Murtadha al-Qazwini

Ayatollah Sayyid Murtadha al-Musawi al-Qazwini (Arabic: مرتضى الموسوي القزويني‎; b. August 1, 1930) is a senior Iraqi Shia jurist, poet and orator.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Ayatollah Sayyid

Murtadha al-Qazwini
السيد مرتضى الموسوي القزويني
TitleAyatollah
Personal
Born (1930-08-01) August 1, 1930
Karbala, Iraq
ReligionIslam
NationalityIraqi
Children
  • Ali
  • Mustafa
  • Muhammad
  • Hassan
  • Jafar
  • Hossein
ParentsMuhammad-Sadiq al-Qazwini (father)
DenominationTwelver Shīʿā
RelativesMohammed Kadhim al-Qazwini (first cousin, once removed)
Mohammed Baqer al-Qazwini (grandson)
Fadhil al-Milani (nephew)
Mahdi al-Modarresi (great nephew)
Muhsin al-Qazwini (first cousin, once removed)
Senior posting
WebsiteOfficial website

al-Qazwini is currently the Imam of the eastern wing of the Imam Husayn shrine. He lived in exile for twenty three years between Kuwait, Iran and the United States, until he returned to Iraq after the 2003 invasion.[7]

He is the founder of the Development and Relief Foundation, a charitable institution that has established schools, a seminary, a state of the art hospital, and clinic in Karbala.[8][9]

He is currently the chief of the al-Qazwini family.[10]

Early life and education

al-Qazwini was born in Karbala to the prominent religious al-Qazwini family. His father was Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Sadiq al-Qazwini, a mujtahid, that was the Imam at the Abbas shrine. He was abducted by the Baathist regime on April 18, 1980 at the age of eighty. He has been missing ever since. His mother was the daughter of his third cousin, once remove, Sayyid Muhammad-Mehdi al-Qazwini, a alim and poet, most known for authoring Huda al-Musanafin (Guidance of the Ranks), a critique on Shaykhism.[11] He is the fourth of seven children.

al-Qazwini naturally began his religious education at a young age. He carried out theological studies and academic education concurrently, and at the age of seventeen, was awarded by Salih Jabr, for being the highest achieving student in the country.[1]

In his religious education, he studied his intermediate stages under Sheikh Jafar al-Rashti, Sheikh Muhammad al-Khatib and his third cousin, once removed Sayyid Muhammad-Hassan Agha-Mir al-Qazwini.[4]

al-Qazwini in the 1950s

As for the advanced stages, he studied them under Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi, Sheikh Yusuf al-Khurasani and Sayyid Muhammad-Hadi al-Milani.[12]

In 1953, he was granted ijaza's from Sayyid Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din, Sheikh Agha Bozorg al-Tehrani and al-Milani.[12]

He travelled to Cairo to pursue some research in Al-Azhar University, however due to unforeseen circumstances, he returned to Karbala, unable to complete his studies.[13]

In 1942, he studied oratory under the supervision of his maternal uncle, Sayyid Muhammad-Salih al-Qazwini, who was a renowned cleric and orator. His uncle authored al-Mawidha al-Hasina (The Good Instruction), a critique of Ali al-Wardi's Wuadh al-Salatin (The Sultans Preachers').[14] By the 1950s, he was giving sermons in the Husayn shrine. Consequently, he began to travel to other countries in the Persian Gulf region, to deliver religious speeches.[13]

Activism

Communist and Baathist Iraq

During the days of the communist red tide, under the rule of Abd al-Karim Qasim, al-Qazwini supported Ayatollah Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim's fatwa deeming communism an infidelity and atheist.[15] He took a strong stance against Qasim, by rejecting to join the iftar he had prepared for the religious convoy in Ramadan, 1960, which lead to his imprisonment, making him the first cleric to become a political prisoner in Baghdad.[16]

After the Baathist regime took control in 1968, severe persecution began to gradually be administered towards the Shias, specifically the clerical class. As a result, al-Qazwini could not remain in home country for too long, and had to flee Iraq.[1]

