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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 pre-modified with the definite article and post-modified with the word '' Allah'', making ( ar, آية الله). The combination has been translated to English as 'Sign of God', 'Divine Sign' or 'Reflection of God'. It is a frequently-used term in Quran, but its usage in this context is presumably a particular reference to the verse "We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and in their own selves", while it has been also used to refer to The Twelve Imams by Shias. Variants used are ( ar, آية الله في الأنعام, lit=Sign of God among mankind), ( ar, آية الله في العالمَین, lit=Sign of God in the two worlds, dual form) or ( ar, في العالمین, lit=in the worlds, plural form) and ( ar, آية ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi
Grand Ayatollah Hajj Sheikh Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi ( fa, عبدالکریم حائری یزدی; ar, عبد الكريم الحائري اليزدي ; 1859 – 30 January 1937) was a Twelver Shia Muslim scholar and marja. He was the founder of an important Islamic seminary (hawza) in Qom, Iran. He was described as "studied disinterest in politics". Among his students was Ruhollah Khomeini. Early life Haeri was born in the city of Meybod in Mehrjard village in southeastern Iran. He studied at Yazd, then at Samarra under Grand Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi, and completed his training at Najaf with Mohammad-Kazem Khorasani and Muhammad Kazim Yazdi. In 1906, he reportedly became disenchanted with the politicization from the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and moved back to Najaf, Iraq. When Najaf became political, he moved to Karbala until political excitement cooled in 1913 when he moved back to Arak in Iran. By 1921, he was a "well-known and respected teacher" and "good ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirza Sayyed Mohammad Tabatabai
Mirza Seyyed Mohammad Tabatabai ( Persian: آیت الله میرزا سید محمد طباطبائی, also known as Mohammad Sang-e-laji,;''Sang-e-laj'' (سَنگِلَج) is one of the neighbourhoods of the Old Tehran, not far from the Grand Bazar of Tehran. The ''Sang-e-laj Theatre'', one of the oldest theatre halls in Iran, which is still in use, is located in this neighbourhood. For further information, consult the entry ''Sang-e-laj'' in ''The Persian Wikipedia''. 22 December 1842 – 28 January 1920) was one of the leaders of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution who played an important role in the establishment of democracy and rule of law in Iran. He was the son of Sayyed Sādegh Tabātabā'i, one of the influential Scholar during the reign of Naser ad-Din Shah Qajar. His paternal grandfather, Sayyed Mehdi Tabātabā'i, was a reputed clergy in Hamedan. He is the father of Sayyed Sādegh Tabātabā'i editor of ''Ruznāmeh-ye Majles'', the Majles newspaper. He is en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akhbari
The ʾAkhbāri's ( ar, أخباریون, fa, اخباریان) are a minority of Twelver Shia Muslims who reject the use of reasoning in deriving verdicts, and believe in Quran and Hadith. The term ʾAkhbāri's (from ''khabāra'', news or report) is usually used in contrast to Usuli (from ''Uṣūl al-fiqh'', principles of Islamic jurisprudence). Unlike Usulis, Akhbaris do not follow or do Taqleed of a Mujtahid, the '' marja‘''s (models for imitation) who practice modern form of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning); consequently they do not accept Usul al-fiqh. Akhbaris perform Taqleed of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi the Twelfth Imam of Shias who is in the Occultation. They say Taqleed is permissible when it is performed of an infallible Hujja, whereas they consider Taqleed to be forbidden when it is performed of a non-Infallible. Contrary to Usulis, Akhbaris believe in the perpetuity of Sharia from only the infalibles, so the right to interpret the Quran is only to 14 infallib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shia Clergy
In Shi'a Islam the guidance of clergy and keeping such a structure holds a great importance. The clergy structure depends on the branch of Shi'ism is being referred to. Twelver Usooli and Akhbari Shia Twelver Muslims believe that the study of Islamic literature is a continual process, and is necessary for identifying all of God's laws. Twelver Shia Muslims believe that the process of finding God's laws from the available Islamic literature will facilitate in dealing with any circumstance. They believe that they can interpret the Qur'an and the Twelver Shi'a traditions with the same authority as their predecessors. This process of ijtihad has provided a means to deal with current issues from an Islamic perspective. Generally, clergy in Twelver Shi'a have exerted much more authority in their religious community than the Sunni ulema in theirs. Usooli Shia considering it obligatory to obey a mujtahid when seeking to determine Islamically correct behavior. They believe the 12th Im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of , making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The country is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qom Seminary
The Qom Seminary () is the largest Islamic seminary (''hawza'') in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom. It trains Usuli scholars. History Although big Shi'a academies existed in Qom dating back as early as 10th century CE, the hawza of the city became prominent at the time of the Safavids when Shi'a Islam became the official religion of Iran. The famous teachers of that era included Mulla Sadra and Shaykh Bahai. The modern Qom hawza was revitalized by Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi and is barely a century old. There are nearly three hundred thousand clerics in Iran’s seminaries. Grand Ayatollah Hossein Vahid Khorasani currently heads the Qom Seminary. Law school Because Sharia is legally binding in Iran, the Qom seminary also functions as a law school in Iran. Ebrahim Raisi, the former Chief Justice of the Islamic republic of Iran, is one of the more prominent alumni of the Qom seminary. All judges in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muhammad Kazim Khurasani
