Mohammad Bagher Shafti (; 1767 in Shaft – 22 March 1844 in

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

), was an Iranian

Twelver Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the Islamic schools and branches, largest branch of Shia Islam, Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twel ...

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 ...

cleric. The Seyyed mosque in

was built by him. According to Hossein Nasr and

Hamid Dabashi Hamid Dabashi (; born 1951) is an Iranian-American professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature at Columbia University in New York City. He is the author of over twenty books. Among them are ''Theology of Discontent'', several books ...

, he is probably the first

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

to be given the title '' Hojatoleslam'' (from ). This title was bestowed upon him in recognition of his double role as both

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

and

Mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

, as well as his book about the implementation of

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

.Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, Hamid Dabashi: ''Expectation of the Millennium''. State University of New York Press, S. 205–206Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi: "The Institutionalization of Marja'-i Taqlīd in the Nineteenth Century Shī'ite Community." ''Journal of The Muslim World''. Band 84, Nr. 3–4, S. 279–299, 2007, S. 296

Biography

Shafti belonged to an impoverished family from Shaft, 15 miles south of

Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...

. He had spent a significant amount of time in Iran getting a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

education and had attended the most relevant

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

and

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 ...

teaching circles. Shafti eventually settled in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

. Despite not being a resident of the city, Shafti steadily advanced in the religious hierarchy in

, which was recovering its position as the most significant religious center in Iran. He established himself by, among other things, handing out harsh legal judgments, lashing moral offenders, destroying wine cellars and musical instruments, expelling prostitutes from the city, and fining drunkards. He also allegedly took up the task of executing around 70 people he had sentenced to death. In one instance, Shafti beheaded a pederasty suspect and then led the prayers during the body's burial. He was the leader of a well-liked teaching group, seized the management of disputed or unclaimed religious endowments ('' vaqf''), and accumulated substantial private holdings like villages, farms, and retail malls. At the time, Isfahan had only recently started to recover after decades of decline and depopulation. Together with a merchant from Gilan, Shafti conducted business, bought property, and amassed wealth through prudent investments and even money lending, which was against the prohibition against

usury Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in e ...

in Islam.

References

Sources

* {{commonscat, Mohammad Bagher Shafti 1761 births 1844 deaths Iranian ayatollahs 18th-century Iranian people 19th-century Iranian people People of Qajar Iran