Exile

al-Qazwini fled to Kuwait in October, 1971 and picked up where he left off in Iraq from delivering speeches to teaching jurisprudence classes. In 1980, he travelled to Iran after the Iranian revolution, and carried on his duties and activities, raising awareness of the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt.[4] In Qom, he spent a few years teaching in its seminaries, and led the Friday prayers at the Jamkaran Mosque. In Tehran, he served as a professor in Shahid Motahari University as well as a judge in the Islamic republic's judiciary system, appointed by Ruhollah Khomeini. He led the Friday prayers at the al-Qodos Mosque.[1]

In 1985, he emigrated to the United States, and settled in Los Angeles. He gained representation of the grand maraja' of his time and began to widen the spectrum of his communication of Islam.

Return to Iraq
al-Qazwini leading prayers at the Imam Husayn shrine, 2004

After the 2003 Iraqi invasion, al-Qazwini immediately returned to his Iraq and settled in Karbala. al-Qazwini claimed the Shirazi wing (eastern side) of the Husayn shrine and became the Imam of the daily prayers. He also performs a sermon after the congregational prayer.[7]

It was evident that the Baathist regime had suppressed the Shias in Iraq, with Karbala in the forefront, having a single poorly maintained hospital in all of Karbala, as well as a very few schools, that did not meet basic academic standards. According to UNICEF, there were five million orphans in Iraq in 2007.[17] In 2004, al-Qazwini founded the Development and Relief Foundation (DRF). al-Qazwini embarked on a mission to revive Karbala. The DRF has established a school, orphanage, Islamic Seminary, hospital and clinic.

In 2008, he sponsored and lead the efforts of constructing the Imam Al-Hujjah Hospital[8], a first of its kind charitable hospital in the region, that is solely founded on donations of philanthropists at large. This ambitious enterprise has gained interest and recognition of several healthcare institutes in North America, among which are the Institute of International Health at Michigan State University and Hardin Memorial Hospital in Louisville.

In 2007, he was injured in an attempt to assassinate him as he was on his way home after delivering his nightly sermon at the Husayn shrine.[1]

Establishments
al-Qazwini lecturing at Assadiq Foundation

al-Qazwini established a number of institutions in his lifetime. In the 1960s, he established and directed al-Kitab wal-Itra Institution for advanced religious studies in Karbala. The institution developed and trained speakers and scholars and dispatched them to all parts of Iraq.

Whilst In the United States, he founded:

  • Masjid al-Zahra in Southgate, where he led prayers and offered lectures and religious programs.
  • Imam Ali Islamic Center in San Diego, which was directed by his son, Muhammad.
  • Islamic Educational Center of Orange Country in Orange County, which as directed by his son Mousafa.[18]
  • Assadiq Foundation[19], which is now known as the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno in Fresno, which is directed by his son Ali.
  • City of Knowledge School in Pamona, which is a full-time academic Islamic school.[18]

After al-Qazwini returned to Iraq in 2003, he founded Imam al-Sadiq School, a state-of-the-art full-time Islamic school in Karbala.

Works

Books

al-Qazwini has written numerous books including:

  • al-Nubuwa wal-Anbiya' Fi Nathar Ahl al-Bayt (Prophethood and Prophets in the perspective of the Ahl al-Bayt)
  • al-Mahdi al-Muntathar (The Awaited Mehdi)
  • A'lam al-Shia (Notables of the Shia). Three volumes, 1) al-Alamah al-Hilli. 2) al-Tusi. 3) Baha al-Din al-Ameli.

Poetry

al-Qazwini has written many verses of poetry, mostly in memory of the Ahl al-Bayt, either in praise or mourning. His most famous poem, about Husayn ibn Ali is as follows:[20]

قـَدْ سَـالَ قَلْبِي فِي هَوَاكَ قَصِيدَا
فـَطَـفِقتُ أنظِمُ عَنْ عَلُاكَ عُقُودَا
وَ رَفَـعْـتُـهَا لِــتَــنَالَ نَـظْرَتِكَ الَـتِــي
تَـرَكْـتُ حَصَاهَا جَوْهَراً مَنْــضُــودَا‎

My heart pours in your love; a poem,
That continued to write of your greatness for decades.
I raised it so that it is worthy of your gaze,
Leaving it, to translate into a shining gem.

