The institution of Marja’iyyah has served as a pillar of guidance for the Khoja Shia Ithna’ Asheri Community over two hundred centuries, and has enabled the believers to stay on the path of the Ahlulbayt (`a). It is an institution that is a symbol of fatherhood and Islamic Unity, protecting people and preserving fundamental values of Islam and cultivating minds to the path of Islam – Faith through the ages until the time of reappearance Imam Al-Mahdi (a.t.f.s).
Ayatullah Zaynul Ābidīn Māzandarānī
Ayatullah Zaynul Ābidīn Māzandarānī Ḥāʾirī was born in 1809 in Mazandaran in the city of Barfrouch (today’s Babol), Iran. His father was Muslim Barfurushi Mazandarani. His best-known teachers were Sa’id al-‘Ulama’ Mazandarani, Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi, and Shaykh al-Ansari.
Ayatullah Māzandarānī played a major role in supporting and guiding the Ithna’Ashari Khojas. Soon after the arrival of the Aga Khan 1 in India, when greater control and interference was exercised by the Aga Khan in the affairs of the community, led to certain groups to dissent which resulted in a number of prominent Khoja families to be ousted from the Jamaat Khaana.
In the early 1800s some of these ‘outcast Khojas’ went to Iraq for Ziyarat and while in Najaf they met the Mujtahid of the time, Ayatullah Māzandarānī. During their discussions his Eminence recognized that there was a need for a muballigh to teach them the aqa’ed of the Shia Ithna’Asheri faith. Soon after, at the behest of the Ayatullah, a muballigh, from South India studying in the hawza, called Mulla Kader Hussein arrived in India in 1873 and Sayyid ‘Abd al-Husayn Mar’ashi Shushtari was sent to Zanzibar.
His efforts resulted in more and more Khoja families leaving the Ismaili sect and accepting the Shia Ithna’Asheri faith.
From these few dissenting families, who had to undergo considerable hardships, the community has now grown globally to nearly 150,000 Khoja Shia Ithna’Asheris.
Ayatullah Māzandarānī died in DhulQa’da 1309/June 1892 and is buried in the Shrine of Imam al-Husayn (‘a) at the gate of Qadi l-Hajat.
Sayyid Abul Ḥasan al-Musawi al-Isfahānī
Sayyid Abul Ḥasan al-Isfahānī was born in the year 1867 in Madisah, a village near Lenjan, Isfahan. After his preliminary training in Isfahan he traveled to Najaf and gradually joined the lessons of Ayatullah Akhund Khurasani, who soon recognized the talents of his disciple. After the demise of Ayatullah Muḥammad Ḥusayn Gharawī Naʾīnī in 1937, Ayatullah Isfahani became the unique authority in the main part of Shi’a world. The tenure of his Marjaiyyah is particularly known for its commendable administration.
His famous work in Fiqh is ‘ Wasila al-Naja’ which due to its comprehensive nature, has been elucidated by many Fuqaha including Ayatullah Khomeini.
A large number of great authorities and prominent scholars in the field of fiqh and usul have been Ayatullah Isfahani’s students, some of whom were Ayatullah Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim, Ayatullah Sayyid Haadi Milani and Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i.
Ayatullah Isfahani passed away in Kadhimiya, Iraq on Monday 9th Dhulhijjah 1365 AH (4th November 1946). After a large funeral ceremony, he was buried in a room in the courtyard of Imam Ali’s (`a) shrine.
Ayatullah Sayyid Hossein Borujerdi
Ayatullah Sayyid Hossein Borujerdi was born in March 1875 in the city of Borujerd in the Province of Lorestan in Iran. His family traced its lineage 30 generations to Imam Hassan (`a). His father Sayyid Ali Tabataba’i was a religious scholar in Borujerd and his mother, Sayyidah Agha Beygum, was the daughter of Sayyid Mohammad Ali Tabataba’i.
In his youth, Ayatullah Borujerdi studied under a number of Shi’ite scholars of Islamic jurisprudence such as Mohammad-Kazem Khorasani and Aqa Zia Iraqi, and specialized in fiqh along with the science of rijal. He had a strong influence on Islamic scholars like Syed Murtaza Mutahhari and Ayatullah Sheikh Hussain Montazeri.
