Ḥirz al-Dīn, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī (1273–1365/1857–1946), an Ithnāʿasharī scholar of jurisprudence and its principles, author of numerous works, and the compiler of Maʿārif al-rijāl, an important text in ḥadīth studies. His family was celebrated in Najaf as the Āl-i Ḥirz al-Dīn, after the patriarch Ḥirz al-Dīn (lit. ‘Fortification of the Faith’). They have enjoyed considerable social standing since the 12th/18th century (Ḥirz al-Dīn, Maʿārif, 1/83–84, 231–232, 2/31–33, 99; Āl Maḥbūba, 2/164).

Muḥammad b. ʿAlī lost his father in childhood; he was raised by his brothers, …