Seyed ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhammad' ...

Ayatollah Karamatollah Malek-Hosseini (1924 – 2 November 2012) ( fa, سید کرامت‌الله ملک‌حسینی) was an Iranian Ayatollah and member of the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

, Third and Fourth terms of the Assembly of Experts.

Biography

Karamatollah Malek Hosseini was born in a village called Gusheh-ye Shahzadeh Qasem in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province to a religious family in 1924. His father Seyed Sadr-Aldin Malek-Hosseini was a prominent cleric in Boyer-Ahmad. He studied Islam in both Shiraz and

Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its popul ...

. During the

Iranian Revolution 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 ...

he was a critic of the Pahlavi regime and was arrested by

SAVAK SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prime ...

. After the revolution he served in the Assembly of Experts, as well as representing the Supreme Leader of Iran in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province. After his death, his son Sharaf-Aldin took his spot for the remainder of the fourth term and then was elected again for the Fifth term.

Religious education

From an early age he was learning Islam and Arabic from his father. When he was 15, he migrated to Shiraz to continue his education in high school. Afterwards, in 1941 he officially began his Islamic Studies. There, he learnt under Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi and Mirza Ahamd Darabi. After, he finally migrated to

to further his Islamic studies in Qom Seminary. There, he was taught by the likes of Hossein Borujerdi,

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

, Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai, Seyyed Mohammad Hojjat Kooh Kamari, Seyed Mohammad Taqi Khonsari, and Mohammad Mohaqeq Damad. There he mastered his knowledge in

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...

, interpretation of Quran, and Usool Fiqh. It was in Qom where he reached the level of

Ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a le ...

. After the passing of Hossein Borujerdi in 1961, he migrated back to Shiraz to begin teaching at the Khan Theological School.

Political activism

While teaching in Shiraz, Karamatollah began to resent

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 October ...

and the Pahlavi regime. This happened primarily after the attack on Feyziyeh Seminary on March 22, 1963. SAVAK agents and operatives disguised as farmers stormed the seminary, beating many clerics and killing young Seyed Younes Rudbari as he was beaten to death. Another 2-3 students were killed due to injuries sustained from being beaten and thrown off rooftops. Afterwards, Karamatollah would often give Khutbahs in the Habib Mosque in Shiraz showing his resentment to the Pahlavi regime. His infamous arrest by SAVAK was in 1978 where a crowd that gathered at Habib Mosque clashed with SAVAK. Three protestors were killed as a result of gunfire, which then led to the arrest of Seyed Karamatollah. His arrest led to protests by tribesman across the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, and Shiraz. As a result of these protests he was released 2 days later.

Students

# Seyed Ali Asghar Hosseini # Seyed Sharaf-Aldin Malek-Hosseini # Seyed Ali Mohammad Bozorgvari # Mohammad Reza Adinehvand # Sheikh Ghader Haydari Fasai # Sheikh Mostafa Zamani # Sheikh Abotaleb Abadi Genavehi # Sheikh Yousef Salmanzadeh Borazjani # Sheikh Khodamrad Raji Abarqawi

Death

Seyed Karamatollah passed away on the morning of 2 November 2012 in

Namazi Hospital Namazi Hospital is a hospital in Namazi Square, Shiraz, Iran. It was founded by Mohammad Namazi in 1950. Mohammad Namazi founded this hospital with 22 residential villas for physicians in 1950. It was later extended in 1975 and a polyclinic bu ...

, Shiraz. His death prompted

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 ...

expressing his condolences. Many had attended his funeral as he was a very popular figure in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, he was buried in his hometown Gusheh-ye Shahzadeh Qasem. Karamatollah_Funeral1

References