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Marji ( ar, مرجع, transliteration: ''marjiʿ''; plural: ''marājiʿ''), literally meaning "source to follow" or "religious reference", is a title given to the highest level of
Twelver Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
authority, a Grand
Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from Arabic word ...
with the authority given by a
hawzah A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated. The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold so ...
to make legal decisions within the confines of
Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
for followers and lower-ranking clerics. The highest ranking ''marjiʿ'' is known as the ''marja al-mutlaq'' or ''marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq''. Sources differ as to when the institution of the marja˓ emerged, with
Murtadha al-Ansari Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Murtadha al-Ansari al-Tostari (1781–1864), ( ar, مرتضی الأنصاري التستري; fa, مرتضی انصاری شوشتری ), also transliterated as Mortaza Ansari Shushtari, was a Shia jurist who "was gener ...
(d. 1864) and
Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Iṣḥāq al Kulaynī ar Rāzī ( Persian: ar, أَبُو جَعْفَر مُحَمَّد ٱبْن يَعْقُوب إِسْحَاق ٱلْكُلَيْنِيّ ٱلرَّازِيّ; c. 250 AH/864 CE ...
(d. 940 or 941 CE) both being called the first marja'.


Title

Currently, maraji' are accorded the title ''Grand Ayatollah'' ( ar, آية ‌الله العظمی ''ʾĀyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā''). Previously, the titles of
Allamah ''Allāmah'' ( ar, عَلَّامة, Urdu and , meaning "learned"), also spelled ''Allāma'' and ''Allama'' and “ Allameh “, is an Islamic honorary title for a profound scholar, a polymath, a man of vast reading and erudition, or a great ...
(such as
Allameh Tabatabaei Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his '' ...
, Allameh Majlesi,
Allameh Hilli Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Ḥasan bin Yūsuf bin ʿAli bin al-Muṭahhar al-Ḥillī ( ar, جمال الدين الحسن بن يوسف الحلي; December 1250 – December 1325 CE), commonly known as Allāma Ḥelli ( fa, علامه حلی), was a T ...
) and
Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
(such as Imam Khomeini, Imam Rohani, Imam Shirazi and Imam Sadr) have also been used. Someone who follows/imitates a marja' (who performs ''
taqlid ''Taqlid'' (Arabic تَقْليد ''taqlīd'') is an Islamic term denoting the conformity of one person to the teaching of another. The person who performs ''taqlid'' is termed ''muqallid''. The definite meaning of the term varies depending on con ...
'') is called a ''muqallid''.


Other clerical titles

;Ayatollahs The title of an
ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from Arabic word ...
transpires when he becomes a celebrated figure in the
hawza A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated. The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold s ...
and his students and followers trust him in answering their questions, and ask him to publish a juristic book, the risalah amaliyah—a manual of practical rulings arranged according to topics dealing with ritual purity, worship, social issues, business, and political affairs. The risalah contains an ayatollah's
fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...
s on different topics, according to his knowledge of the most authentic Islamic sources and their application to current life. Traditionally only the most renowned ayatollahs of the given time published a risalah. Today, however, many ayatollahs of varying degrees of illustriousness have published one, while some of the renowned ones have refused to do so. ;Marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq The highest marja' or “first-among-equals”, is called the ''Marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq''.


Role, authority, requirements

Traditionally, ''taqlid'' or "imitation" of an expert in Islamic jurisprudence (a ''
mujtahid ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a l ...
'') is lawful and obligatory for all Muslims not so trained themselves; (on "matters of belief" or ''usulu 'd-din'', they must train themselves). From the perspective of
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
jurisprudence, during the occultation of the Mahdi, (for the past 1000+ years) the highest ranking
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
hawzah A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated. The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold so ...
clerics are bestowed with responsibility for understanding and explaining Islamic religious jurisprudence. As of the 19th century the Shia ''
ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
'' taught believers to turn to "a source of ''taqlid''" ('' marja' at-taqlid'') "for advice and guidance and as a model to be imitated."see also ;Authority Where a difference in opinion exists between the maraji', each of them provides their own opinion and the '' muqallid'' will follow their own marja's opinion on that subject. A
mujtahid ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a l ...
, i.e. someone who has completed advanced training (''dars kharij'') in the hawza and has acquired the license to engage in
ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a l ...
(''ʾijāz al-ʾijtihād'') from one or several ayatollahs, is exempted from the requirement to follow a marja'. However ijtihad is not always comprehensive and so a mujtahid may be an expert in one particular area of Islamic jurisprudence (
fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...
) and exercise ijtihad therein, but follow a marja' in other areas of fiqh.


