Ali Qazi Tabatabai, also known as "

Allamah ''Allamah'' () is an Islamic honorary title for a profound scholar, a polymath, a man of vast reading and erudition, or a great learned one. The title is carried by scholars of Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence) and philosophy. It is used as an hon ...

Qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

" and "Ayatollah Qazi" (1866–1947 CE; 1285–1366 AH), was an Iranian

alim Alim (or ʿAlīm , also anglicized as Aleem) is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "All-knowing one". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "Servant of the All-Knowing". Given name * Alim Ashirov (1955-1979), ...

(Islamic scholar) and mystic. He was the son of Husseyn and was born in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. He was born on 29 April 1866 in

. His father Sayyed Hosein Qazi was a prominent pupil of the grand

Mirza Shirazi Marja', Grand Ayatollah Mujaddid Sayyid, Mirza Abu Muhammad Mu'iz al-Din Muhammad Hassan Husayni Shirazi (; ; 25 April 1815 – 20 February 1895), better simply known as Mirza Shirazi (میرزای شیرازی), was an Iranian Shia marja'. Aft ...

. His maternal grandfather, Mirza Mohsen, was a great jurist.

Teachers

He learned under supervision of great scholars. Some of them were: Mirza Mousa Tabrizi, Muhammad Ali Qarcheh Daghi, Sayyed Hosein Qazi, Mirza Muhammad Taqi Tabrizi. Muhammad Kazem Khorasani ( Akhoond Khorasani), Mirza Fathollah Shariati, Mirza Hosein Tehrani, Sheykh Muhammad Kazem Yazdi, Fazel Sharabyani, Sheykh Muhammad Bahari and Sayyed Ahmad Karbalaei.

Students

Some of his Students included: Allameh Sayyed Muhammad Hossein Tabatabaei,Shining Sun n Memory of Allamah Tabataba'i (A translation of Mihr-i-Taban) by Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani; Translation: Tawus Raja;- Publishers: ICAS Press, UK (2011), Page 18. Sayyed Muhammad Elahi Tabrizi, Sayyed Hasan Masqati,Shining Sun n Memory of Allamah Tabataba'i (A translation of Mihr-i-Taban) by Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani; Translation: Tawus Raja;- Publishers: ICAS Press, UK (2011), Page 19. Muhammad Taqi Amuli, Sheykh Abbas Qouchani, Muhammad Taqi Bahjat, Sayyed Yousef Hakim, Sayyed Muhammad Hoseini Hamadani, Sayyed Abdolhossein Dastgheib Shirazi, Sheykh Hasan Ali Nejabat Shirazi, Sayyed Muhammad Hadi Milani, Allameh Muhammad Rez Muzaffar, second Qazi r.a(Qazi saani r.a) Sayyed Ahmad Rizvi Kashmiri, Sayyed Abul Ali Sabzevari, Mirza Ali Qaravi Aliyari, Sayyed Shahab Al Din Marashi Najafi, Sayyed Abul Qasim Khoei, Hajj Sheykh Abul Fazl Khansari, Sayyed Hashem Haddad and Sayyed Abdul Karim Keshmiri.

His Teachers in Mysticism

His teachers in

Shi'i 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 to ...

irfan In Islam, irfan (Arabic/ Persian/Urdu: ; ), literally 'knowledge, awareness, wisdom', is a concept in Islamic mysticism akin to gnosis, or spiritual knowledge. Sunni mysticism According to the founder of the Qadiriyya Sufi order, Abdul ...

were Ayatollah Sayyed Ahmed Karbala'i (d. 1913) and

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

Mohammad Bahari, who in turn were the students of Mirza Mulla Hossein Qulli Hamadani. Mulla Qulli was a student of Ayatollah Haj Sayyed Ali Shushtari.

Islamic Studies

Sayyed Ali Qadi started his Islamic studies in his hometown,

. There, he studied under his father Sayyed Hosein Qazi as well as Mirza Mousa Tabrizi and Muhammad Ali Qaracheh Daghi. Then around 1895 he travelled to

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 ...

to continue his higher studies and to attain the status of ''Ijtihad''. In Najaf, he studied under Muhammad Kazim Khurasani, Muhammad Kazem Khorasani ( Akhoond Khorasani) and Mirza Fathollah Shariati.

Authority (''Ijtihad'')

He received the degree of authority or Ijtihad when he was 27 years old. He also memorised nearly 40,000 Arabic words.

Characters

The description of his characters is not easy. We just refer to some of his mystical aspect in summary.

Mystical behavior

Allameh Tabatabaei about the Mystical character of Aqa Ali Qazi says that: he sometimes was appeared between us while sometimes he was absent and disappeared.

Night prayers

Sayyed Ali Aqa Qazi emphasized more on the night praying. He already advised his pupils to the night praying. Allameh Tabatabaei says that: he told me if you want both of the world and after world, you have to exercise the night praying.

Works

He wrote several books, including a partially completed tafsir of the Qur'an, which is a commentary up to verse 91 of Surah al-An’am. He wrote some notes and commentary. Some of them are as follows: * Incomplete explanation on Samat Dua * Correction of the book of Ershad * Notes on fotuhat and fosus * Commentary on The Holy Quran * Mystical letters and recommendations(Osveh Arefan,p.121)

Death

The grand mystic Allameh Aqa Ali Qazi Tabatabaei died in 1947 in Wadi-us-Salaam Cemetery in Najaf.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabatabaei, Ali Iranian Shia scholars of Islam People from Tabriz 1866 births 1947 deaths Iranian emigrants to Iraq Pupils of Muhammad Kadhim Khorasani Iranian Muslim mystics