Grand Ayatollah

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

Hossein Wahid Khorasani ( fa, حسین وحید خراسانی; born Mohammad-Hossein Molla-Saleh (Persian: )‎; 1 January 1921) is an Iranian author and Shia marja'. He is the current head of the Qom Seminary. Khorasani is considered to be the most learned Shia religious authority alive.

Early life and education

Khorasani was born in

Nishapur Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...

, a city 130 km west of

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

, to Sheikh Esmail Khorasani, a revered

alim Alim (''ʿAlīm'' , also anglicized as ''Aleem'') is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "''All-knowing one''". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "''Servant of the All-Knowing''": Given name * Alim ad-Din A ...

and orator. He began his religious education at an early age in Mashhad, completing his ''muqadamat'' and Arabic under Sheikh Shams and al-Muhaqiq al-Mughani in the Ba'in Ya school. He then moved to the Mirza Jafar school and completed his intermediate level studies under Sheikh Husayn Birsi, Mirza Ahmed Kifaei, Abu al-Qasim al-Hakim al-Ilahi and Sheikh Husayn-Ali al-Isfahani. He also attended the classes of Mirza Mehdi al-Isfahani, Sheikh Mahdi al-Ishtiyani and Sheikh Muhammad Nahawndi. He received an ijaza from his teacher Sayyid

Muhammad Hujjat Kuh-Kamari Seyyed Mohammad Hojjat Kooh Kamari was a contemporary Iranian Muslim Faqīh and a Twelver Marja' who was in charge of the administration of the Qom Seminary for ten years. He was born on 17 March 1893 and died on 19 January 1953. He was a promi ...

. He moved to Najaf in 1949 and studied in the Yazdi school for ten years. He attended the classes of Sheikh Muhammad-Husayn Naini for a year; Abu al-Hasan al-Isfahani for two years; Sheikh Musa Khonsari for six years; Agha Dhiya al-Din al-Iraqi, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Golpayegani, Sheikh Kadhim al-Shirazi, Sayyid

Abd al-Hadi al-Shirazi Grand Ayatollah Mirza Abd al-Hadi al-Husayni al-Shirazi (; fa, ; 1882 – July 13, 1962) was an Iraqi-Iranian Shia marja' and poet. After the death of Abu al-Hasan al-Esfehani, al-Shirazi was considered to be one of the highest ranking schol ...

and Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim. He studied under Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei the longest, which was twelve years, becoming one of the distinguished students of al-Khoei. He returned to Mashhad in 1972, and taught there for just under a year, and then travelled to

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 ...

, to settle there until today.

Fatimah's death

Khorasani believes the

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

of Fatimah's house holds a very high religious significance in the Shi'i creed. He leads a large mourning procession in Qom, on the anniversary of her death–in accordance to the third narration– annually, that sees hundreds of thousands of people participating in it. When the controversial marja' Sayyid Muhammad-Husayn Fadhlallah declared his opinion that the attack of the door was a myth, and deemed most stories as fiction, Khorasani along with Mirza Jawad Tabrizi and Sayyid Muhammad-Sadiq Rohani deemed him a "deviant".

Islamic Republic

Khorasani stance on Iran's government has been relatively vague, and he has been considered–if anything–an indirect critic. He has been often quoted in his lectures to challenge the opinion of the supreme leader of Iran.

Works

Khorasani has written many books some of which have been translated into Urdu, Persian, Arabic, English, and other languages. Some of his works include: * *''Principles of Faith''. . *''Sharh al-Urwatul Wuthqa'' (Explanation of The Firmest Bond). *''Laws of Hajj.'' * * * *''Rulings of Medicine''. *''Ahkam-e-Shabab'' (Laws for Youth). *''Misbah al-Huda Wa Safinat al-Najat'' (Light of Guidance and Ark of Salvation). Two Volumes.

Personal life

Khorasani is married and has two sons, Mohammad-Esmail and Mohsen. He is the father-in-law of Sadeq Larijani.

References

External links

* (in Arabic).
Library of Khorasani's books
by ''al-Feker E-book Network''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Khorasani, Hossein Waheed 1921 births Living people Iranian centenarians Iranian grand ayatollahs Critics of Sunni Islam Men centenarians People from Nishapur