Muhammad Amin al-Astarabadi

Muhammad Amin al-Astarabadi (died 1627) was an Iranian theologian and founder or proponent of the conservative (akhbari) strand in Twelver Shi'a Islamic belief, that is, those who favor hadith over fatwās.

Astarabadi saw himself as a "reviver" of a lost tradition. He was followed by a number of scholars who explicitly identified themselves with the akhbari. These scholars called for the return to the hadith sources, in a belief that the words and actions of the imams were readily seen, but had been corrupted by centuries of excessive commentary.

References

• Newman, Andrew J. (1992) "The Nature of the Akhbari/Usuli Dispute in Late Safawid Iran, Part 2: The Conflict Reassessed" Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 55(2): pp. 250-261
• Gleave, Robert (2004) "Akhbariyya" Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (ed. Richard C. Martin) Vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, New York, ISBN 0-02-865912-0
• Gleave, Robert (2007) Scripturalist Islam: the history and doctrines of the Akhbari Shi'i school Brill Academic, Leiden, ISBN 978-90-04-15728-6