NAJAF

Batoota — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:30:05 +0000

NAJAF. A religious center of the Shi`is since the eighth century, Najaf is located in Iraq, south of Baghdad and 6 miles west of Kufa. It is the site of the mash-had of the first Shi’i imam, `Ali ibn Abli Talib, whose gravesite was revealed to the public in the early ‘Abbasid period by Ja’far al-Sadiq (d. 765) during one of his visits to Kufa. Under al-Sadiq and his disciples, Najaf also became heir to the Shi’i learning that had flourished in Kufa, where in the grand mosque, al-Sadiq’s hadiths (reports) were disseminated among some nine hundred teachers of traditions.

Holy shrine of Imam Ali (AS) in Najaf

Following the founding of Baghdad (754-775), a number of Shi’i scholars from Kufa migrated to this new capital. Some others chose the mashhad at Najaf as the base from which to teach and spread ShN traditions. Although Kufa retained its importance as the locus of Shi’i activities until fifteenth century, Najaf gradually replaced it. During this transition, Najafs mashhad and the madrasah (seminary) attached to it found much-needed patronage from Shi`i rulers. The ruler of Tabaristan, Muhammad ibn Zayd al-`Alawi (d. goo), ordered the construction of the dome and the Sufi zdwiyah (cells). The Buyid sultans added the arched halls and hospices that provided residence for the students who came to study in Najaf. During his visit to Najaf in 1336, Ibn Battutah noted the existence of a number of madrasahs, hospices, and Sufi convents attached to the shrine.
In the eleventh century, Shaykh al-Td’ifah al-Tusi (d. 1067), a great Shi`i scholar and leader of the community, migrated from Baghdad to Najaf and established his own school based on a text-oriented Shi’i curriculum. The present-day Shi`i mujtahids regard themselves as the intellectual descendants of al-Tusi’s madrasah, but in the twentieth century, Najaf lost its leadership of Shi`i learning. With the establishment of Shiism as the state religion of Iran under the Safavids in the early 1500s, there was a flow of Shi’i scholars from Iraq and Lebanon to Isfahan and other places in Iran. [See Safavid Dynasty.] Nineteenth-century Iraq and Iran witnessed the modernization of educational and political institutions along with the development of an intense nationalism that created a different challenge for the mujtahids in Iran. Under the leadership of Ayatollah `Abd al-Karim Ha’iri Yazdi (d. 1937), the religious hierarchy in Iran found it appropriate to establish a madrasah in Qom that would respond to the growing needs of the times and would equal and even surpass Najaf as the hub of Shi’i religious sciences. Moreover, the highly centralized religious leadership of the marja` al-taghd had passed on to prominent mujtahids of Qom, overshadowing the apolitical leadership of Najaf in the growing turmoil of the 1950s and 1960s. It was not until the rise of Ayatollahs Khomeini (d. 1989) and Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (executed 1980) that Najaf reversed its tradition of shunning politics and actively sought to combat the secular ideology of the Ba’thists in Iraq.
There are several historical sites in the vicinity of Najaf that form an important part of Shi’i piety. One of the most sacred places is the grand mosque of Kufa where `All was assassinated. In Shi’i estimation, the Kufa mosque is equal in status to the mosques of Mecca and Medina. The other important spot of pilgrimage is the Sahlah mosque, where the Shi’is believe that the twelfth imam appears every Tuesday evening to perform the sunset prayer. Accordingly, a large crowd of pious Sh-i’is assembles in Sahlah that evening in the hope of meeting the Hidden Imam.
[See also Mashhad; Shrine; Ziyarah; and the biography of ‘Ali.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Algar, Hamid. Religion and State in Iran, 1785-1906: The Role of the Ulama in the Qajar Period. Berkeley, 1969. Covers Najaf and its religious establishment, and the politics of the `ulama’, and Muslim powers.
Ayoub, Mahmoud M. Redemptive Suffering in Islam: A Study of the Devotional Aspects of `Ashura’ in Twelver Shi ism. The Hague, 1978. Discusses mashhad rituals in Shi’i piety.
Mottahedeh, Roy P. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran. New York, 1985. Covers the curriculum and methodology of the religious sciences at the madrasah in Shi’i centers of learning.
ABDULAZIZ SACHEDINA

