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29-469: Sources differ as to when the institution of the marja˓ emerged, with Murtadha al-Ansari (died 1864) and Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (died 940 or 941) both being called the first marja'. As of 2023 there are approximately over 50 living maraji , almost all residing in Iran or Iraq. Currently, maraji' are accorded the title grand ayatollah ( Arabic : آية ‌الله العظمی ʾĀyatullāh al-ʿUẓmā ). Previously,

58-454: A notable scholar. At the age of twenty, he made Ziyarat with his father to Kerbala , Iraq , where he met Mohammad Mujtahid Karbala'i, the leader of the city's scholars. Ansari demonstrated considerable promise during a debate with the senior Mujtahid, who was so impressed that he induced his father to allow Ansari to continue his studies with them. Ansari studied in Kerbala for four years, until

87-578: A year in Najaf studying with Kashf ul-Ghita . Returning from a pilgrimage to Mashhad , Khurasan , he encountered Ahmad Naraqi , an authority in fiqh , usul al-fiqh and irfan , and – although Ansari was already a mujtahid in his own right when he left Karbala – studied with him for a further four years. After again traveling for a number of years, he returned to Najaf where he completed his studies under Kashf ul-Ghita and Muhammad Hasan Najafi (author of Jawahir ul-Kalam ) and began teaching. When

116-405: Is a political event or dispute in your society, such as an election, and you are not sure how to act. You check the book of your marja, the risalah (treatise on practical Islamic law), and find the answers you need. Every marja has his own risalah. For things that cannot be found in those books, you turn to the nearest representative of your marja, write a letter or e-mail or, more recently, raise

145-420: Is being able to raise enough money "to finance the education of religious students" from donations from the believers, is one of the qualifications of a marja'. A marja'-e taqlid must first have devoted himself to the study of Islamic law until he is qualified as a mojtahed or faqih (jurist), which means that he can derive his own legal rulings and issue edicts on religious law. Baqer Moin explains that unlike

174-514: Is bestowed when a scholar/cleric reaches the level in the hawza (seminary) where his students and followers trust him to answer their questions on religious issues. An ayatollah must also have published a juristic book, known as a risalah amaliyah —a manual or treatise of practical religious rulings arranged according to topics dealing with ritual purity, worship, social issues, business, and political affairs. The risalah contains an ayatollah's fatwas on different topics, according to his knowledge of

203-504: Is not only lawful but obligatory on many religious questions for all Muslims not so trained themselves; (on "matters of belief" or usulu 'din , it is obligatory for Shi'a to train themselves). From the perspective of Shi'i jurisprudence, during the occultation of the Mahdi , (for the past 1000+ years) the highest ranking Shia hawzah clerics are bestowed with responsibility for understanding and explaining Islamic religious jurisprudence. As of

232-462: Is the fatwa of Mirza Mohammed Hassan Husseini Shirazi imposing sanctions on the use of tobacco during Qajar rule, which led to the abolition of the tobacco concession. Murtadha al-Ansari Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Murtadha Ansari Shushtari (1781–1864), Persian : مرتضی انصاری شوشتری ); ( Arabic : مرتضی الأنصاري التستري , also transliterated as Mortaza Ansari Shushtari , was an Iranian Shia jurist who "was generally acknowledged as

261-447: The 19th century, the Shia ulama taught believers to turn to "a source of taqlid " ( marja' at-taqlid ) "for advice and guidance and as a model to be imitated." Abbas Djavadi gives examples of how a muqallid would imitate their marja' : Imagine you are a Shi'ite Muslim facing a long intercontinental flight and you aren't sure how to arrange your prayers or ablutions. Or imagine there

290-619: The Catholic pope or Christian bishops, he is not chosen by an electoral college, or by any other formal procedure. It is incumbent on every believer or `imitator` to make his or her own choice of marja'-e taqlid on the ground that he is the most learned mojtahed of his time and a man of great moral probity. "Of course, most ordinary people are not in a position to judge who is the most learned, so believers are instructed either to inquire of two upright and knowledgeable persons who are not contradicted by two other similar persons, or to satisfy themselves on

