Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Hasan al-Musawi al-Isfahani (Arabic: أبوالحسن الموسوي الأصفهاني; 1861–November 4, 1946) was an Iranian-Iraqi Shia marja'.[1]
| Background: |
|
| Abu al-Hasan al-Isfahani | |
| Religion: | Islam |
| Location: | Najaf, Iraq |
| Grand Ayatollah | |
| Period: | 1937–1946 |
| Predecessor: | Muhammad Hossein Naini |
| Successor: | Hossein Borujerdi |
| Post: | Grand Ayatollah |
| Birth Place: | Isfahan, Sublime State of Persia |
| Death Place: | Kadhimiya, Kingdom of Iraq |
| Honorific Prefix: | Grand Ayatollah Sayyid |
| Native Name: | Arabic: أبوالحسن الموسوي الأصفهاني |
| Madh'hab: | Twelver Shia Islam |
al-Isfahani became the leading marja' of the Shia world after the death of Muhammad-Hussein al-Naini.
al-Isfahani was born in Madiseh to Sayyid Muhammad al-Isfahani, a renowned alim of Isfahan.
He passed his preliminary training in Nimarud School in Isfahan and traveled to Najaf in 1890. He joined the lessons of Akhund Khorasani, who soon recognized the talents of his disciple. al-Isfahani received his degree of Ijtihad from Khorasani. After the death of his contemporary scholar, Ayatollah Mirza Hussein Naini, he became as sole Marja' for most of Shia Muslims. Isfahani was banished to Iran for protecting Iraqi Muslims against colonial policies. Also, he had a strong position towards the incidents of the Goharshad Mosque in Mashhad.[2] [3]
al-Isfahani had a grandson named Musa al-Musawi who studied with him for 17 years, Musa al-Musawi was a renowned academic and philosopher, he wrote a revisionist text on Shia Islam where he sought to purify schism from innovation and bring it closer to the majority of Muslims.
In Fiqh, Wasila al-Naja which due to its comprehensive nature, has been elucidated by many Fuqaha including Ruhollah Khomeini.
He died in Kadhimiya in 1946.