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 ...

Muhammad Is'haq al-Fayadh (the word al-Fayadh also spelt al-Fayad), ( ar, مُحَمَّدْ إِِسْحَاقْ ٱلْفَیَّاض, prs, مُحَمَّداِسحٰاق فَیّٰاض) is one of the most senior

Shi'a 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 living in

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 ...

after

Ali al-Sistani Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani ( ar, علي الحسيني السيستاني; fa, , Ali-ye Hoseyni-ye Sistāni; born 4 August 1930), commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, is an Iranian–Iraqi Twelver Shia Ayatollah and marja'. He has been described ...

Biography

Born in

Jaghori , image_skyline = Jaghori Mountaintop View (4K).jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = View of Sang-e-Masha (Central Jaghori) from Badasiya Mountain, , image_flag ...

Soba village in

Ghazni province Ghazni (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in southeastern Afghanistan. The province contains 19 districts, encompassing over a thousand villages and roughly 1.3 million people, making it the 5th most populous province. The ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

to Hazara ethnic group, he holds

Afghan citizenship Islamic Republic of Afghanistan nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Afghanistan, as amended; the Citizenship Law of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its revisions; the Afghan Civil Code; and various international agreemen ...

. His family was farmers and he started learning the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

from the village cleric when he was five. When he was 10 his family 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 ...

, where he studied various

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

including

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

Islamic philosophy Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...

, the

Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

and

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 ...

, eventually studying under

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 ...

. When al-Khoei died in 1992 he supported

as the chair of the marjaiya in Najaf.Grand Ayatullah Muhammad Ishaq Fayyad
, ''Encyclopedia of Modern Middle East Wars'' (republished), 27 January 2009 Under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

he adopted a quietist approach, avoiding politics and confrontation with the government. Following the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

by the United States and allies in 2003, al-Fayyad engaged more than any other marja with the occupying American and British military and diplomats, informing them of the views of the senior clerics. He adopted similar positions to al-Sistani and the other marjaiya: supporting a united Shiite slate for the first Iraqi elections; calling for Islam to be the sole source of Iraqi law; supporting a yes vote in the

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

; rejecting a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

Iraq; and opposing the adoption of doctrine of the

Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists 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 ...

as adopted by the

Islamic Republic of 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 ...

. However, of all the marja'iyya Fayyad is reported to be the biggest opponent of the concept of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists. However, this report is contradicted by the official website of the Shi'a Marja, wherein he remarks, "The correct opinion regarding the issue of "Vilayat-e-Faqih" (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) is that this issue requires no external proof, because the continuation of

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

, and its application, is dependent upon the continuation of the system of Vilayat". He continues, "The vilayat of the Prophet and the immaculate Imams, and in the time of the major occultation of the 12th Imam, the Islamic Jurist is bestowed with this vilayat ... It is unimaginable that Islamic Law could continue to exist without the continuation of this vilayat". Furthermore, he is one of the

Ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

signatories of the

Amman Message The Amman Message ( ar, رسالة عمان) is a statement calling for tolerance and unity in the Muslim world that was issued on 9 November 2004 (27th of Ramadan 1425 AH) by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.Al-Fayyad's official reply to Amman Message
/ref> He has written some books on Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic politics, and Islamic banking. A very innovative position of him is written in his book on women's role in society with the title 'Jāyegāh Zan dar Nizām Siyāsīyeh Islām' (English title: 'The position of women in the Islamic political system'). In 2007, press reports indicated that he was supervising the religious studies of the radical cleric

Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr ( ar, مقتدى الصدر, Muqtadā aṣ-Ṣadr; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi politician and militia leader. He is the leader of the Sadrist Movement and the leader of the Peace Companies, a successor to the militia he had p ...

Positions

Socio-political role of women in Islamic societies

Grand Ayatollah al-Fayadh is one of the few Islamic Shia Ayatollahs who are in favor of women in positions of political leadership. In June 2018 an article was written on a Persian website, which was later translated into English. There the Islamic position of Ayatollah al-Fayadh concerning the position of women in Islamic society was discussed, citing his book 'Jāyegāh Zan dar Nizām Siyāsīyeh Islām' (English title: 'The position of women in the Islamic political system') on that subject. "In response to some jurisprudential questions concerning the role of women in society, he declared it permissible for women to take any of the three following positions: political leader, judge and religious jurisconsult." The article continues to explain al-Fayadh' opinion concerning women and the different positions they can take in society: "It is irrespective of whether this is a social position like politics or an individual one like being a driver, a pilot, etc. With this reasoning he believes that in all spheres of life, be it social, individual, ideological, freedom of expression, business, financial trading, land cultivation, etc. women and men are completely equal."

References

External links

Official Arabic WebsiteOfficial Farsi WebsiteDownload site of his online books in English, Arabic and Farsi''Slate'' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fayadh, Muhammad Afghan emigrants to Iraq Afghan Shia Muslims Afghan grand ayatollahs Iraqi people of Hazara descent Hazara people Hazara religious leaders 1930 births Living people People from Najaf Iraqi grand ayatollahs 20th-century Islamic religious leaders 21st-century Islamic religious leaders Iraqi people of Afghan descent

Biography

Positions

Socio-political role of women in Islamic societies

See Also

References

External links