Muhammad Hussain Najafi محمد حسین النجفي |
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Religion | Usuli Twelver Shi`a Islam |
Other name(s) | Arabic/Persian/Punjabi/Urdu: محمد حسین نجفی |
Personal | |
Born | April 10, 1932 Sargodha, British India |
Senior posting | |
Based in | Sargodha, Pakistan |
Title | Grand Ayatollah |
Period in office | 1980–present |
Religious career | |
Post | Grand Ayatollah |
Website | Official Website |
Muslim scholar Muhammad Hussain |
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Title | Grand Ayatollah |
Born | 1932 (age 79–80) |
Ethnicity | Pakistani Punjabi |
Region | Pakistan |
Maddhab | Ja`fari |
Main interests | Tafsir, Hadith, Kalam, Fiqh, Islamic philosophy, Islamic ethics |
Influences | Mohsin al-Hakim, Mirza Javad Tabrizi, Bazurg Tehrani, Maualana Naqqan, Syed Muhammad Dehlavi, Mufti Jafar Hussain, Allama Yar Shah, Allama Hussain Bakhsh Jarra |
Grand Ayatollah Allama Shaikh Muhammad Hussain Najafi (Arabic/Persian/Urdu: آية الله العظمی علامہ الشیخ محمد حسین النجفي) (born April 1932) was the first Twelver Shi'a alim from Pakistan to be elevated to the status of marjiyyat, and the next in the line of Marjas of South Asia after Seyyed Ali Naqi Naqvi of Lucknow, India. At present, there are two Marjas of Pakistani descent, the other one Ayatollah Sheikh Basheer Hussain Najafi. As Ayatollah Hafiz Bashir Najafi has chosen to reside in Najaf, Iraq, Muhammad Hussain Najafi is the only Marja on Pakistani soil running his Hawza in Sargodha.[1] He was included in the lists "The 500 Most Influential Muslims" for the years 2010 and 2011.[2][3]
Contents |
Muhammad Hussain was born in Jahanian Shah in district Sargodha (Punjab, Pakistan), in April 1932. He belongs to the Dhakku branch of Jat people. He had two paternal uncles, both of whom were Shia ulema: Maulana Imam Bakhsh was a religious teacher in Jahanian Shah, while Maulana Sohrab Ali Khan was a reputed alim of Uch Sharif. His father Rana Tajuddin was not an alim, but he had the wish of making his son a great alim. However, he died in 1944 when Muhammad Hussain was 12 years old, after which the family members persuaded the widow that Muhammad Hussain should look after the family lands, but she kept up the wish of her dead husband.[1][4]
After secondary school education, he got admission in Madrasah Muhammadia in Jalalpur Nankiana, Sargodha, where one of his prominent teachers was Ayatollah Allama Hussain Bakhsh Jarra. In 1947, he studied the courses of Dars-i-Nizami from Ayatollah Allama Muhammad Baqir Naqvi in Jhang. Allama Baqir Naqvi had migrated from Iraq to spread Shia formal education in Pakistan. Since (the First Biggest prominent Shia scholar in Pakistan Ustad ul ulama)Grand Ayatollah Allama Syed Muhammad Yar Shah naqvi Najfi, the most prominent disciple of Allama Baqir Naqvi, had moved from his ancestral city Alipur to Jalalpur, Muhammad Hussain moved to Jalalpur to complete Dars-i-Nizami for the next five years. In 1953, he passed the examination of Molvi Fazil from Punjab University, and moved to Najaf in 1954 for higher education.[1][5]
Before going to Najaf for higher religious education, he was married to his maternal cousin in 1952. His teacher Allama Yar Shah had links with ulema of Najaf, and he wanted Muhammad Hussain to get married in a scholarly family of Najaf, but Muhammad Hussain declined this proposal due to cultural differences.[6] In 1954, his only son Muhammad Sibtain was born. At the age of five, he got seriously ill and died, as Muhammad Hussain did not have enough money for his treatment. (Muhammad Hussain used to spend his stipend money on household and buying books.) [7] After Sibtain's death, Ayatollah Najafi did not have children for next eleven years. He married the daughter of Haji Muhammad Shafi (Faisalabad) in 1970. He had three daughters from this marriage. His first wife died in 1996.[1][8]
In 1954, he moved to Hawza Elmiye Najaf to finalize his religious education . He attended the lectures of the following marjas:
In an interview to the Hawza Elmiye Qom's monthly magazine "Hawza", he was asked:
He wrote the following books during his stay at Najaf:
Grand Ayatollah Bazurg Tehrani has mentioned these books in his famous book Az-Zariya ila Tasaneef ush-Shia (A list of Shia Books) (Read online),[15][16] and Aalulbayt Global information Center has mentioned these books in their Musannifat-ush-Shia (Shia Books) (Read here, and here).[17][18] Najafi is fluent in Arabic, Persian, Punjabi and Urdu languages.
