Ayatollah Sheikh Muhammad-Jawad al-Balaghi al-Najafi (Arabic: محمد جواد البلاغي النجفي; 1865 – December 10, 1933) was an Iraqi Shia religious authority, author, poet, and polemicist.[1] [2] [3]
| Honorific-Prefix: | Ayatollah Sheikh |
| Native Name: | Arabic: الشيخ محمد جواد البلاغي النجفي |
| Religion: | Islam |
| Jurisprudence: | Twelver Shia Islam |
| Background: |
|
| Resting Place: | Imam Ali Shrine |
| Death Place: | Najaf, Kingdom of Iraq |
| Birth Place: | Najaf, Baghdad Vilayet, Ottoman Empire |
| Muhammad-Jawad al-Balaghi | |
| Parents: | Sheikh Hassan al-Balaghi (father) |
It is reported that besides his native Arabic language, al-Balaghi was also well-versed in English, Hebrew and Persian.[4]
He was a prominent student of Mirza Muhammad-Taqi al-Shirazi, supporting him throughout the Iraqi revolt of 1920; and Muhammad-Kadhim al-Khurasani.
al-Balaghi was from the prominent religious al-Balaghi family. Their origins go back to the Rubeya clan of the tribal Arab Adnanite confederation. al-Balaghi's great ancestor, Sheikh Muhammad al-Balaghi immigrated to Karbala in 1457 to seek a religious education. The patriarch of the intellectual family was Sheikh Muhammad-Ali al-Balaghi who died in Karbala in 1592, who was a grand religious authority, and one of the disseminators of Usul al-Kafi. Later, Sheikh Muhammad-Ali's grandson, Sheikh Hassan al-Balaghi travelled to Najaf, and settled in 1693. al-Balaghi's lineage is as follows:[5] [6] [7] [8]
Muḥammad-Jawād bin Ḥassan bin Ṭalib bin ʿAbbās bin Ibrahīm bin Ḥusayn bin ʿAbbās II bin Ḥassan bin ʿAbbās I bin Muḥammad-ʿAli bin Ḥassan bin Muḥammad bin Balāgh bin Walī-Allāh bin Darwīsh [''leading to''] Asad bin Rabīʿa bin Nizar bin Maʿad bin ʿAdnan.
al-Balaghi was born to Sheikh Hassan al-Balaghi (d. 1882) in November 1865. He grew up in Najaf, and moved to Kadhimiya in 1888 to pursue a religious education.
Upon completing his muqadamat (introductory studies), he returned to Najaf in 1894. Whilst in Najaf he studied under scholars like Sheikh Muhammad-Kadhim al-Khurasani, Sheikh Muhammad-Taha Najaf, Sayyid Muhammad al-Hindi, and Muhammad-Hassan al-Mamaqani. He then travelled to Samarra in 1908, to study under Mirza Muhammad-Taqi al-Shirazi. He remained in Samarra for ten years studying in its seminary.
During the siege of Kut, Mirza Taqi travelled to Kadhimiya, who feared that Samarra could end up like Kut, and that way many from the religious sphere would die. al-Balaghi followed Mirza Taqi, and remained in Kadhimiya for two years. He then returned to Najaf in 1920 after his mentor was poisoned.
Some of al-Balaghi's most notable students included:
al-Balaghi enjoyed a library of publications, and wrote about many things include jurisprudence, principles of jurisprudence, Quranic exegesis, inter-faith matters. Some of his books included:
al-Balaghi married the daughter of Sayyid Musa al-Jazayeri al-Kadhimi in 1889, whilst he was in Kadhimiya. He only had daughters, and no sons.[9]
He died in the early hours of Friday December 3, 1933. He is buried in the third southern room of the west wing of the courtyard of the Imam Ali Shrine.