When Sheik Mufeed died, the Imam e Zamana (a.s) himself said, “Today is the day of Calamity for the Progeny of the Prophet (s.a)” that such a great Faqih had departed from the world. It was the eve of Friday, the 3rd of Ramadan, 412 H when this great person died.
He had vanquished all the opponents in debate; in the Realm of Baghdad that there was none to challenge the followers of Aal e Mohammed (s.a) for a debate.
On the other hand he had given proof of his erudition in the school of Fiqh that for the first time people realized the importance of Ijtehaad.
He established a school which had in its alumni such stalwarts as Sheik Toosi. This school was the precursor of the Hauza e Ilmia of Najaf e Ashraf.
He left behind a disciple like Sayed Murtada who truly and well established the foundation of the Ilm e Fiqh. Sheik Mufeed had completed his mission. On the night of 3rd Ramadan, at the age of 73 years, the Sheik passed away.
His cortege was taken by a huge procession of 70,000 to Asnaan, an open ground in Baghdad. Syed Murtada led the Namaz e Janaza. All of 70,000 persons took part in this Namaz.
Later on Sheik Toosi had said that in the history of Baghdad no Namaz e Janaza was so well attended and the people lamented his demise considering the size of the population of the city those days. Followers of all schools of thought attended in large numbers.
He was interred in the compound of his own house and an elegy written by the Imam (a.s) was found near Sheik Mufeed’s grave there. After some time his remains were moved to Kazimain. His grave is even today visited by large numbers of Momineen to recite al Fateha there!
One thousand years ago on a tumultous day, the grounds at the Ushnan Square in Baghdad could hardly contain the crowds of people who had gathered there on account of a sorrowful event. Thousands wept and mourned for a man whose death was a terrible loss. Tens of thousands offered funeral prayers for a sublime human being who had for fifty years, like a shining torch, illuminated a vast expanse of the Islamic world with his wisdom and knowledge, and who, at Baghdad by the side of the Tigris, had set flowing another Tigris of knowledge and learning. The storms of bitter and bloody events and the winds of prejudice and resentment that blew through the `Abbasid capital had failed to put out the lamp of knowledge and righteousness that drew its oil from the olive tree of the Qur’anic sciences and the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt, may peace be upon them, and whose flame drew its brilliance from the light of human intelligence. The thorny growth of twisted judgement and guile could not stop the surging floods in their auspicious course that had carried Islamic jurisprudence and theology, reason and narration to fertile lands.
On that day when the large crowds of mourners attended his funeral and offered prayers, led by the Sayyid al-Sharif ‘Ali al-Murtada, over his body, there were others who, with hearts full of malice and devoid of wisdom and foresight, thought that everything had ended for that great man, and they foolishly proceeded to celebrate his death.
However, every thoughtful person could see clearly that the death of that august thinker could not spell an end for someone who through half a century of effort had originated numerous springs of wisdom and learning, morality and high culture, through the realms of human thought, that the will of God and the laws of history had guaranteed its fecundity and exuberance in its perpetual movement through generations, centuries and eras, right up to its merger into the endless ocean of ultimate human edification.
On that day the emaciated body of al-Mufid was consigned to the earth in his house at Darb al-Rabah, to be transferred later to the Shrine of Imam Abu Ja’far al-Jawad, may peace be upon him, and laid to rest in that abode of peace and Divine mercy. But the spirit of this warrior, indomitable and unforgettable, would linger before the gaze of time and would never be forgotten. It is still very much alive to this day and at work in the growth and fruition of the fiqh, kalam and religion of the Ahl al-Bayt, may peace be upon them.
Today, one thousand years later, this al-Shaykh al-Mufid Millennium held with your precious efforts commemorates that event and pays homage to that epitome of learning and piety whose sublimity has not been diminished by ten centuries of growth of science and culture, nor whose visage has been dimmed by the mists of time.
In fact, by paying homage to al-Mufid and publishing his written works, the scholarship of this generation pays in fact the debt of gratitude to a man whose personality and ideas have had a continued presence throughout the rich and fruitful growth of the fiqh and kalam of the school of the Ahl al-Bayt, may peace be upon them. They have served as the cornerstone of the high edifice of Shi’i theological and legal studies of the last thousand years.
Shi‘ite Authorities in the Age of Major Occultation Part 1: Sheikh Mufid