Grand Ayatollah 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 ...

Sheikh 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 ...

Hossein Wahid Khorasani ( fa, حسین وحید خراسانی; born Mohammad-Hossein Molla-Saleh (Persian: )‎; 1 January 1921) is an Iranian author and

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

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 ...

. He is the current head of the

Qom Seminary The Qom Seminary () is the largest Islamic seminary (''hawza'') in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom. It trains Usuli scholars. History Although big Shi'a academies existed in Qom dating back as earl ...

. Khorasani is considered to be the most learned Shia religious authority alive.

Early life and education

Khorasani was born in Nishapur, a city 130 km west of

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

, to Sheikh Esmail Khorasani, a revered

alim Alim (''ʿAlīm'' , also anglicized as ''Aleem'') is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "''All-knowing one''". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "''Servant of the All-Knowing''": Given name * Alim ad-Din ...

and orator. He began his religious education at an early age in Mashhad, completing his ''muqadamat'' and Arabic under Sheikh Shams and al-Muhaqiq al-Mughani in the Ba'in Ya school. He then moved to the Mirza Jafar school and completed his intermediate level studies under Sheikh Husayn Birsi, Mirza Ahmed Kifaei, Abu al-Qasim al-Hakim al-Ilahi and Sheikh Husayn-Ali al-Isfahani. He also attended the classes of Mirza Mehdi al-Isfahani, Sheikh Mahdi al-Ishtiyani and Sheikh Muhammad Nahawndi. He received an

ijaza An ''ijazah'' ( ar, الإِجازَة, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such au ...

from his teacher Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat Kuh-Kamari. He moved to

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 ...

in 1949 and studied in the Yazdi school for ten years. He attended the classes of Sheikh Muhammad-Husayn Naini for a year; Abu al-Hasan al-Isfahani for two years; Sheikh Musa Khonsari for six years; Agha Dhiya al-Din al-Iraqi, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Golpayegani, Sheikh Kadhim al-Shirazi, Sayyid Abd al-Hadi al-Shirazi and Sayyid

Muhsin al-Hakim Muhsin al-Tabatabaei al-Hakim ( ar, محسن الطباطبائي الحكيم; 31 May 1889 – 2 June 1970) was an Iraqi Shia religious authority. He became the leading marja' of Najaf in 1946 after the death of Abu al-Hasan al-Isfahani, and ...

. He studied under Sayyid

Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khoei ( ; ar, أبو القاسم الموسوي الخوئي; fa, ; November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992) was an Iranian- Iraqi Shia marja'. Al-Khoei is considered one of the most influential t ...

the longest, which was twelve years, becoming one of the distinguished students of al-Khoei. He returned to Mashhad in 1972, and taught there for just under a year, and then travelled to Qom, to settle there until today.

Fatimah's death

Khorasani believes the attack of

Fatimah Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...

's house holds a very high religious significance in the Shi'i creed. He leads a large mourning procession in Qom, on the anniversary of her death–in accordance to the third narration– annually, that sees hundreds of thousands of people participating in it. When the controversial marja' Sayyid Muhammad-Husayn Fadhlallah declared his opinion that the attack of the door was a myth, and deemed most stories as fiction, Khorasani along with Mirza

Jawad Tabrizi Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Mirza Jawad Kubar Tabrizi ( fa, ; 1926 – November 20, 2006) was an Iranian Shia marja'. Tabrizi was another prominent student of the late grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, and one of the leading religious au ...

and Sayyid Muhammad-Sadiq Rohani deemed him a "deviant".

Islamic Republic

Khorasani stance on Iran's government has been relatively vague, and he has been considered–if anything–an indirect critic. He has been often quoted in his lectures to challenge the opinion of the

supreme leader of Iran The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the List of heads of state of Iran, head of state of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, executiv ...

Works

Khorasani has written many books some of which have been translated into Urdu, Persian, Arabic, English, and other languages. Some of his works include: * *''Principles of Faith''. . *''Sharh al-Urwatul Wuthqa'' (Explanation of The Firmest Bond). *''Laws of Hajj.'' * * * *''Rulings of Medicine''. *''Ahkam-e-Shabab'' (Laws for Youth). *''Misbah al-Huda Wa Safinat al-Najat'' (Light of Guidance and Ark of Salvation). Two Volumes.

Personal life

Khorasani is married and has two sons, Mohammad-Esmail and

Mohsen Muhsin (also spelled Mohsen, Mohsin, Mehsin, or Muhsen, ar, محسن) is a masculine Arabic given name. The first person known to have the name "Muhsin" was Muhsin bin Ali, the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah bint Muhammad. Islamic term ...

. He is the father-in-law of

Sadeq Larijani Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani ( fa, صادق اردشیر لاریجانی; born 12 March 1961), better known as Amoli Larijani ( fa, آملی لاریجانی), is an Iranian scholar, conservative politician, and current chairman of Expediency Discern ...

References

External links

* (in Arabic).
Library of Khorasani's books
by ''al-Feker E-book Network''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Khorasani, Hossein Waheed 1921 births Living people Iranian centenarians Iranian grand ayatollahs Critics of Sunni Islam Men centenarians People from Nishapur