NA’INI, MUHAMMAD HUSAYN

Batoota — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 14:40:53 +0000

NA’INI, MUHAMMAD HUSAYN (May 25, 1860-1936), the leading theoretician of the 1905-1909 Persian constitutional movement and the leading clergyman who granted legitimacy to the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi. His life can be divided into three periods. During the first, he was actively engaged in bringing about the Constitutional Revolution and wrote a famous treatise. During the second period, he was an important lecturer and became one of the most important Shi’i mujtahids, clergymen entitled to exercise ijtihad (individual inquiry into legal matters). He led the Iraqi nationalists against the British and worked actively for independence. During the last period, he lost his fighting spirit, devoted his life to teaching, and acquiesced to the powers that be.
Nd’ini studied in Samarra, Iraq, with Muhammad alFisharaki al-Isfahani (d. 1899) and Muhammad Hasan Shirazi (d. 1896), whose secretary he became. After his master’s death, he moved to Karbala and studied with Mulla Muhammad Kazim Khurasani (d. 1911). Both Shirazi and Khurasani played important roles in political events in Iran. Nd’ini drafted the telegrams that Khurasani sent to Iran during the Constitutional Revolution. He was heavily involved in the planning of `ulama’, (religious scholars) involvement in the politics of Iran. However, he and other constitutionalists became disillusioned with subsequent events. Nd’ini therefore concentrated on teaching, became involved in Iraqi politics at the outset of World War I, and led the Iraqi opposition against the subsequent British mandate. This latter action led to his departure from Iraq in 1923. Nd’ini was then drawn into Iranian politics, namely, the campaign to establish a republic in that country. Together with `Abd al-Karim Hi’iri Yazd! (d. 1936) and Abu al-Hasan Isfahani, he was able to convince Reza Khan to give up this idea in 1924. Reza Khan assisted in the return of Nd’ini to Iraq by first arranging compensation for the British insult against him in expelling him in the first place, followed by an invitation to return to that country. Na’ini showed his gratitude by sending a letter plus portrait of Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib to Reza Khan, thus conferring legitimacy on his regime. One year later, he and Isfahani jointly sent a letter depicting those opposing Reza Khan’s rule as enemies of Islam. This opened the road to the deposing of the Qajar dynasty (1785/97-1925). On Reza Khan’s accession to the throne, Nd’ini sent a telegram of congratulations to the shah and continued to send him similar messages on holy festival days. The remainder of his years he spent teaching in Najaf, Iraq.
Nd’ini’s most famous work was Tanbih al-ummah va tanzih al-millah dar asds vausul-i mashrutiyat (An Admonition to the Nation and an Exposition to the People Concerning the Foundations and Principles of Constitutional Government), written in 1909. It is still the most detailed and coherent justification of constitutional government from a Shi’i point of view. It aims to reconcile the impossibility of legitimate rule (in the absence of the Hidden Imam) with the practical need for government that promotes the well-being of the Shi’i community, but in a way that is not too much at odds with the dictates of religion. In his book, Nd’ini does not advocate actual administration of government by the `ulama’, but he embraces an islamization of constitutionalist principles, and he accepts certain principles of democracy that are in conformity with Islam. The importance of the book, even for modern times, is emphasized by the fact that its third edition (1955), with notes, was prepared by Ayatollah Mahmud Taleqani (d. 1979), a major religious figure who played an important role in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
[See also Constitutional Revolution; and the biographies of Ha’iri Yazdi and Pahlavi.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arjomand, Said Amir. “The State and Khomeini’s Islamic Order.” Iranian Studies 13.1-4 (1980): 147-164. Contains a pertinent summary of Na’ini’s doctrinal justification for supporting the Constitutionalists (see especially pp. 150-152).
Bayat, Mango]. Iran’s First Revolution. New York, 1991. Minimizes the importance and originality of Na’ini’s ideas (see especially pp. 256-258).
Hairi, Abdul-Hadi. ShNsm and Constitutionalism. Leiden, 1977. Full treatment of Nd’ini’s thought and activities in Shi`i Islam and Iran.
WILLEM FLOOR

Najaf – Hybrid Learning

NAJAF

NA’INI, MUHAMMAD HUSAYN