Ayatullah Borujerdi revived the hawza of Qum in 1945, which had waned after the death of its founder Ayatullah Abdul-Karim Ha’eri Yazdi in 1937. After the demise of Sayyid Abul Hasan Isfahani, the majority of Shi’a accepted Ayatullah Borujerdi as Marja’, thus making His Eminence a leading Marja in Iran from 1947 to his death in 1961.
Under his directorship, many political and social changes happened in administration of seminaries and also publication of religious books. The city of Borujerd lacked electricity, but through the order from His Eminence and the help of some religious people, they constructed a power plant. Many charitable and religious organizations were built at his time; some of those are: ‘A’zam Mosque in the holy Shrine of Lady Ma’sumah in Qum, Baghdad Mosque, a hospital in Najaf and Neku’i hospital in Qum. Furthermore, under his leadership, many religious scholars were sent to other cities and countries to preach religious beliefs and to fulfill religious needs of people.
Ayatullah Borujerdi was the first Marja to look beyond Iraq and Iran. He sent representatives to Lebanon, Kuwait, Sudan and Pakistan and also helped establish the Islamic Center of Hamburg. He also sent missionaries to spread Islam in Europe and the United States.
Ayatullah Sayed Borujerdi died in Qum on 30th March 1961, and buried in the shrine of Hazrat Fatemah Ma’sumah-e-Qum (‘a).
Ayatullah Sayyid Muhsin Tabataba’i al-Hakim
Ayatullah Sayyid Muhsin Al-Hakim was born on 31st May 1889 in Najaf, Iraq. He was the son of Sayyid Mahdi al-Hakim a great religious scholar in Najaf.
After the demise of Agha Borujerdi in 1961, Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim became the leading Marja’ for most of the Shia world. He was among the distinguished Maraja of Najaf and was considered to be one of the most famous scholars of the time after Ayatullah Abu Al Hassan Al-Isfahani and Ayatullah Hossein Borujerdi.
Among the generation of students, he trained are several contemporary Marjai’. His list of students includes such great names as Sayyid Abul Qasim al-Khoei, Sayyid Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini, Martyr Sayyid Qadhi Tabatabai, Martyr Sayyid Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr, Sayyid Ali Hussaini al-Sistani, Sayyid Sa’eed Tabatabai Hakim (his grandson), Shaikh Hussain Waheed Khurasani, and Shaikh Nasir Makarem Shirazi.
Some of his many accomplishments include increasing the number of seminary students from all over the world; educating the general public by building many public libraries and religious centers all over Iraq and abroad; establishing good relations with the Sunni brethren (especially the Kurds in Iraq); defending political rights of the oppressed; and introducing the Shia identity to the world as a dynamic, rational, and progressive faith.
His masterpiece in Fiqh ‘Mustamsak al ‘Urwat al Uthqa’ in 14 volumes is still widely used today in the Hawza as it is a concise yet profound discussion on the demonstrative proofs for Fiqhi rulings.
Apart from religious guidance, Sayyid al-Hakim played a major role in the upliftment of Shias in Africa and the Indian sub-continent. He was the one who inspired the community members to commence tabligh activities among the indigenous communities in East Africa, thus the Bilal Muslim Mission was established by the Africa Federation in East Africa in 1968.
His historic opinion piece (although, not an official fatwa), branding and declaring communism equivalent to Shirk and Kufr (polytheism and atheism) marked the end of communism in Iraq.
During the last years of his life he underwent house arrest, and the Shiite seminary in Najaf and Shiites in Iraq faced extreme hardships under the tyrannical rule of the Ba’ath Socialist Party of Iraq led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Saddam Hussain from 1963.
Sadly, many of his students and at least six of his sons were brutally persecuted and subsequently killed by the Ba’ath regime of Iraq.
“Live with people such that when you die, they grieve over your demise”
Ayatullah Sayyid Muhsin Al-Hakim passed away in Baghdad, Iraq on 27th of Rabi al Awwal in 1390 AH (2nd June 1970) at the age of 84 years. Huge crowds of people attended his funeral. He truly lived in the way that Imam Ali (‘A) advised in the tradition quoted above (Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 10). He was laid to rest inside his own library (near Masjid-e-Hind) next to the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali (`a) in Najaf-e-Ashraf and the mantle of leadership in the Najaf seminary was passed on to Ayatullah Sayyid Abul Qasim al-Khoei.
