Sayyid Muhammad Ali Qadi Tabataba'i

This article is about Sayyid Muhammad Ali Qadi Tabataba'i. For other people named Qadi Tabataba'i, see Qadi Tabataba'i (disambiguation).

Sayyid Muhammad Ali Qadi Tabataba'i

Personal Information
Full Name	Sayyid Muhammad 'Ali Qadi Tabataba'i
Birth	Jumada I 6, 1331/April 13, 1913
Place of Birth	Tabriz
Studied in	Tabriz, Qom and Najaf
Death	Martyred on Dhu l-Hijja 10, 1399/November 1, 1979
Scholarly Information
Professors	Mar'ashi Najafi, Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat, Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei
Permission for Hadith Transmission From	'Allama Tabataba'i, Sayyid Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei, Aqa Buzurg Tihrani
Works	Tahqiq darbari awwal-i Arba'in-i Sayyid al-Shuhada’ (An investigation about the first Arba'in of Sayyid al-Shuhada') etc.
Socio-Political Activities
Socio-Political Activities	Fight against Pahlavi regime, Friday Prayer Leader of Tabriz

Sayyid Muḥammad ʿAlī Qāḍī Ṭabāṭabāʾī (Arabic: سید محمدعلی قاضی طباطبایی; b. 1331/1913 - d. 1399/1979) was a Shiite clergy and the first imam of Friday Prayer in Tabriz after the Islamic Revolution of Iran. He was an activist before the revolution and a supporter of Imam Khomeini, and was exiled to different cities by the Pahlavi regime. After the revolution, he was appointed by Imam Khomeini as his representative in East Azerbaijan and the imam of Friday Prayer in Tabriz. He was assassinated by the Furqan Group and was recognized as the first martyr from imams of Friday Prayer in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Life and Education

Sayyid Muhammad 'Ali Qadi Tabataba'i was born in Jumada I 6, 1331/April 13, 1913 in Tabriz. His father, Sayyid Baqir, known as Mirza Baqir, and his uncle, Mirza Asad Allah, were scholars in Tabriz. Sayyid Muhammad learned the preliminaries of Islamic disciplines from them in the Seminary of Talibiyya. He migrated to Qom in 1940 to study in the Islamic Seminary of Qom.

He lived in Qom since 1940 for 10 years. Then he went to Najaf and and participated in the classes of prominent scholars there and some of them gave him the permission to narrate hadith, some of whom are Aqa Buzurg Tihrani, al-Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-'Amili, Abu l-Qasim al-Khoei and ....

Teachers

• Sayyid Baqir Tabatab'i (his father)
• Mirza Asad Allah (his uncle)
• Sayyid Shahab al-Din Mar'ashi Najafi
• Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat
• Sayyid Sadr al-Din Sadr
• Sayyid Muhammad Rida Gulpaygani
• Sayyid Husayn Burujirdi
• 'Abd al-Husayn Rashti
• Sayyid Hasan Bujnurdi
• Al-Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim
• Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita'

Works

Main article: List of Works by Sayyid Muhammad Ali Qadi Tabataba'i

He has many works in different subjects, the book Tahqiq darbara-yi awwal arba'in-i Sayyid al-Shuhada' is his most famous work in which he attempted to prove the returning of Ahl al-Bayt to Karbala in arba'in after the event of Karbala.

Political Activities

Before the Revolution

The Bill of State and Provincial Associations according to which it was sufficient for voters and candidates to be loyal to any Scripture, rather than exclusively to the Qur'an, led to protests in the Islamic Seminary of Qom and Shiite authorities, particularly Imam Khomeini. Thus, scholars of Tabriz issued statements which were signed by Qadi as well.

Another event in which Qadi tried to advance the causes of the Islamic Revolution was the event of the Islamic Seminary of Talibiyya in Tabriz. The event began with a printed statement of Imam Khomeini which was installed on the wall in the Talibiyya School. When police agents wanted to remove the statement from the wall, they faced resistance by the students of the school. The clash spread to the bazar, and with the riots of people who went out of the Mosque of Maqbara, the siege of police forces came to an end. After the event, Ayatollah Qadi issued a statement, and the next day, the statement was circulated throughout the city in red writing.

In 1968, Qadi Tabataba'i’s political activities and his revelations against the Pahlavi regime led to his exile to Baft in Kerman for six months, and then to Zanjan.

In 1973, a fund was established in Tabriz under his supervision as “Sanduq-i Mujahidin-i Islami” (The Fund of Islamic Warriors) in order to support anti-Pahlavi movements, such as printing and propagating statements, helping the families of political prisoners, helping the activists who had to leave their homes, and the like. He also had contacts with university students in order to strengthen anti-Pahlavi movements.

The uprising of people on January 9, 1978 in response to an article published in Ettela'at Newspaper began with a movement by Islamic seminary students, and it then spread to everywhere around the country. Under the leadership of scholars, and in particular, Ayatollah Qadi, the movement spread to Tabriz on February 18, 1978.

After the Revolution

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, he was appointed by Imam Khomeini as the imam of Friday Prayer and his representative in Tabriz in 1979. He tried to establish security and stability in Tabriz. For example, in the middle of June, 1979, a number of Iranian air force members (Homafaran) had a sit-in and expressed their requests. They quit their sit-in after Ayatollah Qadi’s talks with them.

When the Islamic Republican Party was established, Qadi issued statements in which he encouraged people to hold a membership in the party.

Martyrdom

Qadi Tabataba'i was attacked and martyred by a member of the Furqan Group on a street when he was returning home after holding evening and 'Isha prayers on Dhu l-Hijja 10, 1399/November 1, 1979. He is known in Iran as the first Martyr from imams of prayer. Imam Khomeini issued a statement after Qadi’s martyrdom and expressed his condolences to all committed Muslims and scholars, as well as the loyal and devoted people of Azerbaijan.