Hawza Najaf
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Ayatollah_al-Khoi_and_Ali_al-Sistani.jpg/250px-Ayatollah_al-Khoi_and_Ali_al-Sistani.jpg)
The Najaf Seminary (Arabic: حوزة النجف), also known as the al-Hawza al-Ilmiyya, is the most important Shia seminaries (hawza) in the city of Najaf, Iraq. The school also operates a campus in Karbala.
It is located near the Imam Ali Mosque. It was established in the 11th century by Grand Ayatollah Shaykh al-Tusi.
History
Shaykh Tusi went to Baghdad to continue education. After 12 years, he was forced to leave Baghdad and go to Najaf for sectarian differences.[1] He established the seminary in Najaf in 430 AH (the 11th century AD),[2] which continued as a center of study until the establishment of modern Iraq in 1921. He died in 460 AH (1067 CE).[3][4] The seminar was one of the biggest and most important hawza of the world for educating and training Shia clerics.[5]
Subjects
The subjects taught at the seminary include:[6]
- Mantiq (Logic)
- Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence)
- Fiqh (Jurisprudence)
- Tafsir al-Qur'an (Qur'an Exegesis)
- Ulum al-Qur'an (Qur'an Sciences)
- Ilm al-Hadith (The Study of Traditions)
- Ilm ar-Rijal (Science of Narrators)
- Tarikh (History)
- Aqaid / Kalam (Theology)
- Lugha (Language Studies)
- Falsafa (Islamic Philosophy)
- Irfan (Islamic Mysticism)
Trained clerics
Some of the known Shia Grand Ayatollahs were trained in the Najaf seminary.[7]
- Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ardabili - he was one of the most famous Shia scholars. He was known as Mohaghegh (researcher) and Moghaddas (saint).[8]
- Moḥammad Mahdī Baḥr al-ʿUlūm - he was khown as Baḥr al-Ulum for his considerable knowledge. Bahr al-Ulum was a popular Shia Muslim scholar. He is specifically known as one of the few individuals who attained the climax of spiritual perfection.[9]
- Mohammad Bagher Shafti - he was the leader of Isfahan seminary.[7]
- Akhund Khorasani - he was student Morteza Ansari. Khorasani was the greatest Marjaʿ after Mirza Shirazi and before Mohammad Fadhil Sharabiani, he was known as an indubitable master of usul al-fiqh.[10]He authored a book focused on commercial law.[11]
- Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei - Ali al-Sistani was his student.[12] He was made the most prominent Grand Ayatollah in 1971 after the death of Muhsin al-Hakim.[13] He was well-known author in Hadith studies and Rijal and Kalam knowledge.[12][14]
- Ibn Idris Hilli - he founded the Hillah seminary.[7]
- Mirza Shirazi - he was the leader of Samarra seminary and Tobacco Protest.[11]
- Hajj Muhammad Ibrahim Kalbasi - he was the leader of Isfahan seminary.[7]
- Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi - he was the founder of the Qom Seminary in Iran.[15] Ruhollah Khomeini was his student. He was Marjaʿ.[16]
- Kashif al-Ghita - he was the leader and great Marjaʿ of Shia.[7]
- Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi - he authored Javaher al-kalam Fi sharh-e Sharay-e al-Islam [17]and was a leader of the Najaf seminary.[18]
- Morteza Ansari - he was the leader of Najaf seminary after the death of Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi.[7] He has been called "first effective" Marjaʿ of the Shia[19] or "the first scholar universally recognized as supreme authority in matters of Shii law".[20][7]
- Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi - hi popular students included Imam Khomeini, Hossein Vahid Khorasani, Sayed Ali Khamenei, Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani, and Dr. Seyed Ali Mirlohi Falavarjani.[21] Borujerdi was the sole marja "in the Shia world" from 1945-6 until his death in 1961.[22] Borujerdi was the first Marja who attempted Islamic unity. He sent Sayyid Muhaqqiqi to Hamburg, Germany, Aqa-e-Shari'at to Karachi, Pakistan, Al-Faqihi to Medina and Musa al-Sadr to Lebanon.[23][24]
- Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i - he authored Tafsir al-Mizan[25] and he was one of the most prominent Intellectuals of philosophy and contemporary Shia Islam.[26][27]He was an expert in philosophy in Islam. His philosophy is focused upon the sociological treatment of human problems.[26]His book, Shi'ite Islam, was translated into English by Hossein Nasr and William Chittick as a project of Colgate University. He was interviewed by Henry Corbin.[28].
- Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi - he was one of the greatest Marja in Lebanon. He attempted to bring Shia and Sunni closer[29]
See also
References
- ^ Jaffer - XKP, Mulla Asghar Ali M. FIQH and FUQAHA (PDF). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 4, 2015). ISBN 978-1519106759. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-26.
- ^ "Part 2: The Fuqaha". World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities.
- ^ "Hawza - Advanced Islamic Studies". Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project. Archived from the original on 8 March 2011.
- ^ Sreeram Chaulia. "Shiites and Democracy". Mideast Monitor. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008.
- ^ "A rare look inside the 'heart of society' for Iraq's Shi'ites".
- ^ "Hawza - Advanced Islamic Studies". Archived from the original on 2011-03-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g Khoshkhu, Rasoul Imani. "A Glimpse at the Major Shi'a Seminaries part 1". Ahlul Bayt World Assembly.
- ^ Ghobadzadeh, Naser. Religious Secularity: A Theological Challenge to the Islamic State (Religion and Global Politics). Oxford University Press; 1 edition (December 1, 2014). ISBN 978-0199391172.
- ^ Litvak, Meir. Shi'i Scholars of Nineteenth-Century Iraq: The 'Ulama' of Najaf and Karbala'. Cambridge University Press (May 2, 2002). ISBN 978-0521892964.
- ^ Hairi, A.; Murata, S. (1984). "AḴŪND ḴORĀSĀNĪ". Encyclopædia Irannica.
- ^ a b Mottahedeh, Roy. The Mantle of the Prophet. Oneworld (August 15, 2000). ISBN 978-1851682348.
- ^ a b Who's who in Iraq: Ayatollah Sistani, 26 August, 2004
- ^ "The Wall Street Journal: Index, Volume 2". Dow Jones & Co., 1992.
- ^ Allawi, Ali A. (2007). The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace. Yale University Press; Reprint edition (March 18, 2008). p. 207. ISBN 978-0300136142.
al-Khoei is lead rijal.
- ^ "Haeri Yazdi، Ayatollah Abdulkarim".
- ^ Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet, (1985, 2000), p.229
- ^ Sachedina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein. The Just Ruler in Shi'ite Islam: The Comprehensive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press; Revised edition (October 8, 1998). ISBN 978-0195119152.
- ^ Arjomand, Saïd Amir. Authority and Political Culture in Shi'ism (SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies). SUNY Press; Annotated edition (July 8, 1988). ISBN 978-0887066399.
- ^ Mottahedeh, Roy. The Mantle of the Prophet. Oneworld (August 15, 2000). p. 210. ISBN 978-1851682348.
- ^ Esposito, John L. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam (Oxford Quick Reference). Oxford University Press; 1 edition (October 21, 2004). p. 21. ISBN 978-0195125597.
- ^ The course of Imam Khomeini's struggles narrated by SAVAK [Seir e mobarezat e imam khomeini be revayat e savak] (in Persian). Vol. 1. p. 45. and http://english.khamenei.ir/news/2130/bio
- ^ Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet, (1985, 2000), p.231
- ^ "Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi".
- ^ Chehabi, Abisaab, Houchang , Rula Jurdi. Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years. I.B.Tauris (April 2, 2006). ISBN 978-1860645617.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Biography of Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei by Amid Algar, University of California, Berkeley, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.
- ^ a b Legenhausen, Dr. Muhammad. "'Allamah Tabataba'i And Contemporary Philosophical Theology". ALHODA PUBLISHERS.
- ^ Husayni Tihrani, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn. Shining Sun. Islamic College for Advanced Studie; UK ed. edition (May 1, 2011). ISBN 978-1904063407.
- ^ Randall, Yafia Katherine. Sufism and Jewish-Muslim Relations: The Derekh Avraham Order in Israel. Routledge; 1 edition (April 7, 2016). ISBN 978-1138914032.
- ^ Rizvi, Arsalan. "Sayyid Sharafuddin al-Musawi".