Muhammad Jamaluddin al-Makki al-Amili


Al Sheikh Shamseddine Abu Abdullah Muhammad Jamaluddin al-Makki al-Amili al-Jizzini, also known as al-Shahīd al-Awwal and Shamseddine, is the author of Al-Lum'ah ad-Dimashqiya and was a Shi'a scholar. Although he is neither the first Muslim, nor the first Shi'te to die for his religion, he became known as "Shahid Awwal" because he was probably the first Shia scholar of such stature to have been killed in a brutal manner.

Life

He was born in 734 A.H in Jabal 'Amel. When Mohammad bin Makki was 16 years old he went to study at al-Hilla in Iraq. He returned home when he was 21. He used taqiyya to establish himself as one of the religious scholars of Damascus, using Sunni law to judge Sunnis, while covertly judging the Shia using Shia law.

Death

He was killed on Thursday the ninth of Jumada al-awwal, 786 A.H. during the reign of Sultan Barquq. His death was in accordance with the fatwa of a jurist from the Maliki madhab, which was endorsed by a jurisprudent of the Shaf'i madhab. Accusations against him included rafd, defamation of senior Islamic personages, the companions and family of the Prophet Muhammad Aisha, Abu Bakr and Umar, following the Nusayri faith, and permitting the drinking of wine.
These accusations were first brought against him by two of his former students from Jabal Amil, who were also former Twelver Shiites. One of them, Yusuf ibn Yahya, submitted a report to the authorities detailing al-Amili's "vile doctrines and abominable beliefs."
However, according to Shia biographer al-Khwansari, al-Amili denied these charges in a letter to the governor of Damascus, protesting his love for "the Prophet and all who loved him, all the Companions without exception." He was imprisoned for one year, then beheaded by sword. His corpse was then crucified and stoned in Damascus whereby it was burned and the ashes were discarded into the air.