Sheikh Jafar ibn Hussein ibn Ali Shooshtari (born 1230 AH, 1814/1815 AD, died 20
Safar
Ṣafar ( ar, صَفَر) also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ''ṣafar'' means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when muslims flee the oppr ...
1303 AH/28 November 1885) was a prominent
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 from the city of
Shooshtar.
Biography
He was born in 1230 AH in Shooshtar. He was a descendant of Ali ibn Hussain Najjar who was a great Shia scholar of 11th century AH. His paternal lineage is as follows: Jafar son of Hussein son of Hassan son of Ali son of Ali AlNajjar Shooshtari. He moved to
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 ...
in early childhood with his father. He was taught by Sheikh Mohammad Al-e-Yasin, Sheikh AbdulNabi Kazemi and Sheikh Ismail ibn Asadollah Kazemi. He then returned to
Shooshtar and then went to
Karbala
Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...
to study under Sheikh Mohammad Hossein Esfahani and Sharif ol Olama. Then 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 ...
to study under Sheikh Ansari. He returned to Shooshtar in 1255 AH and wrote "Menhaj ol Ershad" and built a Husseinya. In 1287 AH the
tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...
of prophet
Daniel
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...
in
Susa
Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...
was repaired by the order of Shaikh Jafar in the hands of Haj Mulla Hassan Memar. Then he returned to Karbala. He then made a trip to Iran to visit the tomb of
Ali Al-Ridha
Ali ibn Musa al-Rida ( ar, عَلِيّ ٱبْن مُوسَىٰ ٱلرِّضَا, Alī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā, 1 January 766 – 6 June 818), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan al-Thānī, was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the e ...
. On the way, he stopped at
Ray, where many scholars and clerics on the order of
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدینشاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...
visited him and asked him to stay in Tehran. He accepted and moved to Tehran and held the prayers in Marvi Mosque.
Sheikh Jafar was such a gifted speaker and his sermons were so emotional that they attracted thousands. The number of attendees grew so much that Marvi Mosque could not fit the crowd anymore. With the suggestion of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, he moved to
Sepahsalar Mosque, and according to one of his students, 40,000 people attended his sermons. His sermons were so emotional, that often even clerics in the audience started weeping. Many have reported that Nasser Al-Din Shah Qajar himself was often coming to his sermons in an anonymous outfit.
After spending some time in Tehran, he made a trip to Mashhad and then returned to Tehran again. Shah suggested that he should stay in Tehran, but he said that he wants to be buried next to his master
Ali Ibn Abi Talib
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
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 ...
.
Teachers
* Sheikh Mohammad Hassan Saheb Javaher
*
Sheikh Morteza Ansari
Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Murtadha al-Ansari al-Tostari (1781–1864), ( ar, مرتضی الأنصاري التستري; fa, مرتضی انصاری شوشتری ), also transliterated as Mortaza Ansari Shushtari, was a Shia jurist who "was generall ...
* Sheikh Ali ibn Jafar Kashef al Ghata
* Sheikh Mohammad Hossein Saheb Fosool
[Niroomand, The biography of Ayatollah Haj Sheikh Jafar Shushtari, 44]
* Sheikh Ismail Kazemi
* Sheikh Hassan ibn Jafar Kashef Al Ghata
* Sheikh Razi Najafi
*
Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi
Students
* Mirza Mohammad Hamedani
* Seyyed Abdulsamad Jazayeri
* Agha Mirza Ebrahim
* Molla Ahmad Naraghi
* Sheikh Ali ibn Reza Kashef Al Ghata
Death
Sheikh Jafar became ill on his way to
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 ...
to visit the tomb of Ali ibn Abi Talib and died in the Karand area between Iran and Iraq. His students moved his body to Iraq and buried him there. There is a mosque in Najaf in his honor.
Books
* Menhaj ol Ershad, in Persian.
* Al Khasaes Al Hosseinya
* Majales Al Mavaez
* Favaed Al Mashahed va Natayej Al Maghased
* Osol Al Din
* Dame ol Ain
* Lavaeh Allavahein
* Foyouzat Masoudieh
* Aldor Alnazid fi Khasaes Al Hossein Al Shahid
See also
*
Mohammad-Taqi Shoushtari
References
{{Reflist
External links
Ayatullah Shaykh Ja’far Shustari (R.A.)
1885 deaths
1810s births
Shia scholars of Islam
People from Shushtar