319-493: The Islamic world". Despite this, Ansari lived humbly, generously provided stipends to his Islamic students with these funds, and this resulted in a confirmation of Najaf's standing as center of Shiah learning. In spite of the tremendous prestige attached to his position, Ansari lived the life of an ascetic. When he died, his two daughters were unable to pay for his funeral expenses from his inheritance. He rarely used his authority in

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348-502: The Shia community, seldom judging cases or giving fatawa . From the beginning of the Oudh Bequest in 1850, Morteza Ansari along with Sayyid Ali Naqi Tabatabie transferred the bequest from India through agents. Morteza Ansari had devised a mode of distribution which included "junior mujtahids , low-ranking indigent ulama , Persian and Arab students, the custodians of the shrines, and the poor." According to Roy Mottahedeh , Ansari

377-478: The city was besieged by Dawud Pasha and his rebels, causing the scholars of Kerbala and their students to flee to Baghdad and the shrine of Imam Kazim . From there, Ansari returned to his homeland, where he quickly became restless and resolving to find teachers to continue his religious instruction. After about a year of traveling, he spent two years in Najaf studying under Musa al-Ja'fari and Sharif Mazandarani and

406-523: The community was obliged to follow ( Taqlid ) the doctrines of these legal scholars. Ansari was the author of some thirty books and treatises, noted for their clarity and readability. Most of his works center on Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh . Of the former, his most important work is the Makasib , a detailed exposition of Islamic Commercial Law , which is still taught today in the Hawza and has yet to be surpassed. Of

435-520: The early 1990s, the leading marja', Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei , died and Ali Sistani , "emerged" as the marja al-mutlaq or highest Marja' in the world of Shia Islam. According to Mohamad Bazzi, Sistani's word "on religious matters carries the most weight" among Shia. However, in 1994, the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) declared it was the Supreme Leader of Iran , Ali Khamenei who

464-526: The evidence of a group of learned and upright persons. In practice this means that most people rely on the assurances of their local mollahs, who in their turn will be influenced by people they respect or are further up the religious hierarchy. Hence the importance to any leading divine of a following among students and the lesser clergy, who will promote his position in this informal process of consultation." Shiʿi "biographical compilations generally" consider Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (d. 940 or 941) – one of

493-489: The first compilers of Shiʿite hadith – to be "the first" post-occultation marja al-taqlid, according to Neguin Yavari and Eric Hooglund. However, according to Robert Gleave , the institution of the marja˓ did not emerged until the nineteenth century, with the first universally recognized marja˓, "the influential mujtahid Murtadha al-Ansari (d. 1864)". Still another source – four mullahs at al-islam.org who were asked directly "Who

522-524: The last of the prominent scholars of the generation senior to Ansari died in 1849, Ansari was universally recognized as the 'most learned Mujtahid ' ( marja' ) in the Twelver Shi'ah community. His lessons in Fiqh and Usul al-fiqh became incredibly popular, attracting hundreds of students. Furthermore, it is estimated that 200,000 Tomans a year of Khums money was tithed to Ansari's base in Najaf "from all over

551-527: The latter, his Fara'id ul-Usul remains an extremely important work. In it, he is credited with expanding the scope of the usul 'amaliyyah (practical principles, as opposed to semantic principles) in Shi'i jurisprudence. For this reason, Ansari is said to have laid the foundations of modern Twelver jurisprudence and his style – more than any other classical scholar – is imitated by the modern jurists. Qom Too Many Requests If you report this error to

580-412: The license to engage in ijtihad ( ʾijāz al-ʾijtihād ) from one or several ayatollahs. However ijtihad is not always comprehensive and so a mujtahid may be an expert in one particular area of Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh ) and exercise ijtihad therein, but follow a marja' in other areas of fiqh. Several senior grand ayatollahs preside over hawzas (religious seminaries). The hawzas of Qom and Najaf are