Sayyid Abul-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khoei
Ayatullah As-Sayyid Abul-Qasim al-Musavi al-Khoei was born on 15th Rajab 1317 AH – 19th November 1899 in Khoy – a city in the province of Azerbaijan Gharbi, Iran. His father, al-Sayyid Ali Akbar al-Khoei, was a great scholar and a student of Shaykh Abdullah Mamqani. His linage reaches Imam Musa al-Kadhim (‘A).
As-Sayyid al-Khoei grew up in Iran. At the age of about 13, he moved to Iraq in 1330 AH -1912 and took up residence in the holy city of Najaf where he began studying Shia theology with the scholars of that city. At an early age, he attained the degree of ijtihad which attained him the rank of Ayatullah.
He taught in Najaf for over 70 years. For 50 years, he specialized in supervising post-graduate studies, most advanced among which was ‘Bahth-al-Kharij’ – Graduation Classes – equivalent to a Doctoral thesis. Successful candidates were qualified to practice ‘Ijtihad’.
He is considered as the architect of a distinct school of thought in the priciples of jurisprudence and Islamic law, and one of the leading exponents of ‘kalam’-scholastic theology – and ‘rijal’- study of the biographies of transmitters of ahadith, the Prophetic traditions, ‘fiqh’- jurisprudence – and ‘tafseer’- exegesis of The Holy Qur’an. His interests included astronomy, maths, and philosophy.
He was made the most prominent Grand Ayatullah in 1971 after the death of Ayatullah As-Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim. In this position, he became a patron of numerous institutions across the globe that sought to provide welfare, and also provided scholarships to theological students from across the Muslim world.
He was a prolific writer having written 37 books and treatises, most of which have been published. Some of his works include:
• Lectures in the Principles of Jurisprudence – 10 volumes.
• Biographies of Narrators of Tradition – 24 volumes.
• Islamic Law – 18 volumes.
• Al-Bayan fi tafsir al-Qur’an (The Elucidation of the Exegesis of the Holy Qur’an).
• Minhajus Saliheen (The Path of the Righteous) – 2 volumes, reprinted 78 times.
• Anthology of Religious Questions – Concise version of the Path of the Righteous – in Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, English, Turkish, Thai, Malay, Indonesian, and Gujarati.
His post-graduate institute accommodated some 150 students, at any given time. Among the students who attended classes and were personally supervised by Sayyid Al-Khoei included Ayatullah Al-Udhma Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, Ayatullah Shaheed As-Sayyid Mohammad Baqir As-Sadr (Iraq), Imam Mousa As-Sadr (Lebanon), Ayatullah Sayyid Mohammad Al-Rohani (Iran) and Mohammad Ali Bahrul ‘Uloom (UK).
Ayatullah Al-Khoei was a man of peace dialogue and understanding. He advocated non-violence and promoted tolerance, the values which mirror the human and universal principles of Islam.
In the aftermath of the violent crushing of the popular uprising in Iraq after the Gulf War by Saddam’s troops, he was arrested with all members of his family and along with many Ulema, taken to Baghdad, and under duress was made to appear with Saddam on TV.
Under mounting pressure, Saddam returned him, without his family, to Najaf, where he was placed under house arrest on the 20th of March, 1991.
Ayatullah left this transient world for his heavenly abode on 8th August 1992 – 8th Safar 1412 AH in Najaf at the age of 92. His funeral was led by his student Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani. He was buried in the Shrine of Imam Ali (‘a) in Najaf al-Ashraf.
Video clip of the funeral of Ayatullah Sayyid Abul Qasim al-Khoei in Najaf, Iraq on 8th Safar 1412 A.H.
http://ijtihadnet.com/wp-content/uploads/hq-319405335713.mp4?_=1
Ayatullah Mohammad Reza Golpaygani
Grand Ayatullah Mohammad Reza Golpaygani was born on 20th March 1899 in Gogad village near the city of Golpaygan, Iran. He was taught preliminary studies by his father, Mohammad Bagher who was a great scholar. At the age of 9, his father died, and he moved to Golpaygan to continue his studies.
At the age of 20, he moved to Arak to study under Ayatullah Abdul-Karim Ha’eri Yazdi and became one of his most noteworthy students. After completing his education and achieving high scientific and spiritual positions, he started teaching and went on to become one of the renowned teachers of his time. After Ayatullah Ha’eri Yazdi and Ayatullah Mohammad Taghi Khansari founded the hawza of Qum, he moved there and delivered lectures in the Islamic Seminary.
