Draft:Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Kharsan

Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Kharsan

Personal Information
Full Name	Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Musawi al-Khirsan
Well-Known Relatives	Sayyid Hasan al-Khirsan (Father)
Birth	Rajab 9, 1347/1928
Place of Birth	Najaf
Death	Rabi' al-Awwal 1, 1445/2023
Burial Place	Holy Shrine of Imam Ali (a)
Scholarly Information
Professors	Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei • Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim
Permission for Hadith Transmission From	Agha Buzurg Tehrani • Sayyid 'Abd al-A'la al-Sabzewari
Works	Mawsu'at 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas
Scholarly Activities	Imam of Congregational Prayer at Shaykh Ansari Mosque

Sayyid Muḥammad Mahdī al-Mūsawī al-Khirsān (Arabic: السيد محمدمهدي الموسوي الخرسان) (b. 1347/1928 – d. 1445/2023) was a prominent Shi'a scholar, critical editor of Islamic texts, author, and biographer hailing from Najaf. He is best known for compiling the monumental encyclopedia Mawsū'at 'Abd Allāh b. 'Abbās, a twenty-one volume work dedicated to Ibn 'Abbas, the cousin and Companion of the Prophet (s). His education was overseen by notable figures such as Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei and Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim, and he received authorization for hadith transmission (ijaza) from scholars including Agha Buzurg Tehrani and Sayyid 'Abd al-A'la al-Sabzewari.

To honor his contributions, the "Umana' al-Rusul" (Trustees of the Prophets) Congress was convened in both Najaf and Qom.

Status and Biography

Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi b. Sayyid Hasan al-Musawi al-Khirsan, known as Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Khirsan, was a distinguished Shi'a scholar and editor of Shi'a heritage texts from the renowned Al-Khirsan family of Najaf. His father, Sayyid Hasan al-Khirsan (1322/1904 – 1405/1985), was a scholar who studied under Sayyid Abu l-Hasan al-Isfahani and Muhammad Husayn Gharawi Na'ini and served as the Imam of Congregational Prayer at the Shaykh Ansari Mosque in Najaf. His brother, Sayyid Muhammad Riza al-Khirsan, is also a recognized Shi'a scholar.

Al-Khirsan spent his life in Najaf, where he led congregational prayers at the Shaykh Ansari Mosque. By his own account, he abstained from political involvement. He detailed his autobiography in the work Dhikrayati fi hayati as well as in the introduction to Muqaddimat kutub al-turathiyya.

Al-Khirsan passed away in Najaf on September 17, 2023 (Rabi' al-Awwal 1, 1445/2023), and was interred within the precincts of the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali (a).

Scholarly Career

Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Khirsan was born on Rajab 9, 1347/1928, in Najaf. He pursued his preliminary (muqaddimat) and intermediate (sath) seminary studies at the Najaf Seminary under the tutelage of his father, as well as scholars 'Ali Samakah al-Hilli and Sadiq Qamusi. Subsequently, he attended Kharij lessons (advanced seminars) delivered by Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei, Sayyid Abd al-Hadi al-Shirazi, and Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim.

His masters (mashayikh) in Hadith transmission included figures such as Agha Buzurg Tehrani, Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Bahr al-Ulum, Sayyid Ali Behbahani, Sayyid 'Abd al-A'la al-Sabzewari, Sayyid Murtada al-Khalkhali, Sayyid Hasan al-Musawi al-Bujnurdi, and his own father. Additionally, he reported narrating hadith from Sunni scholars, including Sayyid 'Alawi b. 'Abbas al-Maliki al-Makki, Hammad al-Ansari, Muhammad Abu l-Yusr b. 'Abidin, and Muhammad Salih al-Qadiri al-Shami.

Al-Khirsan dedicated the majority of his life to the research and critical correction of Shi'a manuscripts. He granted authorization for narration (ijaza) to several scholars, including Sayyid 'Abd al-Sattar al-Hasani, Kamil Salman al-Juburi, and Sayyid Salman Hadi Al-Tu'ma.

Works

Main article: List of Works by Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi al-Khirsan

Al-Khirsan authored or critically edited over sixty works covering biography, Genealogy, Theology (kalam), Hadith studies, and Fiqh.

His magnum opus is arguably Mawsu'at 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas, habr al-umma wa tarjuman al-Qur'an, an extensive encyclopedia concerning Ibn 'Abbas, the Companion and cousin of the Prophet (s). This twenty-one volume collection received the Book of the Year Award from the Islamic Republic of Iran in the religion category in 2017.

Other notable publications include:

• Ali imam al-barara: A commentary on a poem by Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei regarding the Imamate of Imam Ali (a).
• Al-Muhsin al-sibt mawlud am siqt: A study concerning Muhsin, the son of Imam Ali (a) and Fatima al-Zahra (a).
• Al-Sujud 'ala l-turba al-husayniyya.
• Hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal.

A comprehensive collection of Ayatollah al-Khirsan's oeuvre has been published in a forty-six volume encyclopedia titled Mawsu'at Ayat Allah Muhammad Mahdi al-Musawi al-Khirsan.

Commemoration

To honor al-Khirsan, the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali (a), the Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn (a), and nearly thirty other scientific and cultural institutions—including the Ahl al-Bayt (a) World Assembly—organized an international congress. This event, the inaugural session of the "Umana' al-Rusul" (Trustees of the Prophets) series, took place on October 17-18, 2022, in Najaf, followed by sessions on November 23-24, 2022, in Qom.