Abbas Hatef Quchani (1913,
Quchan
Quchan (; ) is a city in the Central District of Quchan County, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is approximately 97 km south of the border city of Ashgabat, capital city of ...
- 1990,
Najaf
Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...
) was an Iranian
mujtahed,
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
and one of the contemporary
Shia
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
mystics. He was a disciple and mystic guardian (
) of
Seyyed Ali Qazi.
[
]
Biography
Abbas Quchani (born in 1292
SH, 1333
AH, 1913
AD/CE,
Gozalabad village of
Quchan County
Quchan County () is in Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Quchan.
History
Until 2003, Quchan County had three districts: The Central, Bajgiran, and Faruj Districts, the latter of which was separated from the count ...
,
Razavi Khorasan province), completed his religious elementary education in Quchan and
Mashhad
Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...
and then he studied higher education in jurisprudence in
Najaf
Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...
under the supervision of
Muhammad Hossein Gharavi,
Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Qasim Musawi Khoei ( ; (; ; November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992) was an Iranian Shia marja'. Khoei is considered one of the most influential twelver scholars.
After the death of Muhsin al-Hakim in 1970, he became ...
and Agha Bozorg Shahidi (Sage and
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
who died 1355
AH, 1936
AD/CE) Quchani was one of the companions of Ayatollah Khoei and was under the consultation of him. Quchani was allowed to
ijtihad
''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) 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 legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...
by the authorities of
Najaf
Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...
, including
Abd al-Hadi al-Shirazi
Grand Ayatollah Mirza Abd al-Hadi Husayni Shirazi (; ; 1882 – July 13, 1962) was an Iranian Shia marja' and poet. After the death of Abu al-Hasan Esfehani, Shirazi was considered to be one of the highest ranking scholars in Iraq, along with ...
, Jamaluddin Golpayegani, Khoei and
Muhsin al-Hakim
Muhsin al-Tabataba'i al-Hakim (; 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 of the majority of the Shia world in 1961, afte ...
, and
Seyyed Ali Qazi also approved his
ijtihad
''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) 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 legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...
. In Najaf, he was engaged in teaching jurisprudence, Islamic principles and philosophy (such as famous Islamic book Manzoomeh Sabzevari). He taught several courses on the book ''Asfar''. He had such a strong memory that memorized some complex jurisprudential or philosophical texts. Due to his insistence on staying in Najaf, he spent the last three years of his life alone and died on Wednesday, March 21, 1990 (23 Sha'ban 1410
AH) and was buried in
Wadi-us-Salaam
Wadi-us-Salaam (, , ) is an Islamic cemetery, located in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq. It is the largest cemetery in the world. The cemetery covers and contains more than 6 million bodies. It also attracts millions of pilgrims annually.
The ceme ...
,
Najaf
Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...
. He was survived by 2 sons and 2 daughters.
[
]
Spiritual conduct
Quchani was interested in spiritual matters from the beginning of his education. When he was in Mashhad, he practically conducted without a teacher and endured religious austerities. Among them, he fasted for three whole years, after which he experienced spiritual feelings and tenderness of the soul, special dreams and a feeling of physical lightness. Due to these changes in himself, he became physically ill and realized that he should conduct under the guidance of a master. In his search for a master, he was guided to Hassan Ali Nokhodaki Isfahani and Quchani was influenced by his moods and actions. In Najaf, under the guidance of Mohammad-Taqi Bahjat Foumani
Grand Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Bahjat Foumani () (24 August 1916 – 17 May 2009) was an Iranian Twelver Shia Marja'.
Biography
Ayatullah Mohammad-Taqi was born on 24 August 1916 in the Fouman, Gilan province in the north of Iran. Mohammad's ...
, Quchani found his master, Seyyed Ali Qazi, and was his assistant for 14 years. After six years of being in the Qazi's presence, he felt that the master was watching him with spiritual mastery and was aware of his condition, so he took care of himself more. Quchani was so much a companion and fellow traveller of his master, Qazi, that others trainees would ask him the meaning of some of the master's courses, and he also had a special position and dignity with the master. His master, Qazi, would express some of his special situations to Quchani, and ultimately, his works, letters and mystical will inherited by Quchani after his death.
Works
Due to the will of his master Qazi, Quchani did not write any works of his own. But he corrected the famous Islamic jurisprudence book ''Javaher al-Kalam'' during ten years of research. Quchani compiled a complete book from lectures and courses of master Khoei too.[
]
Disciples
Mohammad Hossein Hosseini Tehrani conducted under the courses of Quchani by the order of Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i
Muhammad Husayn 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 '' Tafsir al-Mizan'', a twenty-seven-vol ...
. Also, Abdul Qaem Shushtari,[
] Seyyed Hassan Qazi (son of the great Qazi), Mohammad Saleh Kameili Khorasani, Seyed Abdul Karim Keshmiri, Mohammad Ali Naseri Dowlatabadi, Hassan Safi Esfahani, Mohammad Taqi Araki, Seyed Ali Milani, Mohaghegh Bonyani, and Nazaar Bahrani were among the disciples of Quchani.
See also
* Mohammad Ali Naseri
* Mohammad Behbahani
* Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i
Muhammad Husayn 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 '' Tafsir al-Mizan'', a twenty-seven-vol ...
* Aqa Najafi Quchani
* Mohammad Javad Ansari Hamedani
* Mohammad Ali Shah Abadi
* Mirza Javad Agha Tehrani
* Seyed Abolhassan Shams Abadi
* Ibn Inabah
Ibn Inabah (''in '') with the full name of Sayyid Jamaluddin Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Hussein ibn Muhanna Hassani Husseini (''in ''), (born 748 AH, 1347 AD/CE - died 828 AH, 1425 AD/CE, at the age of 77) was a Shiite historian and genealogist. He is ...
* Ali ibn Muhammad Alawi Umari
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quchani, Abbas
1913 births
1990 deaths
People from Quchan
Iranian Shia clerics
Iranian Muslim mystics
Scholars of Shia Islam