Who and where

Several senior Grand Ayatollahs preside over hawzas, religious seminaries. The hawzas of
Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...
and
Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
are the preeminent seminary centers for the training of Shia
clergymen Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
. However, there are other smaller hawzas in many other cities around the world, the biggest ones being
Karbala Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governor ...
,
Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Region, Isfahan Province, Iran. It is lo ...
and
Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province and has a po ...
. There are 85 Maraji living worldwide as of 2022, mostly residing in
Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
and
Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its pop ...
. The most prominent among them are
Hossein Vahid Khorasani Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Hossein Wahid Khorasani ( fa, حسین وحید خراسانی; born Mohammad-Hossein Molla-Saleh (Persian: )‎; 1 January 1921) is an Iranian author and Shia marja'. He is the current head of the Qom Seminary. Khorasa ...
, Mousa Shubairi Zanjani, Sayyid Sadeq Rohani,
Naser Makarem Shirazi Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi (, born 25 February 1927 in Shiraz, Iran) is an Iranian Shia '' marja and religious leader. Biography He was born in the city of Shiraz, Iran. According to his website, his father was Ali Mohammad, his g ...
,
Sadiq Hussaini Shirazi Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq al-Husayni al-Shirazi ( ar, صادق الحسيني الشيرازي; fa, سید صادق حسینی شیرازی; born August 20, 1942) is an Iraqi-Iranian Shia marja'. He hails from an influential transnational cl ...
, Hossein Noori Hamedani and
Abdollah Javadi-Amoli Abdollah Javadi Amoli ( fa, عبدالله جوادی آملی; born ) is an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja. He is a conservative and principlist Iranian politician, philosopher and one of the prominent Islamic scholars of the Hawza. The offic ...
in Qom;
Ali al-Sistani Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani ( ar, علي الحسيني السيستاني; fa, , Ali-ye Hoseyni-ye Sistāni; born 4 August 1930), commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, is an Iranian–Iraqi Twelver Shia Ayatollah and marja'. He has been describ ...
,
Muhammad al-Fayadh Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Is'haq al-Fayadh (the word al-Fayadh also spelt al-Fayad), ( ar, مُحَمَّدْ إِِسْحَاقْ ٱلْفَیَّاض, prs, مُحَمَّداِسحٰاق فَیّٰاض) is one of the most senior Shi'a marja l ...
,
Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
and
Bashir al-Najafi Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Basheer Hussain Najafi ( ar, آية الله العظمى بشير النجفي) (born 1942) is a Pakistani Twelver Shia Marja' and one of the Four Grand Ayatollahs of Najaf, Iraq. He was born in Jalandhar, a city in then ...
in Najaf. ;Dispute over ''Marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq'' In the early 1990s, the leading marja',
Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khoei ( ; ar, أبو القاسم الموسوي الخوئي; fa, ; November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992) was an Iranian- Iraqi Shia marja'. Al-Khoei is considered one of the most influential ...
, died and
Ali al-Sistani Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani ( ar, علي الحسيني السيستاني; fa, , Ali-ye Hoseyni-ye Sistāni; born 4 August 1930), commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, is an Iranian–Iraqi Twelver Shia Ayatollah and marja'. He has been describ ...
, "emerged" as the '' marja al-mutlaq'' or highest Marja' in the world of Shia Islam. According to Mohamad Bazzi, Al-Sistani's word "on religious matters carries the most weight" among Shia. However, in 1994, the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) declared it was the
Supreme Leader of Iran The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...
,
Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third presiden ...
who was "the single marja˓ al-taqlid" or "undisputed marja˓". According to Mohamad Bazzi, this was a bid "to displace" Ali Sistani, the true ''Marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq'', "and his allies in
Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...
", but it "failed" because Khamenei "had modest religious credentials (he was only elevated to the rank of ayatollah after Khomeini’s death, so he could assume the post of supreme leader). Faced with Baathist persecution and an Iranian power grab, Sistani was able to retain his position." Gleave does not mention al-Sistani but states that Khamenei's "position as the Marja˓ al-taqlid" has "remained a matter of dispute".


