Mohammed Kadhim al-Modarresi

Al-Modarresi was born into a distinguished religious Shia family in Mashhad in Iran. His father was Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Jawad al-Modarresi, the son of grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Baqir Golpayegani (also known as Jorfadiqani).{{Cite book|last=al-Tehrani|first=Agha Buzurg|url=http://alfeker.net/library.php?id=3324|title=Tabaqat A'lam al-Shia; al-Kiram al-Barara Fi al-Qarn al-Thalith Ashar|publisher=Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi|year=2009|volume=10|location=Cairo, Egypt|pages=165|trans-title=Levels of the Notables of the Shia (13th Century)}} His mother was the daughter of Ayatollah Sheikh Ali Akbar Morvarid. He claims descent from Zayd ibn Ali (died c. 740 AD), the great-great-grandson of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.{{Cite book|last=Ṭuʻmah|first=Salmān Hādī|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L3ltAAAAMAAJ|title=Asha'er Karbala Wa 'Usariha|publisher=Dar al-Mahaja al-Baydha'|year=1998|location=Beirut, Lebanon|pages=197–8|language=ar|trans-title=Tribes and Families of Karbala}}

Al-Modarresi studied and graduated from the religious seminaries of Mashhad. One of al-Modarresi's main teachers was Mirza Mahdi al-Isfahani (d. 1945), the founding father of the tafkiki school of jurisprudence in its new manifestation. Tafkik–as described by Muhammad-Reza Hakimi–"comprises the belief that the truths about religion and the correct knowledge of it are the ones stated in the Quran and have been taught by the Prophet and afterwards by his appointed successors, who have inherited his knowledge." al-Modarresi was a firm believer that acquiring knowledge by other ways than the way shown by the Ahl al-Bayt is tantamount to denying them, i.e. disbelief.{{Cite book|last=Hakimi|first=Mohammad Reza|title=Muslim's Knowledge|publisher=Alulbayt Organization|year=2014|isbn=978-1496063236|pages=186–7}}

In the 1940s, he emigrated to Najaf with his father, who later died and was buried there. After his father passed away, he moved to Karbala, and joined the religious seminary as a teacher. As well as other sciences, he specialised in teaching the methodologies of al-Isfahani in jurisprudence.

By 1970, due to the rising pressures of the Baathist anti-Shia sentiment, al-Modarresi left for Kuwait with his family.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-03-20/saddam-husseins-legacy-sectarian-division-iraq|title=Saddam Hussein's legacy of sectarian division in Iraq|website=Public Radio International|language=en|access-date=2020-01-15}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/iraqs-oppressed-majority-95250996/|title=Iraq's Oppressed Majority|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-01-15}} After the Iranian revolution, al-Modarresi relocated to Qom. Over there he established a library, and one of the most interesting books in his collection was a hand-written copy of Nahj al-Balagha, written by Muhammad bin Ali al-Hamdani in October, 1179.{{Cite web|url=http://arabic.balaghah.net/content/%D9%81%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%B3-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AE-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%86%D9%87%D8%AC-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9|title=Fahras Ba'dh al-Nusakh al-Khattiya Min Nahj al-Balagha al-Mowjooda Fi Ba'dh al-Maktabat al-'Ama|website=Balagha Network|trans-title=Glossary of some of the handwritten copies of Nahj al-Balagha currently present in public libraries.|access-date=2020-04-02}}

Some of his most notable students included:

• Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi al-Modarresi (his son)
• Sheikh Jawad al-Mothafar{{Cite web|title=A'lam al-Najaf|trans-title=Prominent Figures of Najaf|url=http://www.haydarya.com/?id=1107&sid=31|access-date=2020-04-01|website=Maktabat al-Rawdha al-Haydariya|language=ar}}
• Sheikh Baqir al-Irawani (recorded al-Modarresi's death in a chronogrammatic poem.){{Cite book|last=al-Muhtadi|first=Abd al-Atheem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PjWAAAAMAAJ|title=Qusas Wa Khawatir - Min Akhlaqiyat 'Ulama' al-Din|publisher=Mu'asasat al-Balagh|year=2009|location=Beirut, Lebanon|pages=581|trans-title=Stories and Memories - From the Manners of the Scholars}}

Al-Modarresi married the daughter of grand Ayatollah Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi in Karbala.{{Cite book|last=Louër|first=Laurence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8wnEtH8oDgC|title=Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf|date=2011|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-84904-214-7|pages=93|language=en}} He had three daughters, and seven sons, whom are all clerics.

They are:

• Muhammad-Taqi is a marja'. He resides in Karbala.
• Hadi is a mujtahid and Islamic intellectual. He resides in Qom.
• Hussain is a mujtahid. He resides in Qom.
• Abbas is a mujtahid and poet. He resides in Karbala.
• Ali-Akbar is an alim and educator. He resides in Mashhad.
• Ali-Asghar is an alim and orator. He resides in Sydney.
• Muhammad-Baqir is an alim and orator. He resides in Mashhad.

His sons-in-law were, Faeq Alkazemi, the son of Kuwaiti businessman Zaid Alkazemi; Sayyid Husayn al-Radhawi, the son of Sayyid Sajjad al-Radhawi; and Bahraini scholar, Sayyid Mahmud al-Musawi al-Bahrani.

Al-Modarresi died of heart failure in the early hours of April 5, 1994 in Tehran, whilst he was performing Fajr prayer.{{Cite book|last=al-Muhtadi|first=Abd al-Atheem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PjWAAAAMAAJ|title=Qusas Wa Khawatir - Min Akhlaqiyat 'Ulama' al-Din|publisher=Mu'asasat al-Balagh|year=2009|location=Beirut, Lebanon|pages=577|trans-title=Stories and Memories - From the Manners of the Scholars}}

The night before, his son-in-law narrated that he overheard al-Modarresi talking to himself, saying: "O' Kadhim, enough of this life, do not worry. This is the path that the others have taken. O' Kadhim this is your final night. Strengthen your faith in Allah and do not be fearful."{{Cite web|url=https://www.alkawthartv.com/news/121729|title=La Takhaf Inahu al-Tariq|website=al-Kawthar TV|language=ar|trans-title=Do not fear, it is the way!|access-date=2020-04-01}}

He was buried in the courtyard of Fatima Masumeh in Qom, in room no. 41, near the grave of Sheikh Fazlollah Nuri.{{Cite book|last1=Merali|first1=Abbas|url=http://www.iranziarat.com/downloads/lives_of_the_ulemas_buried_.pdf|title=Short Accounts of the Lives of Various Ulema buried in the Holy City of Qom|last2=Merali|first2=Shaheen|publisher=Iran Ziarat|year=2005|location=Qom, Iran|language=en}}

Al-Modarresi authored one of the leading books on the tafkiki school of jurisprudence named Buhuth Fi al-Ilm (Research in Knowledge).

• Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi
• Mohammed Taqi al-Modarresi
• Hadi al-Modarresi
• Ali Akbar al-Modarresi
• Mahdi al-Modarresi

Category:1912 births

Category:1994 deaths

Category:Iranian ayatollahs

Category:Iraqi ayatollahs

Category:Husaynids