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Hossein Borujerdi

Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Hossein Ali Tabatabaei Borujerdi (Luri/Persian: آیت الله العظمی سید حسین طباطبایی بروجردی; 23 March 1875 – 30 March 1961) was a leading Iranian Shia Marja' in Iran from approximately 1947 to his death in 1961.[1]

Hossein Borujerdi

(1875-03-23)23 March 1875

30 March 1961(1961-03-30) (aged 86)

1937–1946

Life[edit]

Borujerdi was born on 23 March 1875 in the city of Borujerd in Lorestan Province in Iran. His family traced its lineage 30 generations to Hassan ibn Ali (the grandson of Muhammad).[2] His father Sayyid Ali Tabataba'i was a religious scholar in Borujerd and his mother, Sayyidah Agha Beygum, was the daughter of Sayyid Mohammad Ali Tabataba'i.

Personal life and education[edit]

Family[edit]

Borujerdi had two sons and three daughters from his first wife, all but one of whom died in childhood. The one who survived, died due to a difficult giving birth two years after marriage.


He had two sons and two daughters from his second wife (the daughter of Hajj Muhammad Ja'far Roughani Isfahani).


His third wife was his cousin, the daughter of Sayyid ‘Abd al-Wahid Tabataba'i.[15]


One of his sons, Sayyid Muhammad Hasan Tabataba'i Burujirdi, who was born in 1925 in Burujird, was in charge of writing the official verdicts of his father. He died in 1977 in Qom. [16]

Education and academic specialties[edit]

After entering elementary school at the age of seven, Sayyid Husayn's father realized his talent for learning and sent him to Nurbakhsh seminary in Borujerd. At the age of 11 he began his education at the theological schools of his city, under his father Sayed Ali. Then in 1310 (1892–93) he attended the theological school of Isfahan to continue his education. In the ten years that he studied in Isfahan, he completed his sutuh studies and was also granted the level of Ijtihad from his teachers, and began teaching Usul. Around the age of 30, Burujerdi moved from Isfahan to the theological seminary of Najaf, Iraq to continue his education. [5]


In his youth, Borujerdi studied under a number of Shia masters of fiqh such as Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Durchih'i, Mohammad-Kazem Khorasani and Aqa Zia Iraqi, and specialized in fiqh. He studied the fiqahat of all the Islamic schools of thought, not just his own, along with the science of rijal. Though he is known for citing Masumeen to support many of his deductions, Borujerdi is known for elucidating many aspects himself and is an influential fiqh jurist in his own right. He has had a strong influence on Islamic scholars like Morteza Motahhari and Hussein-Ali Montazeri.

Ruhollah Khomeini

Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani

Hossein Vahid Khorasani

Hussein-Ali Montazeri

Sayed Ali Khamenei

Sayyid Ali al-Sistani

Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani

Ali Safi Golpaygani

Mohammad Fazel Lankarani

Seyed Ali Mirlohi Falavarjani

Mousa Shubairi Zanjani

Karamatollah Malek-Hosseini

[17][18]

Muhammad Taha al-Huwayzi

List of Islamic studies scholars

Biography of Borujerdi