He received ijazah's of ijtihad from following marjas of Hawza Elmiye Najaf, in 1960 AD (1379 AH):
He published his Tawzih ul Masail named "Qawaneen ush-Sharia fi Fiqh-e-Jafariya" in 1980 AD (1400 AH). He is being followed by a number of Shia Muslims in matters of fiqh from Pakistan and abroad.[12][21]
After returning to Pakistan in 1960, Pir Fazal Shah (Parhezgar) asked him to become the principal of Dar-ul-Uloom Muhammadia, Sargodha, which he eagerly accepted.[22]
In 1971, due to increased involvement in majalis and Shia political movements it became impossible for him to run the affairs of Dar-ul-Uloom Muhammadia, therefore he stepped down from this post.[23]
In 1963, the principals of Shia madrasahs from all over Pakistan gathered in Karbala Gamey Shah, Lahore, and founded Tanzeeme Madarise Arabia Shia Pakistan (Organization of Shia Madrasahs of Pakistan). Ayatollah Najafi was elected its president.
In 1965, a high-level organization of Shia ulema Mautamar Ulemae Shia Pakistan (Conference of Shia Ulema of Pakistan) was formed with Ayatollah Najafi as its president. and Mufti Jafar Hussain as its patron. Other members included Allama Gulab Ali Shah, Allama Akhtar Abbas, Allama Hussain Bakhsh Jarra, Hafiz Saifullah Jafari, Allama Syed Safdar Hussain Najafi, Mufti Inayat Ali Shah, Allama Muhib Hussain, Allama Riaz Hussain Najafi and Allama Ghulam Hassan Jarra.[24]
In 1964, Ayatollah Muhammad Hussain Najafi played a pivotal role in gathering about 250 Shia ulema and leaders in Imam Bargah Rizvia, Karachi, where "Shia Mutalbat Committee" was formed with Syed Muhammad Dehlavi as its president.
In 1978, after Zia ul Haq's announcement of promulgating Hanafi fiqh, Shia ulema and leaders gathered in Bhakkar and founded Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafaria (later called Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan) with Mufti Jafar Hussain as its president. Ayatollah Najafi was a part of this organization's supreme council. After Mufti Jafar's demise, it was upon Ayatollah Najafi's recommendation that Allama Arif Hussain Hussaini was elected the new president of the organization.[25]
In 1978, Raja Mumtaz Ali Khan gifted 3-acre (12,000 m2) land to Ayatollah Najafi for madrasah, on which Jamia Ilmia Sultan ul-Madaris al-Islamia was constructed.
In 2004, he founded Jamia Aqeela bani Hashim for the religious education of women.
He is also the patron of the following madrasahs:
After the publication of "Tajalliat-e-Sadaqat", which was written in response to the anti-Shia book "Aftab-e-Hidayat", his family library was set ablaze by the opposite sect in Muharram 1983. He was in Quetta for reciting majalis of Muharram.[1][27][28]
On the invitation of the Iranian Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he attended the 17th Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, Iran in May 2004.
He also visited Hawza Elmiye Qom, where he had meetings with Ayatollah Morteza Moghtadai, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Noori Hamedani and Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi. He was interviewed by the state television and the Hawza Elmiye Qom's official magazine Hawza.
On the invitation of the Iranian Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he attended the 21st Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, Iran in May 2008, along with Allama Sajid Naqvi, Shaikh Mohsin Najafi, Hafiz Riaz Hussain Najafi and Maulana Sami ul Haq.
He also visited Hawza Elmiye Qom, where he had meetings with Ayatollah Jafar Subhani, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Shahroudi, Grand Ayatollah Mousa Shubairi Zanjani, Grand Ayatollah Qorban Ali Kaboli, Ayatollah Ahmed Mobalighi and Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi. (Watch Online) He also addressed a gathering arranged in memory of Shaikh Aktar Abbas Najafi and Shaheed Ghulam Hussain Najafi in Madrasah Hojatieh, Hawza Elmiye Qom. (Watch Online)
For past thirty years, he has been addressing majalis in almost all parts of Punjab, Pakistan. For the last five years he has been addressing majalis in Imambargah Shah Gardez, Multan where all the major Shia ulema address majalis before him, including Allama Akhter Abbas Naseem, Principal of Madrasah Jamia tus-Saqlain, Multan. Last year the famous Ayatollah Syed Aqeel-ul-Gharavi also addressed majalis at the same place.
