Ali Akbar al-Modarresi

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali-Akbar al-Husayni al-Modarresi (Persian: على أكبر حسينى مدرسى; Arabic: علي أكبر الحسيني المدرسي; b. 17 September 1957) is a Shia Iranian-Iraqi scholar and teacher. He is the brother of grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi al-Modarresi.^[4][1]

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali-Akbar al-Modarresi
السيد علي أكبر الحسيني المدرسي
Personal
Born	(1957-09-17) September 17, 1957 (age 67) Karbala, Iraq
Religion	Islam
Nationality	Iranian
Children	Muhammed-Ridha
Parent	Mohammed Kadhim al-Modarresi (father)
Denomination	Twelver Shīʿā
Relatives	Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi (grandfather) Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi (brother)[1] Hadi al-Modarresi (brother)[1] Muhammad al-Shirazi (maternal uncle)[2] Baqir al-Qazwini (father-in-law) Abd al-A'la al-Sabziwari (uncle-in-law)[3]
Senior posting
Students Nimr al-Nimr Mohammed Ridha al-Shirazi Rasheed al-Husayni

Al-Modarresi is a teacher at the religious seminary of Mashhad.

Family

Al-Modarresi was born into a distinguished Shia religious family in Karbala in Iraq. His father is Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Kadhim al-Modarresi,^[1] the grandson of grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Baqir Golpayegani (also known as Jorfadiqani).^[5] His mother is the daughter of grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mehdi al-Shirazi. He claims descent from Zayd ibn Ali (died c. 740 AD), the great-great-grandson of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.^[6]

Religious career

Al-Modarresi studied in the religious seminaries of Karbala, under his father, Sayyid Muhammad-Kadhim and brother Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi, as well as senior scholars such as Shaykh Muhammad-Husayn al-Mazindarani, Shaykh Jafar al-Rushti, and his maternal uncles Sayyid Muhammad al-Shirazi and Sayyid Hassan al-Shirazi.^[6] He emigrated to Kuwait with his older brothers in 1971, due to the Bathists anti-Shia sentiment.^[7][8] They settled there until 1979, after which they moved to Iran after the Islamic Revolution.^[9]

Al-Modarresi taught in al-Qaim seminary, which was established by his brother Muhammad-Taqi, in 1980, until it was closed down in 1990. He remained in Tehran whilst his brothers went to Syria,^[10] teaching in different religious seminaries, until he moved to Mashhad in 2014, and began teaching at its seminary, near the shrine of Imam al-Ridha.

During his time in al-Qaim, al-Modarresi taught distinguished Saudi activist Nimr al-Nimr and was considered as his mentor. He had a close relationship with him even after the closure of the seminary, until his execution in 2016.^[11][12] In al-Qaim, he also taught Sayyid Rasheed al-Husayni, a representative of grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, who appears on Iraqi state television and delivers the fatwas of al-Sistani.

Personal life

Al-Modarresi is married to the daughter of Sayyid Baqir al-Qazwini, and has seven children.^[13][1]

See also

• Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi
• Mohammed Taqi al-Modarresi
• Nimr al-Nimr

References

1. al-Muhtadi, Abd al-Atheem (2009). Qusas Wa Khawatir - Min Akhlaqiyat 'Ulama' al-Din [Stories and Memories - From the Manners of the Scholars]. Beirut, Lebanon: Mu'asasat al-Balagh. p. 581.
2. Louër, Laurence (2011). Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf. Hurst. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-84904-214-7.
3. al-Muhtadi, Abd al-Atheem (2009). Qusas Wa Khawatir - Min Akhlaqiyat 'Ulama' al-Din [Stories and Memories - From the Manners of the Scholars]. Beirut, Lebanon: Mu'asasat al-Balagh. p. 345.
4. Al-Shahroudi, Nurrudeen. Usrat al-Mujjadid al-Shirazi (in Arabic). p. 283.
5. al-Tehrani, Agha Buzurg (2009). Tabaqat A'lam al-Shia; al-Kiram al-Barara Fi al-Qarn al-Thalith Ashar [Levels of the Notables of the Shia (13th Century)]. Vol. 10. Cairo, Egypt: Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi. p. 165.
6. Ṭuʻmah, Salmān Hādī (1998). Asha'er Karbala Wa 'Usariha [Tribes and Families of Karbala] (in Arabic). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Mahaja al-Baydha'. pp. 197–8.
7. "Saddam Hussein's legacy of sectarian division in Iraq". Public Radio International. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
8. "Iraq's Oppressed Majority". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
9. al-Jibouri, Kamil Salman (2003). Mu'jam al-'Udaba' Min 'Asr al-Jahili Hata Sanat 2002 [Glossary of Scholars: From the Jahiliyyah to 2002 AD] (in Arabic). Vol. 5. Beirut, Lebanon: Daar al-Kitab al-'Ilmiya. pp. 180–1.
10. al-Lobad, Adil (2009). al-Inqilab, Bay' al-Qiyam 'Alal Thaat [Coups, Selling Morals For Ego] (in Arabic). Laila for Publishing & Distributing. pp. 339–40.
11. "al-Shaykh al-Nimr Shaheedan" [Shaykh Nimr is a martyr]. Imam Khomeini Cultural Foundation (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-03-16.
12. al-Modarresi, al-Sayyid Mehdi (2017-01-13). "أستاذ الحوزة العلمية المقدسة سماحة آية الله السيد علي أكبر المدرسي، ليس شخصية إعلامية، لكن يكفيه فضلاً أنه أحد أساتذة آية الله #الشهيد_النمرpic.twitter.com/TeaxSKVjzc" [Teacher at the holy seminary, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Akbar al-Modarresi, is not a media personality, but it is enough that he was one of the teachers of the martyr Ayatollah Nimr]. @TheSayed (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-03-16.
13. Ṭuʻmah, Salmān Hādī (2009). Mashahir al-Madfunin Fi Karbala [Famous Figures Buried In Karbala] (in Arabic). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Safwa. p. 109.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)