Personal life

al-Qazwini is married to the daughter of Sayyid Abd al-Amir Nasrallah, from the Nasrallah family in Karbala. He has six sons, who have all pursued clerical careers.[21]

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References
  1. "Biography of Ayatollah Sayid Mortadha Al-Qazwini - alqazwini.org". alqazwini.org. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  2. al-Sayyid Hassan, Dakhil (1996). Mu'jam al-Khutaba [Glossary of Orators] (in Arabic). 2. Kuwait: al-Alamiya Foundation. pp. 209–36.
  3. Kirbāsī, Mūsá Ibrāhīm (1968). al-Buyūtāt al-adabīyah fī Karbalā [The Literary Households of Karbala] (in Arabic). Maṭbaʻat Ahl al-Bayt. pp. 442–45.
  4. al-Jibouri, Kaamil Salman (2003). Mu'jam al-'Udaba' Min 'Asr al-Jahili Hata Sanat 2002 [Glossary of Scholars: From the Jahiliyyah to 2002 AD] (in Arabic). 6. Beirut, Lebanon: Daar al-Kitab al-'Ilmiya. pp. 212–13.
  5. Gorges, Awad (2005). Mu'jam al-Mu'alifeen al-'Irqiyeen [Glossary of Ethnic Authors] (in Arabic). p. 294.
  6. al-Shahroudi, Nur al-Din (1990). Tarikh al-Haraka al-Ilmiya Fi Karbala [The History of the Clerical Movement of Karbala] (in Arabic). Dar al-Uloom Liltahqeeq Wal Tiba'a Wal Nashr Wal Towzee'. p. 229.
  7. Louër, Laurence (2011). Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf. Hurst. p. 267. ISBN 978-1-84904-214-7.
  8. "A Message from the founder". Imam Al-Hujjah Hospital. 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  9. "DRF Team | Development and Relief Foundation". 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  10. Muhammad, Qazwini (1998). Turus al-Insha Wa Sutur al-Imlaa (in Arabic). Beirut, Lebanon: Maktabat Baysan.
  11. al-Tehrani, Agha Bozorg. al-Thari'a Fi Tasanif al-Shia. 25. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Adhwa. p. 203.
  12. al-Sayyid Hassan, Dakhil (1996). Mu'jam al-Khutaba [Glossary of Orators] (in Arabic). 2. Kuwait: al-Alamiya Foundation. p. 214.
  13. al-Sayyid Hassan, Dakhil (1996). Mu'jam al-Khutaba [Glossary of Orators] (in Arabic). 2. Kuwait: al-Alamiya Foundation. p. 216.
  14. Ṭuʻmah, Salmān Hādī (2009). Mashahir al-Madfunin Fi Karbala [Famous Figures Buried In Karbala] (in Arabic). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Safwa. p. 114.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. Muhammad, Ali (2004). Shakhsiyat Min al-Khalij [Personalities from the Gulf] (in Arabic). Beirut, Lebanon: Mu'asasat al-Balagh.
  16. al-Sayyid Hassan, Dakhil (1996). Mu'jam al-Khutaba [Glossary of Orators] (in Arabic). 2. Kuwait: al-Alamiya Foundation. p. 217.
  17. "Iraq's Children 2007 - A year in their life" (PDF). UNICEF.
  18. Ennaji, Moha (2016-05-30). New Horizons of Muslim Diaspora in Europe and North America. Springer. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-137-55496-3.
  19. Cumulative List of Organizations Described in Section 170 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service. 2003. p. 189.
  20. "Qad Saal Qalbi Fi Hawaka Qasida" [My heart pours in your love; a poem]. www.kasaed.net. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  21. al-Sayyid Hassan, Dakhil (1996). Mu'jam al-Khutaba [Glossary of Orators] (in Arabic). 2. Kuwait: al-Alamiya Foundation. p. 235.

See Also
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