He has also been addressing post-Muharram majalis in Islamabad and Birmingham, England for many years. (Watch 2009 Birmingham Majalis online) [29]
After his majalis, questions pertaining to fiqh, aqaid and tafsir are put before him from the gathering. He gives answers to these questions with references from Quran and Hadith of The Fourteen Infallibles. At certain occasions, these Q&A sessions have spanned hours.[29]
It is a 10-volume comprehensive Tafsir of Quran.[30][31]
It is the Urdu translation of the great Shia book of Hadith Wasael ush-Shia by Shaikh al-Hur al-Aamili. 13 volumes out of 20 have been published.[30][32]
It is the Urdu translation & explanation of Shaikh al-Hur al-Aamili's book on Hadith Qudsi.[33]
It is a 2-volume Urdu translation & explanation of Sheikh Saduq's famous Risala "Al-Aqaid". It contains all the Shia beliefs, and their truthfulness in the light of Quran and Hadith. (Read online)[30][34]
This book discusses the beliefs of Ghali's, Tafwizi's and Shaykhi's (which they have spread in the name of Shia Islam), and negates them in the light of Quran and Hadith. (Read online)[30][35]
It is the Urdu translation & explanation of Allama Majlisi's "Risala tul-Lailia". (Read online)[30][36]
It is a 2-volume fiqhi book, covering all the aspects of human life according to Jafari Jurisprudence, including the modern human issues. The superiority of Jafari Jurisprudence over other Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence has been proved in the light of Quran and Hadith. (Read online)[30][37]
It is an abridged version of Qawaneen ush-Sharia.[38]
This book discusses the hurmat of ghina in Islamic Sharia.
This book discusses the hurmat of shaving beard in Islamic Sharia.
It is a book proving that Juma Prayers are wajib even in Imam Mahdi's Ghaibat. It was published by Syed Muhammad Dehlavi in Karachi.[38]
Ayatollah Najafi translated Mafatih al-Janan during his stay at Najaf, but did not publish it as another translation was published from Lahore.
Grand Ayatollah Bazurg Tehrani has mentioned it in his famous book "Az-Zariya ila Tasaneef ush-Shia" (A list of Shia Books), and Grand Ayatollah Hussaini in his book "Ziyarat".[39][40]
It is a collection of supplications from reliable Shia books.[30][39]
It is a comprehensive account of the Battle of Karbala in 61 AH and the tragic martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, all narrated from reliable sources only. (Read online) [30][41]
Ayatollah Najafi translated Allama Noori's famous book Lu'lu wal Marjan during his stay at Najaf, but did not publish it as another translation "Jawahir ul-Bayan" was published from Sargodha.
Grand Ayatollah Bazurg Tehrani has mentioned it in his famous book "Az-Zariya ila Tasaneef ush-Shia" (A list of Shia Books), and has written that its foreword about hurmat of ghina is indeed useful.[14][40]
It contains biographies of the five martyr Shia ulema:
It is a book on the issue of Khilafat & Imamat, and establishes that Imam Ali was the true successor to the Prophet. (Read online)
Grand Ayatollah Bazurg Tehrani has mentioned it in his famous book "Az-Zariya ila Tasaneef ush-Shia" (A list of Shia Books).[30][36][40][43]
It is a book presenting extensive research from both the Shia & Sunni books of Hadith, as regards the truthfulness of Hadith of the two weighty things (Hadis as-Saqlain). (Read online)
Grand Ayatollah Bazurg Tehrani has mentioned it in his famous book "Az-Zariya ila Tasaneef ush-Shia" (A list of Shia Books).[30][36][40]
It is a 2-volume book in response to the anti-Shia book "Aftab-e-Hidayat" by Maulvi Karam Deen. (Read online)[30][44]
It is the book in response to the anti-Shia risala "Mazhab ush-Shia" by Pir Siyyalvi.[30]
This book proves Khatme Nabuwwat (i.e. Prophethood has come to an end after Muhammad.)
Ayatollah Najafi translated Shaheed-e-Sani's famous book Munia tul-Murid during his stay at Najaf, but did not publish it as another translation by Mufti Inayat Ali Shah was published.
Grand Ayatollah Bazurg Tehrani has mentioned it in his famous book "Az-Zariya ila Tasaneef ush-Shia" (A list of Shia Books).[40][42]
This book discuss the wrong customs associated with majlis of Imam Hussain, and how to correct them.
It is a comprehensive book discussing all the bid‘ah's and false customs in Islamic society, and how to correct them. (Read online)[30][45]