HILLI, AL-

in full Jamal Ad-din Hasan Ibn Yusuf Ibn 'ali Ibn Muthahhar Al-hilli born Dec. 15, 1250, Hillah, Iraq died Dec. 18, 1325 theologian and expounder of Shi'i doctrines one of the two main systems of Islam, the other being the Sunni, which is the larger. Al-Hilli studied law, theology, and the usul, or principles of the faith, in the city of Hillah, an important centre for Shi'i learning in the Sunni territory of the 'Abbasid caliphate (the second Arab dynasty). A scion of a family of Shi'i theologians, he became known as the "wise man of Hillah." He also studied philosophy with Nasir ad-Din at-Tusi (d. 1274), a noted philosopher of his time. Among al-Hilli's more than 500 scholarly works on the Islamic faith are the al-Bab al-hadi 'ashar (Treatise on the Principles of Shi'ite Theology, 1928) and the Sharh tajrid al-i'tiqad. These are standard references on Twelver Shi'i beliefs and are still used as textbooks in Iran. Attracted by the religious freedom of the Mongol Il-Khanid dynasty (the descendants of Hleg, who sacked Baghdad in 1258), al-Hilli emigrated to Iran in 1305. There he was responsible for converting ljeyt, the eighth Il-Khanid of Iran, from the Sunni faith to Shi'ah. In 1305 Shi'ah was proclaimed the state religion of Iran. Al-Hilli was buried in Meshed.