After the death of Ayatullah Abdul Karim Haeri many students and scholars participated in methodology (Oosul) classes of Ayatullah Golpaygani namely; the Late Ayatullah Murtaza Haeri, Martyr Murtaza Mutahhari, Martyr Sayyid Muhammad Ali Qazi, Martyr Sayyid Mohammad Beheshti and Sheikh Akber Hashemi Rafsanjani.
He wrote many treatises and books about Jurisprudence and Islam, among them are:
• The book of Hajj in 3 volumes
• The book of Judgment
• The book of witnesses
• Issues of hajj
• Treatise on non-distorting of the Holy Quran
Ayatullah Golpaygani died in 1993 and is buried near the Shrine of Bibi Masoumeh (`a) in Qum.
Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Husaini Sistani
Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Husaini Sistani was born on 9th Rabiul Awwal 1349 A.H. in the holy city of Mashhad. He was named Ali after his grandfather.
At the age of 5 His Eminence started learning the Holy Quran. He was then admitted in a religious center for reading, writing, and for learning basic mathematics and geography. He graduated from the center after he had learnt calligraphy from Mirza Ali Aqa Zalim.
In the beginning of 1360, he started studying basic Hawzah lessons and learned from many eminent and well-known religious scholars.
In late 1368 A.H. he migrated to Qum to accomplish his studies in Fiqh and Usul. He was benefited by two well-known scholars, Sayyid Hussain Tabatabaye and Sayyid Kuhkamari. In early 1371 A.H.
His Eminence left Qum for Najaf where he began attending Ayatullah Khu’i and Shaykh Husayn Hilli’s lectures in jurisprudence and fundamentals of jurisprudence for a considerably long time. Meanwhile, he attended lectures of other prominent scholars like Ayatullah Hakim and Ayatullah Shahryudi.
Ayatullah Sistani is one of a few students who had the degree of Ijtihad where in 1380 A.H. he was awarded a permit by Ayatullah Khu’i and another by Shaykh Hilli, certifying that he had attained the level of ijtihad – deduction of legal judgment in matters of religion. He was also awarded a diploma in 1960 by the distinguished traditionalist and scholar Shakh Agha Buzurg Tehrani testifying to his skills and intellectual talents in the science of Rijal and hadith.
Known for his intelligence and charisma, Ayatullah Sistani rose quickly through the clerical ranks and shortly after Ayatullah Khoei’s death in 1992, Ayatullah Sistani achieved the status of marjaʿ-e-taqlīd.
In Najaf, Ayatullah Sistani was devoted to ensuring power for a Shiʿi majority in his adopted country, which had been led by a Sunni minority for centuries. Although he served as the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiʿi community, His Eminence also commanded the respect of Sunni Arabs and Kurds.
He also played a key role in the political proceedings that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 where his strong and moderating influence among the Iraqi populace as a whole earned him the respect of U.S. diplomats, Christians and Iraqi leaders.
Along the years, Ayatullah Sistani has been very instrumental in his stance against extremism and sectarian wars, always in the fore-front in his role as an arbiter protecting Iraq and its people and preserving peace and unity in the country.
Last year and again this year when the Africa Federation Chairman, Alhaj Amine Nassor, accompanied by some of the office bearers of Africa Federation met with Ayatullah Sistani at his residence in Najaf-e-Ashraf, the message from Ayatullah was clear – Uphold Unity amongst yourselves, do not deviate from it. He also stressed on maintaining good interfaith relationships with other faiths and communities in the countries we live.
We pray to the Almighty Allah (SWT) to keep Ayatullah Sistani under his divine protection and grant him a long healthy life; and continue guiding our community, Ameen.
As Imam al-Sadiq (as) has said, “Indeed, the death of a Faqih is an irreplaceable loss in Islam.” (Al-Kafi, Vol 1, p38). We are indeed indebted to the towering figures such as Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim and Ayatullah As-Sayyid Abul-Qasim al-Musavi al-Khoei and all other deceased Maraje’ mentioned above.
Let us remember all our Mujtahideen who have left this transient world for their heavenly abode with a Sura-e-Fateha and a prayer that The Almighty Allah (SWT) reward them amply for their devotions and sacrifices for the religion of Islam and Shia Ithna-Asheri Faith, Ameen.
SECRETARIAT
ARCHIVES SECTION OF THE AFRICA FEDERATION
April 14, 2023 / 23rd Ramadhan 1444 A.H