Ayatullah Sheikh Muhammad Kazim Khurasani ( fa, ; 1839 – 12 December 1911), commonly known as Akhund Khurasani ( fa, ) was a Shia jurist and political activist. He is known for using his position as a Marja as legitimizing force behind the first democratic revolution of Asia that happened in Iran (1905–1911), where he was the main clerical supporter of the revolution. He believed that the democratic form of government would be the best possible choice in the absence of Imam and regarded the democratic constitutional revolution a ''Jihad'' (holy war) in which all Muslims had to participate. Along with Mirza Husayn Tehrani and Shaikh Abdallah Mazandarani, he led people against what they called a "state tyranny", issued fatwas, and "sent telegrams to tribal chiefs, prominent national and political leaders, and heads of state in England, France, Germany, and Turkey". When Mohammad Ali Shah became king of Iran, Mohammad Kazim Khorasani sent him a 'ten-point' instruction in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani
Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani ( fa, سیدعبدالله بهبهانی, 1840–1910) was a Shi'a theologian and a prominent leader of the constitutional movement. He was born in Najaf and was educated by scholars such as Morteza Ansari. During the constitutional movement he was influential in the Majlis. On the night of 15 July 1910, four gunmen attacked his house and killed him. Seyyed Hassan Taghizadeh was suspected to be responsible, and he subsequently fled the country. Early life Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani was born in Najaf. His father, Seyyed Esmaeil, was a famous scholar in Iran. He was descended from a prominent Shia scholar of Bahrain, Abdollah al-Beladi from the village of al-Gorayfa. He was educated in Najaf by scholars such as Morteza Ansari, Hosayn Kuhkamarai, Mirza Ḥasan Sirazi, and Shaikh Rażi Naǰafi and became qualified to provide religious guidance. Political efforts Seyyed Abdollah Behbahani spent much of his life expressing his political views. His campaigns i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 to its adherents' belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last Imam, Imam al-Mahdi, lives in Occultation and will reappear as ''The promised Mahdi'' ( ar, المهدي المنتظر). According to the Shīʿa tradition, the Mahdi's tenure will coincide with the Second Coming of Jesus (ʿĪsā), who, along with Mahdi, would kill the Dajjal. Twelvers believe that the Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to the theology of Twelvers, the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who not only rule over the Muslim community (''Ummah'') with justice, but are also able to preserve and interpret the Islamic law (''sharīʿa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Constitutional Revolution
The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a parliament in Persia (Iran) during the Qajar dynasty. The revolution opened the way for fundamental change in Persia, heralding the modern era. It was a period of unprecedented debate in a burgeoning press, and new economic opportunities. Many groups fought to shape the course of the revolution, and all segments of society were in some way changed by it. The old order, which King Nassereddin Shah Qajar had struggled for so long to sustain, was finally replaced by new institutions, new forms of expression, and a new social and political order. King Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signed the 1906 constitution shortly before his death. He was succeeded by Mohammad Ali Shah, who abolished the constitution and bombarded the parliament in 1908 wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Āyah
An Ayah ( ar, آية, ʾĀyah, ; ) is a "verse" in the Quran, one of the statements of varying length that make up the chapters ('' surah'') of the Quran and are marked by a number. In the Quranic context the word means "evidence," "sign" or "miracle," and in Islam may refer to things other than Quranic verses, such as religious obligations (''ayat taklifiyyah'') or cosmic phenomena (''ayat takwiniyyah''). In the Quran it is referred to in several verses such as: Overview of the meaning Although meaning "verse" when using the Quran, it is doubtful whether "''ayah''" means anything other than "sign," "proof," or "remarkable event" in the Quran's text. The "signs" refer to various phenomena, ranging from the universe, its creation, the alternation between day and night, rainfall, and the life and growth of plants. Other references are to miracles or to the rewards of belief and the fate of unbelievers. For example: : "And of his signs is the creation of the heavens and earth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamid Algar
Hamid Algar (born 1940) is a British-American Professor Emeritus of Persian studies at the Faculty of Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley. He writes on Persian and Arabic literature and contemporary history of Iran, Turkey, the Balkans and Afghanistan. He served on the UC Berkeley faculty for 45 years (from 1965 to 2010). Algar remains an active scholar and his research has concentrated on the Islamic history of the Perso-Turkish world, with particular emphasis on Iranian Shi'ism during the past two centuries and the Naqshbandi Sufi order. Algar is a Shia Muslim. Algar, who was born in England, later converted to Sunni Islam and later chose to follow Shia Islam. He has also translated books written by contemporary political Shiite theologians, like Ruhollah Khomeini's book Velayat-e Faqih and books written by Ali Shariati, Murteza Mutahhari and Mahmoud Taleqani. For his enthusiastic promotion of Khomeinism as well as his heroic admiration for Ayatollah Khom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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