Conditions for a marja'

There is no official body resembling a council of ulama to designate someone a marja al-taqlid, nor any formalized specific process to do it, because reaching the position of marja al-taqlid "is entirely at the discretion of the believers themselves", (for example, being able to raise enough money "to finance the education of religious students" from donations from the believers, is one of the qualifications of a marja'). Nonetheless, there are "general principles" for their selection including several "conditions" which have been "accepted unanimously by Shiʿite theologians". *maturity (''bulugh''), *reasonableness (''aql''), *being of the male sex (''dhukurrat''), *faith (''iman''), *justice (''edalat''), and *legitimacy of birth.


History


First Marja'

Shiʿi "biographical compilations generally" consider
Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Iṣḥāq al Kulaynī ar Rāzī ( Persian: ar, أَبُو جَعْفَر مُحَمَّد ٱبْن يَعْقُوب إِسْحَاق ٱلْكُلَيْنِيّ ٱلرَّازِيّ; c. 250 AH/864 CE ...
(d. 940 or 941), (one of the first compilers of Shiʿite hadith), to be "the first" post-occultation marja al-taqlid, according to Neguin Yavari and Eric Hooglund. According to Robert Gleave, the institution of the marja˓ emerged in the nineteenth century with the first universally recognized marja˓, "the influential mujtahid
Murtadha al-Ansari Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Murtadha al-Ansari al-Tostari (1781–1864), ( ar, مرتضی الأنصاري التستري; fa, مرتضی انصاری شوشتری ), also transliterated as Mortaza Ansari Shushtari, was a Shia jurist who "was gener ...
(d. 1864)". When asked directly "Who was the first ever Marja-e-Taqleed?", only one of four mullahs at al-islam.org resented with the question replied (Mohammad Al-Musawi) and would only say, "from the time of the Prophet (SAWA) and the Infallible Imams, Muslims who lived in places far away from them, were ordered to refer in religious matters to the scholar in their area".
Shiite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
authorities in the history of Shi'ism have an important role in the religious, political and social thought of their communities. One example is the fatwa of
Mirza Mohammed Hassan Husseini Shirazi al-Mujadid al-Shirazi, ar, المجدد الشيرازي , birth_name = , birth_date = April 25, 1815 , birth_place = Shiraz, Qajar Iran , death_date = , death_place = Samarra, Ottoman Iraq , resting ...
imposing sanctions on the use of tobacco during Qajar rule, which led to the abolition of the tobacco concession.


See also

*
Ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a l ...
*
Hawza A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated. The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold s ...
* Risalah (fiqh) *
Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom The Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom ( fa, جامعهٔ مدرسین حوزهٔ علمیهٔ قم, jâme'e madrasin howze 'ilmiah Qom) is an Iranian group founded in 1961/3 by the leading Muslim clerics of Qom. Established by the students o ...
*
List of Ayatollahs This is a partial list of Ayatollahs, a title given to high ranked Twelver Usuli Shi'a Muslim clerics. Its ranking is higher than Hujjat al-Islam, and the next higher clerical rank is Grand Ayatollah also known as Marja'. This list contains on ...
*
List of deceased Maraji This article provides the list of deceased ''Maraji'' (plural of ''Marja'', the supreme legal authority or the source of emulation), both current and deceased, followed by Twelver (also known as ''Imamiyyah'') Shia Muslims around the world. The con ...
*
List of current Maraji This article provides the list of ''Maraji'' (plural of ''Marja'', the supreme legal authority or the source of emulation), followed by Twelver (also known as ''Imamiyyah'') Shia Muslims around the world. The concept of a ''Marja-i Taqlid'' (lit. ...


Notes


References

{{reflist


External links


Slate Magazine's "So you want to be an Ayatollah"
explaining how Shiite clerics earn the title Religious leadership roles Shia theology Arabic words and phrases Islamic honorifics Hawza Islamic scholars Islamic religious leaders Lists of Islamic religious leaders Muslim scholars of Islamic jurisprudence Titles Marja'