Ali Akbar Fayd Mishkini
 | |
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Well-Known As | Ali Mishkini |
| Religious Affiliation | Shia Islam |
| Birth | 1921 |
| Place of Birth | Ardabil |
| Residence | Ardabil, Najaf, Qom |
| Studied in | Qom |
| Death | July 30, 2007 |
| Burial Place | Holy Shrine of Fatima al-Ma'suma (a), Qom |
| Scholarly Information | |
| Professors | Imam Khomeini, Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat Kuhkamara'i, Ayatollah Burujirdi, Sayyid Muhammad Muhaqqiq Damad |
Alī Akbar Fayḍ Mishkīnī (Persian: علیاکبر فیض مشکینی) known as Alī Mishkīnī (1921-2007) was an influential cleric in the Iranian Revolution, the head of the Assembly of Experts, the head of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom (after the revolution), the permanent Imam of Friday prayer in Qom, the teacher of jurisprudence, exegesis, and ethics. His ethics classes are counted among the most crowded ethics classes at Qom Seminary.
He was among the scholars who used to go to the fronts during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. He was the father-in-law of Muhammad Muhammadi Reyshahri.
Life
Ali Akbar Feyz Alni, known as Ayatollah Mishkini, was born in 1300 sh/1921 in Alni, a village near Ardabil.
Towards the end of his life, Ayatollah Mishkini suffered from a chronic blood disease and passed away on Monday July 30, 2007 and was buried at the Bala Sar Mosque at the Holy Shrine of Lady Fatima al-Ma'suma (a).
Scholarly Activity
After the death of his father and per his advice, Mishkini traveled to Ardabil to become a seminarian. He took lessons on Arabic grammar there, but soon he moved to Qom, where he pursued and completed his traditional studies. Among his prominent teachers in Qom were Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat Kuhkamara'i, Ayatollah Burujirdi, Sayyid Muhammad Muhaqqiq Damad, and Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Ruhani. Mishkini is considered the author of a letter to Ayatollah Burujirdi, composed in 1958-9 and signed by two-hundred seminarians, which called for improvements in the curriculum and addition of classes such as ethics.
Ayatollah Mishkini was one of the founders of Haqqani Seminary in 1960s and taught ethics and jurisprudence there. He also established a circle of eleven seminary teachers (including Husayn Ali Muntaziri, Ali Quddusi, Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Akbar Hashimi Rafsanjani, Ibrahim Amini, and Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi) to work toward improvement of the seminary and political reform.
In 1970-1, Mishkini wrote an encomium to the controversial book Shahid-i Javid by Salihi Najafabadi. Later, he stated that he did not intend to praise or affirm the contents of the book but only its topic selection and style; after some time, he retracted his encomium.
Students
- Rabbani Amlashi
- Muhammad Mu'min
- Fadl Allah Mahallati
- Ghulam Husayn Haqqani
- Muhammad Muhammadi Gilani
- Muhammad Imami Kashani
- Yusuf Sani'i
- Muhammad Rida Mahdawi Kani
- Akbar Hashimi Rafsanjani
- Abbas Mahfudi
- Murtada Bani Fadl
- Ahmad Jannati
- Sadiq Ihsan Bakhsh
- Ali Dawani
- Muhammad Ali Girami
- Sayyid Hasan Tahiri Khurram Abadi
- Sayyid Muhsin Kharrazi
- Muhyi al-Din Fadi Harandi
Scholarly Works
Ayatollah Mishkini composed several books in Arabic and Farsi in various areas of Islamic studies. These works, together with his lectures and other materials, are published in a database by Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences (Noor).
Political Activities
After the events of June 5, 1963, Mishkini joined the revolutionaries and participated in the activities aimed at overthrowing the Pahlavi regime. He faced persecution several times including imprisonment and banishment.
After the Revolution
After the revolution, Ayatollah Mishkini played a major role in several cases to stabilize the Islamic Republic. He went to Azerbaijan province during the unrest caused by the Muslim People’s Republic Party and worked toward retaining order. When his son, a member of the People's Mujahidin of Iran, was arrested, he wrote a letter and described the arrestment as indicating establishment of justice in the Islamic Republic. After the martyrdom of Ayatollah Madani, he became the Imam of Friday prayer in Tabriz, and afterwards he was appointed by Imam Khomeini as the imam of Friday prayer in Qom. He was one of the signers of the statement made by the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom that declared MEK an illegal and non-Islamic organization.
Positions
- Member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom
- Temporary imam of Friday prayer in Tabriz
- High Judge (hakim shar', i.e., a mujtahid that can pass judgment in all legal matters) in the courts of Khuzestan and responsible for reordering the governmental institution in that province
- Head of revising the constitution
- Representative of the people of Azerbaijan in the Assembly of Experts for Constitution
- Representative of the people of Tehran in the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership
- Head of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership since its establishment in 1982-3 until his death
- Imam of Friday prayer in Qom
- Responsible, by Imam Khomeini’s order, for hiring judges
- One of the founders of Jami'a al-Zahra in Qom
- One of the founders of Imam Sadiq University in Tehran
- Founder of al-Hadi Seminary
- One of the founders of Haqqani Seminary
- Founder of Quds Musalla Mosque
- Founder of al-Hadi Hospital
- Founder of al-Hadi Publications
In the Words of Other Personalities
In his message of condolence for Ayatollah Mishkini’s death, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that he had a significant role in the Islamic Republic and described him as a righteous jurist and scholar, with a high rank both in knowledge and piety, and at the same time humble, whose righteousness and purity could not be doubted in the slightest.
References
- The material for this article is mainly taken from علیاکبر فیض مشکینی in Farsi WikiShia.