Muhammad ibn Muhammad Bagher Iravani () or Fazil Iravani ( az, Fazil İrəvani) was an ethnic Azerbaijani Islamic jurist, the second Sheikh ul-Islam of the

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

and an Ayatollah al-Uzma.

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 List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

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 Governorat ...

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. 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 giv ...

, 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 ...

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 o ...

). 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 ...

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

and

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

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 Sheikh ul-Islam Mahammadali Huseinzadeh in 1843. He succeeded him as Sheikh ul-Islam 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

mullah Mullah (; ) is an honorific title for Shia and Sunni Muslim clergy or a Muslim mosque leader. The term is also sometimes used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and sharia law. The title has also been used in some Miz ...

s and handing it over to more educated

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

References

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