Muhammad ibn Muhammad Bagher Iravani () or Fazil Iravani ( az, Fazil İrəvani) was an ethnic

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

Islamic jurist, the second

Sheikh ul-Islam Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and an

Ayatollah al-Uzma 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 ...

Early life and education

Fazil Iravani was born in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and ...

in either 1782 or 1817 to Muhammad Baqir Iravani. His grandfather Mir Abdulfattah Iravani was a cleric as well. He got his primary religious education in same city. He went on to continue his education in 1802 to

Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

. He later went on to be a disciple of Ayatollah Sayyed Ibrahim Qazwini in

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 Govern ...

and later studied 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 ...

. He was also a disciple of Sayyid Husayn Kuhkamara'i, uncle of

Muhammad Hujjat Kuh-Kamari Seyyed Mohammad Hojjat Kooh Kamari was a contemporary Iranian Muslim Faqīh and a Twelver Marja' who was in charge of the administration of the Qom Seminary for ten years. He was born on 17 March 1893 and died on 19 January 1953. He was a promi ...

. According to Iranian writer Aghighi Bakhshayeshi, he was a successor to Kuhkamara'i and the Turkish faction of Najaf scholars. He later became a

marja' 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 gi ...

, having 30 students and disciples of himself, including Sayyid 'Ali Kuhkamara'i, his teacher's brother, Muhammad Hirz al-Din,

Abdallah Mazandarani Ayatollah Shaykh Abdallah Mazandarani ( fa, عبدالله مازندرانی) (AD 1840–1912; AH 1256–1330) was a Shia Marja' and a leader of the constitutional movement against the Qajar dynasty. He was a pupil of Mirzaye Rashti. He worked a ...

and Sayyed Hussein Khamenei (grandfather of

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 president ...

). He was

akhund Akhund (akhoond, akhwand, akhand or akondo) ( fa, آخوند) is a Persian title or surname for Islamic scholars, common in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan. Other names for similar Muslim Scholar include shei ...

of Isfahan and

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quru River valley in Iran's historic Azerbaijan region between long ridges of vo ...

in his 40s.

Sheikh ul-Islam

He returned to his native Yerevan in 1827 and became

of Blue Mosque. He was appointed as deputy of

Mahammadali Huseinzadeh Akhund Mahammadali Huseinzadeh () — first shia Sheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus from 1823 to 1852. Maternal great-grandfather of Ali bey Huseynzade. Early life Mahammadali Huseinzadeh was born in Salyan, Shirvan Khanate in 1791. He got his pri ...

in 1843. He succeeded him as

of the

prior to former's resignation in 1846. He reformed many clerical issues, including taking

nikah In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islami ...

rights from mosque mullahs and handing it over to more educated

s. He resigned his post in 1852 and was succeeded by

Ahmad Huseinzadeh Ahmad Huseinzadeh ( az, Əhməd Hüseynzadə) also known as Sheikh Ahmad Salyani — third Sheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus, maternal grandfather of Ali bey Huseynzade. Early life He was born in Salyan in 1812 to Ali Huseynzadeh. He was brought u ...

. He died on 3 March 1885, Yerevan in very old age and buried in

Works

He was long thought to be the author of famous novel ''The Rose and the Nightingale'' (1834), being mistaken for Fazlî Kara, an Ottoman poet. Besides that, he authored at least 15 treatises including ''Qawaid-i Farsi'' (1845,

), ''Usuli Ibrat''.

Family

He had at least 3 children: # Sheikh Mahmud Iravani # Sheikh Morteza Iravani # Sheikh Muhammad Javad Iravani (b. 1870, Najaf - 1962) ## Mirza Mohammad Iravani (died young) ## Sheikh Kazem Iravani ## Sheikh Mohammad Taghi Iravani (b. 1911 - d. 1 November 2005) ### Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Irawani (b. 1949, Najaf) ### A daughter ####

Ammar Nakshawani Ammar Nakshawani (; born 1981) is a British Shia scholar, author and orator. Nakshawani was listed as one of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in 2014. He was a visiting scholar at Columbia University's Middle East Institute and University of ...

References

{{reflist 1782 births 1885 deaths Azerbaijani Shia clerics Iranian Azerbaijanis People from Yerevan