An examination of the biography and works of Muḥammad Shafī‘ and Muḥammad Mahdī Astarābādī

The topic of this article is the examination of the life and works of Muḥammad Shafī‘ b. Muḥammad Riḍā Astarābādī and his son Muḥammad Mahdī Astarābādī (13th century AH) and the difference between this Muḥammad Shafī‘ and Muḥammad Shafī‘ b. Muḥammad ‘Alī Astarābādī (d. 1117 AH). Mullā Muḥammad Shafī‘, the focus of this article, had followers in the Astarābād area and wrote the Persian book Minhāj al-a‘māl about the Islamic jurisprudence and some pamphlets about the Islamic beliefs. Mullā Muḥammad Mahdī learned from the scholars of Astarābād, Karbalā, and Qazvīn. Then he went to Kirmānshāh and then to Lucknow (in India). He trained some students in India, stood against Shaykhiyya and Dihlawī movements, and wrote numerous works in Islamic jurisprudence and principles of Islamic jurisprudence in Persian and Arabic. The manuscripts of these works are introduced in this article.