Iranian Shia marja' (born 1942)
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq al-Hussayni al-Shirazi (; ; born August 20, 1942) is an Iraqi-born Iranian Shia marja'.
He hails from an influential transnational clerical family, and is the younger brother of Muhammad al-Shirazi, and considered his successor.
Early life and education.
al-Shirazi was born in Karbala to Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi, a grand ayatollah, and Halima al-Shirazi. Both of his parents are from the distinguished clerical al-Shirazi family that emigrated from Shiraz to Karbala in the 19th century. All of his brothers are clerics, and Muhamamad al-Shirazi is a marja'. His mother is the great-granddaughter of Mirza Shirazi, the pioneer of the Tobacco Movement. His nephew, Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi is also a marja'.
Education.
He began his religious education in Karbala, under his father and older brothers Muhammad and Hasan. After completing his primary education, he studied under Sayyid Muhammad-Hadi al-Milani, Sheikh Muhammad-Ridha al-Isfahani, Sheikh Muhammad al-Shahroudi, Sheikh Muhammad al-Karbassi, Sheikh Jafar al-Rashti and Sheikh Muhammad-Husayn al-Mazindarani.
In 1971, he was exiled from Iraq by the Baathist regime. He settled in Kuwait for a while with his older brother, Muhammad. Him and his family then migrated to Iran, after the Islamic revolution. He resumed classes under his brother, until he gained ijtihad, and began his own classes. He has been residing in Qom ever since he moved in 1980.
Marja'iyya.
After his brother, Muhammad passed away in 2001, he succeeded him as marja'.
al-Shirazi believes not against the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist in principle, but opposes how the supreme leaders have carried out the concept by concentrating all state control in a single jurist who is virtually impossible to remove from power.
Clashes with Iranian Government.
al-Shirazi's marja'iyya was relatively quieter than his late brothers. However, after the emergence of controversial Kuwaiti cleric, Yasser al-Habib, and his claimed affiliation with al-Shirazi–al-Shirazi's marja'iyya was placed under scrutiny. Iranian hardliner and Khamenei’s official representative to UK, Mohsen Araki, has accused al-Shirazi of “receiving funds from Britain and Saudi Arabia”, and is “aggravated” by al-Shirazi's efforts for the al-Askari shrine on the last Friday of Ramadan, instead of supporting or rallying for Khomeini’s Quds day.
al-Shirazi has never denied anyone's self-proclaimed affiliations to him, but has announced that no person or body represents him, other than Marjayeat TV, which represents his official opinion. Most accusations made against al-Shirazi are a result of his independence and criticism of Iran's ruling establishment.
al-Shirazi's followers form the Shia majority in Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar, an activist and proponent of sectarian reconciliation.
Length of fasts.
In the Summer, fasts in some countries become extremely long, because the day light hours are extended. Hence, there has been an increased discussion on whether there is a maximum length of a fast, including many schools banning fasting for children. al-Shirazi holds a distinguished ruling to this, where his rationale is to change the length of the fast to a maximum of what is "normal" and there is no need to repeat the fast.
His view is a minority ruling, only shared by Sheikh Nasser Makarim Shirazi (in a slightly different version) and a few other jurists. al-Shirazi believes a maximum of 17.5 hour fast from Fajr (and minimum of 6 hours fast which might apply in some northern areas in winter). This is based on an interpretation of what the "urf" (common) is, and understanding the terms "layl" (night) and "nahar" (day) when fasting is referred to in the Quran and Hadith, i.e. what a normal person would understand when hearing these words. Therefore, fasting in extreme temperatures for extreme lengths of time is not what is understood by the "urf" when the verses are read. Proponents of this view, say that the "urf" would expect that fasting is what is "mu'tadil" (normal) i.e. say 17.5 hours. He explicitly says that this is due to the understanding of the words above, not due to "la haraj" (principle that states no Islamic law can be the cause of extreme hardship) i.e. even if it does not cause difficulty, you are still required to fast a maximum of 17.5 hours
The consequence of the viewpoint of al-Shirazi (as well as Makarim Shirazi) is that if the fast is longer than 17.5 hours, you should revert to times with "mu'tadil" lengths of day e.g. Mecca or Karbala which could be 14–16 hours.
Works.
al-Shirazi has published numerous books on jurisprudence and principles of jurisprudence. Some of them include:
Personal life.
Sadiq al-Shirazi is married and has four sons (Ali, Hussein, Ahmed and Jafar). His sons are all clerics. His son Hussein plays a key role in running al-Shirazi's office. He spreads his father's teachings, on a number of media outlet platforms including four satellite channels.
On March 6, 2018, his son, Hussein was arrested reportedly by the IRGC as he appeared at the Special Clerical Court. He was prosecuted after a lecture comparing Iran's government—the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist ("velayat-e faqih")—to a regime of "pharaohs". His arrest fuelled debates on whether Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei should be able to claim divine sanction for unlimited state powers. Protests against his arrest were held at the Iranian consulate in Karbala, Basra and Najaf, Kuwait City and Iran's embassies in Baghdad and London. He was released on bail on March 18.
On August 11, 2024, it was reported that his eldest son, Ali, had died in Qom due to “a terminal illness”.
References.
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External links.
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