Syed Jawad Naqvi ( ur, ; born 1952) is a Pakistani philosopher, scholar, Religious Leader, Quranic interpreter and theologian of

Twelver Shia Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...

Early life and family details

He was born on 5 March 1952 in a village named Thipra Syedan, of

Haripur District Haripur District ( ps, هریپور ولسوالۍ, ur, "The Town of Hari") is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The town of Haripur (meaning 'Hari's town') was founded in 1822 by Hari Singh Nalwa, the Com ...

, of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Pakistan.

Career

He has studied Islam in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

for more than three decades. His most prominent teacher was

Abdollah Javadi-Amoli Abdollah Javadi Amoli ( fa, عبدالله جوادی آملی; born ) is an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja. He is a conservative and principlist Iranian politician, philosopher and one of the prominent Islamic scholars of the Hawza. The official w ...

. Naqvi is the principal of Jamia Urwa-tul-Wusqa and Jamia Jaffria, seminaries in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

respectively. He is also the principal of Jamia Ummul Kitaab in

, head of Deen-ul-Qayyim Online Islamic school and Siraat Education School System. Naqvi is also the editor of the monthly magazine Masharab-e-Naab. He is a staunch supporter of the

Islamic Revolution of Iran The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. In many of his speeches he propagates the hard-line version of

Wilayat-e-Fiqh The Guardianship or Governance/''Wilāyat'' of/by an Islamic Jurist/''Faqīh'' ( fa, , Velâyat-e Faqih; ar, وِلاَيَةُ ٱلْفَقِيهِ, Wilāyat al-Faqīh), is a concept in Twelver Shia Islamic law which holds that until the re ...

. He stands for unity of sects in Pakistan under his banner.

Allegations and controversies

In a 2012 report by

Hudson Institute The Hudson Institute is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporat ...

, he has been described as pro-Iran and to be financially supported by

. Alex Vatanka writes in an article titled "The Guardian of Pakistan's Shia" published by

, a strategic think-tank based in Washington. It says:

"Accordingly, many of Pakistan’s Shia religious figures have become highly vocal and partisan supporters of Khamenei. For example, Syed Jawad Naqvi, a prominent activist preacher and the head of a recently-launched Shia seminary in Pakistan, idealizes the theocracy in the Islamic Republic of Iran and calls himself a devoted follower of Khamenei. He has additionally published articles as well as a book denouncing Iran’s anti-clerical Green opposition movement.27 Not surprisingly, Naqvi’s seminary was reportedly established in part with financial support from the Iranian state."

In 2019, an article in The News described him of having "uniquely Iran-centered career". However, Syed Jawad Naqvi has denied that he has received any support from Iran. In the opening ceremony of Jamia Urwatu Wusqa he said that this project is fully supported by local pakistani people. He said that none of his projects is supported by Iran or any other country and not a single penny has been received from outside Pakistan. As recent as January 2020, he has been described as "a major supporter of Iran’s theocracy" by

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

, an American news publication. In 2013, Mohammadi Masjid stopped Naqvi’s sermons after there was scuffle occurred when

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

prevented Naqvi's security from entering the mosque, sparking mass protests outside the mosque. Allegedly his security guard was carrying unlicensed weapon. Police accused students of Naqvi, for creating the chaos and roughing up the cameraman, the varsity condemned the irresponsible behavior of the police. Subsequently, Naqvi was banned by Punjab Chief Minister

Shahbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president o ...

from lecturing at Mohammadi Masjid in Lahore.

Views on Iran's System

Naqvi believes that Iran's system is based on Quran. This is against the opinion of major Shia clerics of Iran. In April 2018, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli said: "The Qur'an calls Satan arrogant, but as far as I recall he has not been addressed as warrior against God in the Qur'an. Interest system of our banks is a war against Allah and His Messenger (PBUH). You may name a year as a year of production and prosperity (the Iranian leader named the previous year the Year of Resistant Economy: Production and Employment), as long as there is interest on loan in banking system, nothing will improve." Earlier on december 2016, Javadi Amoli said,

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

of Iran sucks blood of the people.

Views on Azadari of Muharram

In 2020, after his alleged comparison of

Azadari The Mourning of Muharram (also known as Azadari, Remembrance of Muharram or Muharram Observances) is a set of commemoration rituals observed primarily by Shia people. The commemoration falls in Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. ...

with

Tarawih ''Tarawih'' ( ar, تراويح, tarāwīḥ), also rendered in English as ''Taraweeh'', is derived from the Arabic root ر و ح related to rest and relaxation. Tarawih prayers are special Muslim prayers involving reading long portions of the ...

during a lecture, Indian daily and weekly Urdu newspapers Sahafat and Nauroz published articles critical to him. Indian daily and Urdu newspaper Sahafat and Hindi newspaper Bhumitra again criticised his May 29, 2020 Friday sermon, for targeting Indian Shia leadership. In July 2020 Jawad Naqvi criticised Imamia Students Organisation for not being the pride of

Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist The Guardianship or Governance/''Wilāyat'' of/by an Islamic Jurist/''Faqīh'' ( fa, , Velâyat-e Faqih; ar, وِلاَيَةُ ٱلْفَقِيهِ, Wilāyat al-Faqīh), is a concept in Twelver Shia Islamic law which holds that until the r ...

which sparked a reaction and a resolution by Imamia Students Organization against him.

Views on women's roles

According to academic scholar Wendy Qian, Syed Jawad Naqvi holds over all socially conservative views about women's roles. Qian says, Naqvi's views on women seems to have been influenced by South Asian conservative Islamic advise literature, and overall he reiterates same views with only addition that he expects women's roles in his idealistic Islamic political revolution in Pakistan, on which he has written a book ''The Role of Women towards the System of Wilayat''. In 2019, Naqvi termed

Aurat March The Aurat March ( ur, or , English: Women's March) is an annual socio-political demonstration in Pakistani cities such as Lahore, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Faisalabad, Multan, Quetta, Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar to observe International Women ...

Organisers 'Most Evil Of All Women'.

Works

Books

Naqvi has written many books on the Quran,

Pan Islamic Unity Pan-Islamism ( ar, الوحدة الإسلامية) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Pan-Islamism was ...

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 Governorat ...

and Islam including:Profile
on ''

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

'' * *

References

External links

Lectures & speeches of Agha Syed Jawad Naqvi
* Videos of several prominent Shia scholars (& a Hindu Swami) from India & Pakistan criticising/refuting Jawad Naqvi, after his alleged comparison of

Majlis ( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...