Shahab ad-Din Muhammad Hussain Mar'ashi Najafi (July 21, 1897 – August 29, 1990) ( ar, اية الله العظمى السيد شهابالدين الحسينى المرعشى نجفى) was an Iraqi
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 ...
''Grand
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 ...
'' and
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 ...
.
Education
He first mastered
tajweed
In the context of the recitation of the Quran, ''tajwīd'' ( ar, تجويد ', , 'elocution') is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation (''Q ...
and learned the doctrines of
tafsir
Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
which had been taught to him by his father, as well as Mirza Aboll Hassan Meshkini, Mohammad Hossein Shirazi, Hab Al-Din Shahrestani and Ibrahim Shafei Rafaei Baghdadi.
[A Glance at the great library of Ayatollah al-ozma Imam Marashi najafi](_blank)
marashilibrary.com
Najafi was formally educated in the
hawza
A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold so ...
of
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 ...
, and also spent three years studying in the Iraqi cities of
Samarra
Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army ...
and
Kadhimiya
Kadhimiya ( ar, ٱلْكَاظِمِيَّة, al-Kāẓimiyyah, ) or Kadhimayn (, ) is a northern neighbourhood of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is about from the city's center, on the west bank of the Tigris. 'Kadhimiya' is also the name of on ...
; two important centres of
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 ...
learning.
He excelled in areas of
fiqh
''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 ...
,
`ilm al-rijal,
'aql, and
kalam
''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...
.
Najafi received ijazahs from numerous scholars, among them
Lady Amin
Hajiyeh Seyyedeh Nosrat Begum Amin, also known as Banu Amin, Lady Amin ( fa, بانو امين; 1886–1983), was Iran's most outstanding female jurisprudent, theologian and great Muslim mystic ( ‘arif) of the 20th century, a ''Lady Mujtahide ...
.
Teaching
Upon attaining 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 ...
in 1925, Najafi travelled to
Qom,
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 ...
, at the request of
Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi
Grand Ayatollah Hajj Sheikh Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi ( fa, عبدالکریم حائری یزدی; ar, عبد الكريم الحائري اليزدي ; 1859 – 30 January 1937) was a Twelver Shia Muslim scholar and marja. He was the founder of a ...
, one of the most important revivalists of the
Qom hawza
A hawza ( ar, حوزة) or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah ( ar, حوزة علمیة) is a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
The word ''ḥawzah'' is found in Arabic as well as the Persian language. In Arabic, the word means "to hold so ...
. He stayed in the city of
Qom until his death. He led the prayers in the
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
of
Fatemah Masumeh for over half a century.
Among those that visited Najafi during his life in
Qom include
Rashid Ridha,
Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin (14 April 1903 – 7 October 1978)Shayegan, DaryushHenry Corbin in Encyclopaedia Iranica. was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was in ...
, and the Bengali poet
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
.
Manuscript collection and library
Whilst studying 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 ...
, Najafi became growingly concerned with the immense wealth of
Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
knowledge that was being lost in the displacement and destruction of
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 ...
texts. He took it upon himself to purchase as many rare books and manuscripts that he could on his modest clerical stipend in order to preserve them. When his stipend was exhausted, he took a job at a rice cleaning factory 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 ...
, performed
Qada prayers and fasts on behalf of others, and ate only one meal a day in order to raise enough money to purchase these books.
Najafi continued to collect these rare Shia manuscripts once he migrated to
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 ...
. In 1965, he presented 278 rare manuscripts in Arabic and Persian to the
University of Tehran
The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...
College of Theology and Divinity.
[ ] He would continue to donate many of these books to libraries across Iran.
In 1965, he was able to found the ''Marashiyah Islamic Seminary'' in
Qom, where he allocated a number of rooms for the purpose of housing these books. It was not long before these rooms were formally designated as a library.
The large number of visitors to this library soon required that it be expanded. For this purpose, of adjoining land was purchased in order to expand the existing library in 1970.
In 1974, the reference section of this library was inaugurated. 1,600 rare
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 ...
manuscripts were added to this collection, which was followed by a further 500 manuscripts that were donated to the library's treasury.
In 1989, the supreme guide of 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 ...
,
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 ...
issued a decree ordering that the library be built an extension of . At present both the old and the new buildings of the grand library occupies a total area of 21,000 sq. meters.
Sayid
''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' ...
Najafi laid the first stone of the foundation of the new library.
Death and will
In his will, Najafi gave his son,
Mahmoud Marashi Najafi, detailed advice on religious observances and study, good relations with close relatives, mercy to the poor and needy, and not wasting his time. He gave instructions regarding his own burial and grave, and enjoined his son if possible to use some of his wealth as Radd al-Madhaalim (money given to the poor as payment of possible unknown debts) on his father's behalf, in case he had any dues outstanding.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Najafi, Shahab al-Din Marashi
1897 births
1990 deaths
People from Najaf
Iraqi ayatollahs
Iranian book and manuscript collectors