609-567: The most authentic Islamic sources and their application to current life. Traditionally only the most renowned ayatollahs of the given time published a risalah. Today, however, many ayatollahs of varying degrees of illustriousness have published one, while some of the renowned ones have refused to do so. Marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq The highest marja' or "first-among-equals", is called the Marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq . Traditionally, taqlid or "imitation" of an expert in Islamic jurisprudence (a mujtahid )

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638-558: The most eminent jurist of the time." Ansari has also been called the "first effective" model or Marja of the Shia or "the first scholar universally recognized as supreme authority in matters of Shii law". Ansari was born in Dezful around 1781, the time the Qajar dynasty was establishing its power in Iran. He commenced his religious studies in Defzul, under the tutelage of his uncle, himself

667-820: The preeminent seminary centers for the training of Shia clergymen . However, there are other smaller hawzas in many other cities around the world, the biggest ones being Karbala (Iraq), Isfahan (Iran) and Mashhad (Iran). There are 56 maraji living worldwide as of 2023, mostly residing in Najaf and Qom . The most prominent among them are Hossein Vahid Khorasani , Ali Khamenei , Mousa Shubairi Zanjani , Sayyid Sadeq Rohani , Naser Makarem Shirazi , Sadiq Hussaini Shirazi , Hossein Noori Hamedani and Abdollah Javadi-Amoli in Qom; Ali Sistani , Muhammad al-Fayadh , Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim and Bashir al-Najafi in Najaf. In

696-420: The question on the website of your marja and receive your answer. Where a difference in opinion exists between the maraji', each of them provides their own opinion and the muqallid (their followers) will follow their own marja's opinion on that subject. Exempted from the requirement to follow a marja' are mujtahid , i.e. someone who has completed advanced training ( dars kharij ) in the hawza and has acquired

725-413: The titles of Allamah (such as Allameh Tabatabaei , Allameh Majlesi , Allameh Hilli ) and Imam (such as Imam Khomeini , Imam Rohani , Imam Shirazi and Imam Sadr ) have also been used. Another source (Abbas Djavadi) states a marja' is "usually" a grand ayatollah. Someone who follows/"imitates" a marja' (who performs taqlid ) is known as a muqallid . Ayatollahs The title of an ayatollah

754-450: Was "the single marja˓ al-taqlid" or "undisputed marja˓". According to Mohamad Bazzi, this was a bid "to displace" Ali Sistani, the true Marja al-taqlid al-mutlaq , "and his allies in Najaf ", but it "failed" because Khamenei "had modest religious credentials (he was only elevated to the rank of ayatollah after Khomeini's death, so he could assume the post of supreme leader). Faced with Baathist persecution and an Iranian power grab, Sistani

783-632: Was able to retain his position." Gleave does not mention Sistani but states that Khamenei's "position as the Marja˓ al-taqlid" has "remained a matter of dispute". There is no formalized specific process nor official body resembling a council of ulama to designate someone a marja al-taqlid, because reaching the position of marja al-taqlid "is entirely at the discretion of the believers themselves". Nonetheless, there are "general principles" for their selection including several "conditions" which have been "accepted unanimously by Shiʿite theologians". Another condition

812-553: Was celebrated for his piety and generosity and "more than that of any mullah leader of the past two centuries, his leadership celebrated his learning." Through the expansion of rational devices in Usul al-fiqh , Ansari implicitly admitted the uncertainty of much of the sacred law. For this reason, he emphasized that only a learned Mujtahid could interpret scripture (i.e. the Qur'an and Hadith ) and employ reason to produce legal doctrines. The rest of

841-573: Was the first ever Marja-e-Taqleed?" – was non-committal. Only one of four (Mohammad Al-Musawi) replied and would only say, "from the time of the Prophet (SAWA) and the Infallible Imams, Muslims who lived in places far away from them, were ordered to refer in religious matters to the scholar in their area". Shiite authorities in the history of Shi'ism have an important role in the religious, political and social thought of their communities. One example

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