Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Etymology The title is originally derived from ...

Mohammad Mahdi Shamseddine ( ar, محمد مهدي شمس الدين) was a Lebanese

Twelver 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 ...

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 ...

scholar.

Shahid Awwal Sheikh Abu Abdullah Muhammad Jamal Ad-Deen Al-Makki Al-Amili Al-Jizzeeni (1334–1385), better known as ash-Shahid al-Awwal ( ar, ٱلشَّهِيد ٱلْأَوَّل, ' "The First Martyr") or Shams Ad-Deen (), was a Shi'a scholar and the author o ...

who known as Shamseddine, sun of the faith, was ancestor of Muhammad Mahdi.

Biography

Mohammad Mehdi Shamseddine was born on 1936 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 ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Allamah ''Allāmah'' ( ar, عَلَّامة, Urdu and , meaning "learned"), also spelled ''Allāma'' and ''Allama'' and “ Allameh “, is an Islamic honorary title for a profound scholar, a polymath, a man of vast reading and erudition, or a great ...

al-Shaykh Abdul Kareem Shamseddine was his father and studied at Najaf seminary. When Mohammad was 12 years old, his father returned to Lebanon but Muhammad Mahdi decided to stay and finish his religious studies.

Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qassim 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 ...

and Sayed Muhsin al-Hakim were his teacher at Najaf seminary. During his remain in the Iraq, he cooperated with

Musa al-Sadr Musa Sadr al-Din al-Sadr ( ar, موسى صدر الدين الصدر; 4 June 1928 – disappeared 31 August 1978) was an Iranian-born Lebanese scholar and political leader who founded the Amal Movement. Born in the Chaharmardan neighborhood o ...

Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr ( ar, آية الله العظمى السيد محمد باقر الصدر; 1 March 1935 – 9 April 1980), also known as al-Shahīd al-Khāmis (the fifth martyr), was an Iraqi philosopher, and the ideological founde ...

, and

Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim Ayatollah al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Muhsin al-Hakim at-Tabataba'i (8 July 1939 – 29 August 2003; ar, السيد محمد باقر محسن الحكيم الطباطبائي), also known as Shaheed al-Mehraab, was a senior Iraqi Shia Islamic S ...

. In 1969, he returned to Lebanon and cooperated with Musa al-Sadr for founding the Supreme Shiite Council of Lebanon. He was first vice-president. Shamseddine was elected as president of the Council in April 1994. Also, he was deputy of Musa al-Sadr organization.

Advocate of coexistence

Shamseddine was a moderate cleric and advocate of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

coexistence. About this matter, he stated that: "there is no Lebanon without its Christians and there is no Lebanon without its Muslims."

Anti-Israeli activities

He was supporter of military resistance against the

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

troops in Lebanon and formed the "Total Civil Resistance Against Israel" group after Ashura 1983 to counter the Israeli invasion. He declared that Shia attacks against Israeli forces is a religious duty.

Blood bank

For avoiding practice

Tatbir ''Tatbir'' ( ar, تطبير), also known as Talwar zani and Qama Zani in South Asia, is a form of ritual bloodletting, practiced as an act of mourning by some Shia Muslims, for the younger grandson of Muhammad, Husayn ibn Ali, who was killed alon ...

among people, he established a

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology laborat ...

to donate blood on

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...

day to patients who need it. Every year on 10

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

of the

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...

, people voluntarily gave blood in the blood bank Instead of practice Tatbir. Also, Mohammad Mahdi established the Islamic University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamseddine, Mohammad Mehdi 1936 births 2001 deaths People from Najaf Lebanese Shia clerics Lebanese Shia Muslims Islamic Dawa Party