Molla Ahmad Naraqi

Molla Ahmad Naraqi (1185-1245 A.H./1771-1829 C.E.) also known as known as “Fauzel Narauqee”,[1] was a Shi'i cleric ("mullah"), who has been called "the first Shi‘i jurisprudent to argue for wilayat al-faqıh al-siyasıyah,[2] or "the divine mandate of the jurisprudent to rule" during the occultation of the Imam. The concept of wilayat al-faqıh or Velayat-e Faqıh (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) came to the attention of the world when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led the Islamic Iranian Revolution in 1978-9 and established the Islamic Republic of Iran using wilayat al-faqıh as its governing principal. Naraqi's work called for the system in his technical fiqh work entitled Awa’id al-ayyam [note 1] predating the call by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for this system in his lectures and book Islamic Government by more than a century.[7]

Unlike Khomeini, Molla Naraqi never tried to establish or called for the establishment of a state based on wilayat al-faqıh al-siyasıyah.[7][8]

Biography

Naraqi was born on the 14th of Jumada al-Thani, 1185 A.H. during the reign of Karim Khan Zand. He was tutor by his father from the age of five until twenty.[1] He received the title of mujtahid at the age of fifteen and traveled to Iraq with his father in order to continue the hawza studies "in the main center of Shia hawza where he was a student under Moḥammad Mahdī Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, Sayyed Ali Tabautabau’ee, Sayyed Mahdi Shahrestani, and Sheikh Mohammad Ja’far Najafee. After his father Molla Mahdee died in 1209 A.H., Naraqi returned to Kashan to take over his father’s hawza in that region.[1]

How many sons Naraqi had is disputed. According to one source he had two sons who both of whom became scholars. Hauj Molla Mohammad, became known as “Hojjat-ol-islam”, and received the title of “Khautam-ol-mojtahedeen”, and was the son-in-law of Mirza-ye-qomee. Nasiroddeen also became a scholar.[1]

Notes
  1. See: Kadivar 1998a, 17-18; 94-96;[3] Kadivar 1998b, 105;[4] Kazemi Moussavi 1985, 40-44;[5] Dabashi 1989, 293-296)[6] cited in MATSUNAGA[2]

References
  1. "A short biography of Molla Ahmad Naraqi". naraqi.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. MATSUNAGA, Yasuyuki (2009). "Revisiting Ayatollah Khomeini's Doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqıh (Velayat-e Faqıh)". Orient. XLIV: 86. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  3. Kadivar, Mohsen 1998a: Nazarıyeh-ha-ye Doulat dar Feqh-e Shı‘eh, Tehran.
  4. Kadivar, Mohsen 1998b: Hokumat-e Vela’ı, Tehran.
  5. Kazemi Moussavi, Ahmad 1985: “The Establishment of the Position of Marja’iyyat-i Taqlid in the Twelver-Shi’i Community,” Iranian Studies 18/1, 35-51.
  6. Dabashi, Hamid 1989: “Mulla Ahmad Naraqi and the Question of the Guardianship of the Jurisconsult (Wilayat-i Faqih),” in Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Hamid Dabashi, and Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr (eds.), Expectations of the Millennium: Shi‘ism in History, Albany, 288-300.
  7. MATSUNAGA, Yasuyuki (2009). "Revisiting Ayatollah Khomeini's Doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqıh (Velayat-e Faqıh)". Orient. XLIV: 84. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  8. Hairi, Abdul-Hadi 1988: “The Legitimacy of the Early Qajar Rule as Viewed by the Shi‘i Religious Leaders,” Middle Eastern Studies 24/3, 271-286; quoted in MATSUNAGA
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