Grand Ayatollah 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 Shia authority, a Grand Ayatollah with the authority giv ...

Naser Makarem Shirazi (, born 25 February 1927 in

Shiraz, Iran Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 ...

) is an Iranian

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 ...

'' marja''' and religious leader.

Biography

He was born in the city of Shiraz, Iran. According to his website, his father was Ali Mohammad, his grandfather was Mohammad Karim, his forefather was Mohammad Baqer and his progenitor was Mohammad Sadeq. According to Parvaneh Vahidmanesh one of opponents of the Iranian regime, he has

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ancestors. He finished his school in

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

. He started his formal Islamic studies at the age of 14 in the Agha Babakhan Shirazi seminary. After completing the introductory studies, he started studying jurisprudence (''fiqh'') and its principles (''usool al-fiqh''). He made rapid progress and finished studying the complete levels of introductory and both the levels of the intermediate Islamic studies in approximately four years. During this time, he also taught at the Islamic seminary in Shiraz. At the age of 18, he formally entered the theological seminary 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 for the next five years was present in the religious gatherings and classes of some of the leading Islamic teachers of those days, such as Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Burujerdi, & Ayatollah Seyyed Kazem Shariatmadari.

In Najaf

In 1950, he made his way to the seminary of

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 ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Here, he was able to take part in classes of teachers such as Ayatollah

Muhsin al-Hakim Muhsin al-Tabatabaei al-Hakim ( ar, محسن الطباطبائي الحكيم; 31 May 1889 – 2 June 1970) was an Iraqi Shia religious authority. He became the leading marja' of Najaf in 1946 after the death of Abu al-Hasan al-Isfahani, and ...

, Ayatollah Abul-Qassim Khoei and Ayatollah Abdul Hadi ash-Shirazi. At the age of 24, he was granted complete

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 ...

by two senior scholars in Najaf. Ayatollah

also wrote a short, comprehensive letter of commendation for him. In 1951, he returned to

, since he did not have the means to survive and continue his studies in

. After returning to

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 Turkmeni ...

, Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi began teaching the intermediate and higher level of studies in

usul al-fiqh Principles of Islamic jurisprudence, also known as ''uṣūl al-fiqh'' ( ar, أصول الفقه, lit. roots of fiqh), are traditional methodological principles used in Islamic jurisprudence (''fiqh'') for deriving the rulings of Islamic law (''s ...

and

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 ...

. Also, he was a member of the editorial board of the first Islamic magazine published in Iran named "Maktab'e Eslam", next to Ayatollah Shariatmadari. He has won the Iranian Royal Academy of Philosophy' award for his essay "Filsuf-Namaha".

Fatwas (Rulings) and Statements

Women's attendance in stadia

In the aftermath of an attempt by President Ahmadinejad to allow women to attend soccer matches in stadiums (something they are not able to do now), Makarem issued a

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 ...

objecting to this.

Alternatives to stoning

Makarem's fatwa concerning

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...

to death for adultery reads: "In certain circumstances, death by stoning can be replaced by other methods of punishment".

Smoking

Makarem issued a fatwa declaring

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have b ...

as forbidden (

Haram ''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...

Dogs and pets

In 2010, he responded to a request inquiring why a dog is considered unclean under shariah despite a lack of any prohibition on keeping dogs as pets in the Quran. In his fatwa, he emphasized that under shariah, dogs are indeed considered unclean based upon riwayahs, reliable narrations (

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

) handed down from the Prophet Muhammad and his household. Makarem described the current Iranian inclination toward dogs as "blindly imitating the West"; something that he believes will result in "evil outcomes." The

Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ( fa, وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی, ''Vâzart-e Ferheng-e vâ Arshad-e Eslâmi'') ("Ministry of CIG") is the Ministry of Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is responsible ...

of Iran reacted to this fatwa by banning all advertisement related to keeping, buying, and selling pets.

Holocaust

In September 2010, he was quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) as saying "The Holocaust is nothing but superstition, but Zionists say that people of the world should be forced to accept this. The truth about the Holocaust is not clear, and when the researchers want to examine whether it is true or the Jews have created it to pose as victims, they jail the researchers".

Underage marriage

In reference to marriage of girls under 13 years of age, which is allowed in Iran under certain circumstances, he has stated that, although such marriages were permitted in the past, in modern times it has been demonstrated that they are not in the best interest (''

maslaha Maslaha or maslahah ( ar, مصلحة, lit=public interest) is a concept in shari'ah ( Islamic divine law) regarded as a basis of law.I. Doi, Abdul Rahman. (1995). "Mașlahah". In John L. Esposito. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic W ...

t'') of the parties involved and should be considered invalid.

Gender Roles

On his official website, in a post about Men's Day, Makarem claims that the "key issue which is neglected by feminist movements" is that they "promote gender equality and they neglect the fact that the rights and responsibilities of human beings must suit their physical and psychological potentials and capabilities. When these capabilities are neglected, any law which is created for the regulation of human affairs will be sheer injustice."

Homosexuality

"Since the family is the building block of human society, such problems within the family can then extend to the society, creating social problems such as a decreased marriage rate, the spread of homosexuality, and sexual promiscuity."

Political career

Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi was active in the pre-

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

days, hence he was thrown in jail many times. He was even exiled on three separate occasions to three different locations-Chabahar, Mahabad and Anarak. After the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

, he was appointed to the

Assembly of Experts The Assembly of Experts ( fa, مجلس خبرگان رهبری, majles-e khobregân-e rahbari), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme ...

for construction and played a major role in writing the first constitution. He is no longer a member of the government, and resides in the city of Qom. On November 23, 2014 and after months of preparations, he finally managed to gather in over 600 religious scholars from around the world in a conference titled ''The International Congress on Extremist and Takfiri Movements in the Islamic Scholars’ View''. It was a meeting for discussing controversial issues effecting the Muslim world, especially Takfiri movements. After the first successful hosting in which he condemned the inaction in the face of ISIL atrocities, he decided to reorganize another conference, ''Extremism and Takfiri Movements in Today’s World'' on 28 January 2016, to further focus on the responsibilities of the Muslim scholars regarding the unwelcome emergence of extremism. At the second congress same as the first one, scholars of more than 80 countries received invitations and about one thousand people participated.

Selected bibliography

Some of his publications include:" " * the Message of Quran * OUR BELIEF * Khums the Fund of Independence of Bait Al Mal * Quran Translation and Commentary in Brief * Life under the Grace of Ethics * Universal Government of Mahdi * Islamic Law * sexual problems of the youth * Shia Answers *Commentary on the book Kifayatul Usul (at age 18) *The Manifestation of Truth‌ *Commentary on the Quran ( Tafsir Nemooneh) *The Message of the Quran *Anwar al-Fuqahah *al-Qawaidul Fiqhiyyah *The Limits of Azadari *They Will Ask You *50 Life Lessons from the Ahl al-Bayt (a)

References

External links

Online Quran Project
includes the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

translation by Naser Makarem Shirazi.
His books onlineHis websiteBiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makarem Shirazi, Naser People from Shiraz 1927 births Living people Iranian grand ayatollahs Iranian Holocaust deniers Translators of the Quran into Persian 20th-century translators Sex segregation and Islam Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom members Iranian people of Jewish descent Members of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution Grand ayatollahs Critics of Wahhabism