Grand Ayatollah Marja (; plural ''marājiʿ''; ) is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah (a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated) to make legal decisions within the confines of Sh ...

Syed Mohsin Nawab Rizvi (14 April 1911 – 26 August 1969; ) popularly referred to by his followers as Mohsin-ul-millat, was an Indian poet, writer, speaker and a Marja of the

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 ...

branch of

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 ...

Islam. He served as vice principal of

Sultanul Madaris The Sultan ul Madaris ; is a Shia Islamic ''Madrasa'' (religious school) for higher religious education in Lucknow, India. Major course of studies include Jurisprudence, Theology and Islamic Literature. About It was founded in the year 1892 ...

, Lucknow, and as a principal of Govt Oriental College Madarsa Alia, Rampur and Madarsa Imaniya Nasiriya, Jaunpur.

Biography

He was born in 1911 at

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

. His father Maulana Syed Ahmad Nawab Rizvi was a prominent Shia Scholar and was the editor of the monthly Urdu magazine, ''Alawarif.'' After earning his degree of Sadrul Afazil from Madrasa Sulatanul Madaris, he went to Hawza 'Ilmiyya Najaf,

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, where he studied Dars al-Kharij with Ayatollah

Abu l-Hasan al-Isfahani Marja', Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Hasan Musawi Isfahani () (); 1861 – November 4, 1946) was an Iranian Shia marja'. Isfahani became the leading marja' of the Shia world after the death of Muhammad Hossein Naini, Muhammad-Hussein Naini. B ...

, Ayatollah Syed Ziauddin Iraqi,

Ayatollah Mirza Hussein Naini Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad-Hossein Naini Gharavi (; May 25, 1860 – August 14, 1936) was an Iranian Shia marja'. His father Mirza Abdol Rahim and grandfather Haji Mirza Saeed, both one were Sheikhs of Nain and Mohammad Hussein proved himse ...

, Ayatollah Shaikh Abdul Husain Rashti, and Ayatollah Seyed Jawad Tabrezi, he earned an ''Ijaza-e-Ijtihad'', a credential of

islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

signifying scholarly authority).Hashmi, Syed Baquer, Riyazul Quloob, Page191-92, Published 2005, Darul-Balagha, Beirut, Lebanon. Rizvi understood

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Farsi Persian ( ), also known by its endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoke ...

. During his student life in Lucknow he was the editor of an Arabic religious and literary magazine, ''Al-Adeeb'', which was published under the patronage of Nasirul Millat Syed Nasir Husain. After returning from Iraq he was appointed as a principal of Jamaey Imaniya Nasirya, Jaunpur. He managed a middle school that later became known as Raza D.M. Shia Degree College in Jaunpur District. After Jaunpur, Rizvi was called on by then

Nawab of Rampur Rampur State was a 15 gun-salute princely state of British India. It came into existence on 7 October 1774 as a result of a treaty with Oudh. Following independence in 1947, Rampur State and other princely states of the area, such as ...

Raza Ali Khan Bahadur

Rampur State Rampur State was a 15 gun-salute princely state of British India. It came into existence on 7 October 1774 as a result of a treaty with Oudh. Following independence in 1947, Rampur State and other princely states of the area, such as ...

(U.P)

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to take charge of the Madrsa-e-Aliya (Oriential college) Rampur (UP) as principal. After remaining few years as the principal he came back to Lucknow and joined Madrase

Lucknow (U.P.) India as vice principal, as the Matla-e-Anwar (written by Maulana Murtaza Husain Sadrul-Afazil). He was chief patron of the monthly Urdu magazine ''ALILM''. He authored several works, some of which were published, while others remain unpublished. He was known as a khateeb (orator), particularly within the Shia community. He was the general secretary of All India Shia Majlise Ulama (Council of Scholars); among scholars he was known as ''Mohsinullmillat''. He died on 26 August 1969 and is buried in Lucknow.

Notable disciples

* Molvi

Iftikhar Hussain Ansari Iftikhar Hussain Ansari (26 April 1942 – 30 September 2014), widely known among his followers as Moulvi Sahib, was a Kashmiri Shia cleric, politician, businessman and a proponent of the Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir. He was one of the ...

Former MLA, Businessman, President All Jammu & Kashmir Shia Association. Srinagar, India. * Maulana

Syed Hamidul Hasan Syed Hamid ul Hassan is a Shia scholar from Lucknow, India. He is also the current principal of Jamia Nazmia. Education He completed his education from Jamia Nazmia up to Mumtaz-ul-Afazil and was taught by Syed Ahmad Ali (son of Mohammad Abb ...

Ex- Principal Jamia Nazmia, Lucknow, India. * Mirza Mohammed Athar, Ex Principal Shia college, Lucknow, India * Dr.

Syed Mohammad Waris Hasan Naqvi Syed Mohammad Waris Hasan Naqvi Nasirabadi (born 1932/33 died 11 May 2008) was a Shia Muslim cleric from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Family background Syed Sibte Hasan Naqvi was father of Waris Hasan. His last name "Naqvi" indicates he is ...

PhD (Edenbraugh University) Ex Principal Madrase Waizeen, Lucknow, India. * Syed Ahmed (politician), Ex Governor Jharkhand and Manipur. *Dr. Syed

Kalbe Sadiq Sadiq (22 June 1939 – 24 November 2020) was an Indian Islamic scholar. He was born in 1939 in Lucknow and died on 24 November 2020, after a prolonged illness. He was posthumously bestowed with the prestigious national award of Padma Bhushan ...

Naqvi PhD (Muslim University Aligarh) Lucknow, India.

Writings

*''Ghadeer se Karbala tak'' *''Hadees Madeenatul Ilm (Hadees ki Sanad aur uski dalalat)'' *''Zaereen-e- Qaime Aley Mohammad (A.S)'' *''Falsafa-e- Sahro Aijaz'' *''Kahalike Kaiynat aur Qadeem wa Jadeed Falsafi'' *''Altatheer'' *''Mhuaabat Ahlebait-e- Tahireen (A.S) wa Gunahgar Momineen'' *''Diwane Shaeri (Qasaed wa Gazalyat)'' *''Hazrat Mola Imam Hussain A.s ka Matam''

Books written in Arabic

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizvi, Syed Mohsin Nawab 1969 deaths 1911 births Indian Shia Muslims Scholars from Lucknow Indian ayatollahs