Authors
Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad-Taqi Modarresi
Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad-Taqi Modarresi was born in 1945 in Karbala into a family deeply rooted in scholarship and religious leadership. He received his education in various fields, including jurisprudence (fiqh) and theology, and became a prominent Islamic scholar. His method blends reason, revelation, and contemporary issues. He has written numerous books, particularly in Quranic interpretation, Islamic law, and philosophy. Throughout his life, he focused on Islamic reform and education, establishing schools, media outlets, and religious centers worldwide. His teachings and works have had a significant influence on Islamic thought and practice, particularly in the Arab and Islamic world.
Shaykh Abdul Karim Al-Haeri
Shaykh Abdul Karim Al-Haeri was born in 1964 in Karbala, Iraq, into a religious family known for its piety and scholarship. He began his studies in Karbala and later moved to Iran, enrolling in the Qom Seminary in 1980. Shaykh Al-Haeri studied under renowned scholars, including Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Shirazi and Ayatollah Sheikh Ahmad Bayani. He received Ijtihad certificates from prominent figures like Ayatollah Musa Shubayri Zanjani, Ayatollah Sheikh Nouri Hamadani, and others. He has been teaching in the Qom Seminary since 2002 and is recognized for his scholarly expertise, humility, and teaching abilities in Islamic jurisprudence, hadith, and narratology.
Ayatollah Ja’far Subhani
The esteemed scholar, Ayatollah Ja’far Subhani, was born in 1929 in Tabriz into a family of knowledge, piety, and virtue. Among his most important contributions are the establishment of the Maktab-e-Islami journal, his participation in drafting the Constitution, the foundation of thematic interpretation of the Quran, the founding of the Imam Sadiq Institute, and his efforts in combating Wahhabism. He studied under prominent scholars such as Ayatollah Borujerdi, Ayatollah Kouhkamari, and Ayatollah Khomeini. Ayatollah Subhani has written numerous works in various religious fields, including exegesis, hadith, jurisprudence, principles of jurisprudence, theology, history, philosophy, the study of religions and sects, rijal (biographies), and literary sciences, as well as defending Shiism and critiquing Wahhabism.
Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Shirazi
Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Shirazi, one of the prominent Shia religious authorities and a scholar at the Qom Seminary, was born in 1928 in Najaf. Throughout his blessed life, he contributed significantly to the spread of Islamic knowledge, establishing dozens of schools, mosques, Hussainiyas, libraries, publishing houses, loan funds, and clinics. Ayatollah Shirazi left behind numerous works in various fields of Islamic sciences, including jurisprudence, principles of jurisprudence, exegesis, and theology. He passed away in 2001 in Qom, leaving behind a profound scholarly and cultural legacy.
Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Ridha Shirazi
Ayatollah Seyed Mohammadreza Shirazi was born in 1959 in Karbala. He was the eldest son of Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Hossein Shirazi and the first grandson of Ayatollah Seyed Mirza Mahdi Shirazi. He began his religious studies in Karbala and later continued in Kuwait and Qom, studying under prominent scholars. He was granted Ijtihad in 1986 and taught various religious subjects, including Fiqh, Usul, Tafseer, and Ethics. Ayatollah Shirazi passed away in 2008 in Qom and was buried in the shrine of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) in Karbala. He authored several works on Islamic thought and jurisprudence.
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hosseini Milani
Ayatollah Haj Seyed Ali Hosseini Milani, born in 1948 in Najaf, comes from a distinguished scholarly family. He studied in Karbala, Najaf, Qom, and Mashhad under prominent scholars, including Ayatollah Mousavi Golpaygani and Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani. He now teaches advanced Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and principles (usul) at the Qom Seminary and has specialized in Islamic theology. Throughout his career, he has authored numerous works in Islamic studies, which have been translated into 12 languages. His wide-reaching translations have helped spread his knowledge and influence in Islamic theology globally.
Mahdi Nasiri
Mahdi Nasiri was born in 1963 in the city of Damghan, Iran. He began his religious studies in 1975 at the Damghan Seminary, where he learned under his father, a scholar who had studied at the Najaf Seminary and achieved the rank of Ijtihad, as well as other scholars in the region. In 1979, he moved to Qom to continue his education at the Qom Seminary, where he pursued advanced studies until 1987. During this time, he also taught literature and logic at the Resalat Seminary. Mahdi Nasiri has authored numerous books and articles in the field of Islamic sciences.
Shaykh Mateen J. Charbonneau
Joshua Charbonneau is an American Muslim. He was born in 1982 in Sumter, South Carolina. He is of French Canadian and American descent. He was born into a Christian family, and later chose to revert to Shi’a Islam at the age of 17, having studied both faiths. After reverting to Islam he chose the name Mateen which in Arabic means strong, firm and unshakable. His first language is English and he also learned Quranic Arabic. At age 26 he moved to Washington, DC area and has been an active part of the Muslim community. Now he is still continuing higher studies.
Shaykh Saed Ali Kulayni
Shaykh Saed Ali Kulayni, originally from New York City, converted to Shia Islam during his teenage years. He studied at the Hawza I.M.A.M Institute for nine years, completing the first level and advancing further. He has served at various Islamic centers in the Atlanta area and as a teacher of Beliefs, Morals, and Islamic Law. He also led Friday prayers and worked as an Islamic School Principal in Tampa, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Shaykh Kulayni has lectured across the U.S. and Canada and published multiple articles on topics like Ijtehad, prayer practices, and Islamic principles.
Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Sadegh Hosseini Rohani
Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Sadegh Hosseini Rohani was born in 1926 in Qom, Iran. After completing his preliminary studies, he migrated to Najaf in 1936 to pursue advanced religious education. Upon finishing his studies, he returned to Iran in 1950 and began teaching jurisprudence (fiqh) and principles of Islamic law (usul al-fiqh) at the Qom Seminary. It is reported that he attained the rank of ijtihad at the age of 14, and his first advanced-level teaching (Dars Kharej) commenced in 1951.
Ayatollah Rohani authored 26 works in Arabic and 21 works in Persian, contributing significantly to Islamic scholarship. He passed away in 2022 in Qom.
Sayyid Ja'far Mortada al-Amili
Sayyid Ja’far Mortada al-Amili was a distinguished religious scholar, specialist in Islamic and Shia history, and biographer. Born in 1944 in the village of Aita al-Jabal, located 110 kilometers from Beirut, Lebanon, he began his foundational education at home under the guidance of his father, who was a teacher. In 1962, he traveled to Najaf to pursue formal religious studies, and in 1968, he migrated to Qom to continue his education.
Throughout his career, al-Amili conducted extensive research in various fields of Shia history and theology. He founded the “Montada” or “Jabal Amili Seminary,” and also taught master’s level students at Tarbiat Modares University. His contributions to Islamic scholarship were widely recognized. He passed away in Lebanon in 2019.