Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khoei (; ; November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992) was a major Iranian-Iraqi Shia marja who lead the dean of the Hawza of Najaf. Khoei was widely considered the most influential Twelver Shia Muslim scholar of his time.

After the death of Muhsin al-Hakim in 1970, he became the spiritual leader of much of the Shia world until his death in 1992. He was succeeded briefly by Abd al-A'la al-Sabziwari, until his death in 1993, after which his former student Ali al-Sistani, under the direction of Taqi al-Khoei, took leadership of the seminary, whereby many of his followers became followers of Sistani.

Biography

Early life

Khoei was born to Shaykh Ali Akbar al-Musawi al-Khoei, a Sayyid of Iranian Azerbaijani origin, in the northern Iranian city of Khoy, West Azerbaijan in 1899. Khoei grew up in Qajar Iran. Around the age of 13, he and his family moved to Iraq along with his older brother Abdullah, and took up residence in the holy city of Najaf, where he began studying Shia theology at the Hawza al-Ilmiyya, under Muhsin al-Hakim and Agha Zia ol Din Araghi.

Scholastic career

In Iraq, he received his first Ijazah 8 years later from Muhammad Hussain al-Naini at the age of 21, however he went on to further his studies at Isfahan Seminary, continuing researching for his risalah another 11 years.

At Isfahan, he went on to receive Ijazat from Muhammad Husayn Qaravi and Fethullah Isfahani among others, later attaining the rank of a qualified Jurist in 1933 at age 32, becoming a Marja shortly after having started teaching the Bahath al-Kharij. Khoei then continued to live in Najaf, becoming a teacher for the remainder of his life, and overseeing the studies of scholars who would be qualified to issue fatwas based on Shia jurisprudence.

Due to his prominent position as a teacher and scholar in Najaf, he became an important leader of worldwide Shias. He was made the most prominent Grand Ayatollah in 1971 after the death of Muhsin al-Hakim. In this position, he became a patron of numerous institutions across the globe that sought to provide welfare, and also provided scholarships to theological students from across the Muslim world.

He is considered as the architect of a distinct school of thought in the principles of jurisprudence and Islamic law, and one of the leading exponents of kalam (philosophy) and rijal (biography), fiqh (jurisprudence), and tafseer (exegesis). His scholastic rigor is exemplified by his 24 volume critical rijal work on The Four Books entitled Mu'jam Rijal Al-Hadith, which was a first for its time, and is generally considered to be his magnum opus. The work stirred up much controversy, for weakening many narrators relied on by scholars such as Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, such as Mufaddhal ibn Umar, Ali ibn Al-Hussein ibn Shazawayh, al-Mo’addib, Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Masroor, Jabir ibn Yazid and more. This tradition of writing Mu'jamat however, was only continued by one student of his, Grand Ayatollah Asif Mohseni, who wrote Mu'jam al-Ahadith al-Mu'tabara, and Mashra'a Bihar al-Anwar, which although being a commentary, employs al-Khoei's same methodology.

Final years

Khoei's status as the pre-eminent scholar of his age did not go unchallenged. In the 1970s, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Shirazi, a radical theologian based in Karbala had a long-running feud with Al Khoei and his fellow clerics in Najaf over the legitimacy of theocratic rule, stemming from Khoei's close relationship with Ruhollah Khomeini, which he maintained despite being a quietist. The dispute resulted in Khoei seeking to dismiss Al Shirazi's status as a reliable religious scholar.

After the Persian Gulf War, Khoei was arrested by Saddam Hussein during the mass Shia uprising that followed the defeat of Iraqi forces. While under arrest, he was taken to Baghdad and made public appearances with Saddam Hussein. Hussein eventually allowed Khoei to return to Najaf, but remained under house arrest. Khoei died on 8 August 1992 in Najaf, at the age of 92. His funeral prayer was led by his student Ali Sistani. He was buried in the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf. The degree of success of his articulation of moderate Shia politics in Iraq have been said to be "in no small part traceable to the legacy of his mentor and teacher", Khoei.

Significant students of Khoei include Muhammad-Sadiq Rohani, Hossein Wahid Khorasani, Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Jawad Tabrizi, Kamal al-Haydari, Bashir al-Najafi, Mohammad Jamil Hammoud al-Amili and Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim.

Works

thumb|alt=Islamic cleric with Saddam Hussein|Ayatollah Khoei is brought in front of [[Saddam Hussein after Shia uprisings in 1991.]]

Khoei wrote about various topics, ranging from Islamic jurisprudence to mathematics and astronomy, having been known as a prolific writer in those disciplines. He wrote 37 books and treatises, most of which have been published. His works include:

  • Lectures in the Principles of Jurisprudence – 10 volumes
  • Mu'jam Rijal al-Hadith – 24 volumes
  • Islamic Law – 18 volumes
  • Al-Bayan Fi Tafsir al-Quran (The Elucidation of the Exegesis of The Qur'an and sometimes entitled The Prolegomena to the Quran)
  • Minhaju-us-Saliheen (The Path of the Righteous) – 2 volumes, reprinted 78 times (guide book on religious practice and law)
  • Anthology of Religious Questions – Concise version of the Path of the Righteous – in Arabic, Urdu, Persian, English, Turkish, Thai, Malay, Indonesian, and Gujarati
  • Mabani al-Istinbat (Edifices of Deduction) Principles of Jurisprudence
  • Ajwad-at-Taqrirat (The Best of Regulations) Principles of Jurisprudence
  • Sharh-el-Urwatul-Wuthqa (Commentary on The Steadfast Handle) – Jurisprudence
  • Treatise on Suspected Attire – Risala fil Libas Al-Mashkok, Evidential Jurisprudence
  • Nafahat-ul Ijaz (The Fragrance of Miracles), in defence of the Qur'an

Internet

  • Imam Khoei Benevolent Foundation

Political impact

Though the two shared an amicable formal relationship, Khoei was well-established as a competing Marja to Ruhollah Khomeini, starting from when the two both lived in Najaf. Khoei dismissed Khomeini's theory that Velayat-e faqih as the sole basis for Islamic Government, and according to Vali Nasr was even quoted as having called it a "bogus innovation." Nasr also argues that Khoei's importance in limiting the reach of Khomeini's ideas "is often underrated and unrecognized".

Although enthusiasm was passionate in the Shi'i world for the Iranian Revolution in its early years, Khoei championed the quietist position and "kept alive" the tradition of Shia thought "that accords more leeway to the idea of distinguishing between religious and political authority" and did so until enthusiasm for Islamist rule had lost much of its "allure" among Shia in Iraq.

  • Abd al-Majid. He emigrated from Iraq soon after the Shaban uprising and left for London. He became the secretary-general of the Foundation after his brother, Muhammad-Taqi's death. Soon after the fall of Baghdad to US forces in 2003, he returned to Iraq with plans to revive Najaf to the glory and splendour it enjoyed under the patronage of his father. However, he was assassinated on April 10, 2003, near the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf.