Sunni establishment, eventually resulting in the assassination of both the Vizier and the Sultan.^[2]

The circumstances surrounding the murder of Nizam ul-Mulk and the Sultan have been reported differently by all other sources, generally attributing it to the Nizari sect which were recognized by the large number of assassinations committed at their hands, though this was a Shia sect itself.

[edit] References

1. ^ p.134
2. ^ p.135-6

[edit] See also

• Islamic scholars
• History of Iran
• History of Iraq

[edit] Links

More info on Bakri's book: (in Persian). Note that the groups of numbers in the ISBN may appear in reverse order when viewing the catalog of an Iranian bookstore, due to the writing convention.