Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi: Difference between revisions

Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi was born in [[Yazd]] in 1935. After finishing his primary education, he began studying religious sciences in Shafi'iyya Seminary in Yazd under the influence of one of his relatives, Shaykh Ahmad Akhundi. He studied preliminary seminary courses in Yazd. Along with formal seminary courses, he also studied modern sciences, such as physics, chemistry, and physiology, as well as French, with a clergy called Muhaqqiqi Rashti.

He then moved to [[Najaf]] to continue his seminary studies. However, he returned to [[Iran]] after six months because of financial hardships his family was facing.

After a while, Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi migrated to [[Qom]] and studied ''[[al-Makasib al-muharrama (book)|al-Makasib]]'' in [[jurisprudence]], ''[[Kifayat al-usul (book)|Kifayat al-usul]]'' in [[principles of jurisprudence]], and ''[[Sharh-i Manzuma]]'' in Philosophy. He then attended advanced lectures of jurisprudence taught by [[Ayatollah Burujirdi]] and [[Imam Khomeini]]. In this period, he met [[Allama Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i]] and attended his philosophy and ethics lectures. He also attended the lectures of Ayatollah Bahjat for fifteen years. During his education, Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi was friends with some of his classmates such as Muhammad Husayn Bahjati Ardakani, Ali Bahjati, Ali Pahlawani, Mirza Hasan Nuri and Ali Akbar Mas'udi Khumayni.

* [[Muhammad Taqi Bahjat]]

Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi began teaching [[Qur'anic exegesis]], as well as ethical and training issues in [[Haqqani Seminary]], where he taught Ayatollah [[Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr]]'s ''[[Falsafatuna (book)|Falsafatuna]]'' (in Islamic philosophy) and ''[[Iqtisaduna (book)| Iqtisaduna]]'' (in Islamic economy). In the next years, he taught ''[[al-Asfar al-arba'a (book)|al-Asfar al-arba'a]]'' and ''[[al-Shifa' (book)|al-Shifa']]'' in Dar Rah-i Haqq, Baqir al-'Ulum, and Imam Khomeini Institutes.

* Muhammad Ali Shumali

*He was a writer in Bi'that and Intiqam periodicals. The first issue of Bi'that was published in December 1963. Intiqam was also published by Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi since December 20, 1964 as the second secret periodical of students of the [[Islamic Seminary of Qom]]. It was published until October 7, 1965. Overall, eight volumes of Intiqam was published in this period. Both periodicals had political approaches and criticized the Pahlavi government.

*Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi was a member of the 11-member society. Early in 1964, a number of scholars and teachers of the [[Islamic Seminary of Qom]] formed a secret group under the Jam'iyyat-i Yazdah Nafarih (lit. eleven-member society) in order to coordinate their political activities. The members tried to create a center for campaigns against the Pahlavi regime under the cover of reforming the Islamic seminary.

*Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi signed some political statements and letters against the Pahlavi government in the years before the Islamic Revolution of Iran. One letter was that of scholars and teachers of the Islamic Seminary of Qom on September 30, 1963 addressed to the cabinet at the time in protest to the arrest of [[Imam Khomeini]]. Another letter was that of the scholars of Yazd in February 1965 to Hoveyda, the Prime Minister at the time, in protest to the banishment of Imam Khomeini to [[Turkey]]. He also signed a statement about murders in Yazd on April 5, 1978, as well as a letter from a number of teachers at the Islamic Seminary of Qom to the French president of the time in support of Imam Khomeini in December 1978.

*In 1967, Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi joined the [[Haqqani Seminary]] at the request of [[Ayatollah Bihishti]]. At first, he was part of the school's administration, but later, he rested content with teaching Qur'anic exegesis, philosophy, and Islamic jurisprudence. Since 1974, there was a serious dispute between proponents and opponents of [[Ali Shari'ati]] in Haqqani Seminary. Ayatollah Misbah and a group of seminary students were opponents of Shari'ati, since they found his interpretations of Islam to be deviated, while others were proponents of Shari'ati's ideas. Because of the tensions, [[Ayatollah Quddusi]], the headmaster of Haqqani Seminary, fired a number of the opponents and proponents from the school, and then Ayatollah Misbah left the school.

*When the educational department of Dar Rah-i Haqq Institute was established, Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi was invited to join the institute. The institute aimed to provide replies to skepticisms about religious doctrines. The educational department of the institute began by admitting a number of seminary students, aiming to train seminary students so that they would be able to reply to such skepticisms. With the expansion of the activities of the educational department, "Baqir al-'Ulum Cultural Foundation" was founded, which was administered by Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi.

*In 1995, [[Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute]] was founded with the goal of deploying Islamic doctrines in different branches of human sciences and training researchers in Islamic doctrines and human sciences. The institute was administered under the supervision of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi.

*Since summer 1996, the "Wilayat Project" was launched under the supervision of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi in cooperation with the Organization for Mobilization of the Oppressed (Basij). The goal of the project was to introduce university professors and students to principles of the Islamic thought. The texts of courses taught in this project were summaries of the views of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi and his students.

In 1981 when Marxist groups had increased their propagations and cultural activities, Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi participated a debate with Ehsan Tabari, Farrokh Negahdar, and Abdolkarim Soroush. In this debate, Misbah Yazdi and Soroush criticized Marxist views. The debate was broadcast on IRIB TV. Ayatollah Misbah continued to criticize Marxism, which cultivated in writing six volumes under ''Pasdari az sangarha-yi idi'uluzhik'' (protecting ideological trenches). The volumes consist of his critiques of Marxist views, the first volume of which was published in 1981 and the other five volumes were published in later years.

After May 23, 1997 (Khordad 2, 1376 Sh), Misbah Yazdi attended a TV debate with Muhammad Jawad Hujjati Kirmani. The debate was centered on the cultural policies of the government at the time (the government of Seyyed Mohammad Khatami). Ayatollah Misbah attended the debate as a critic of the governmental policies.

In Ayatollah Misbah's view, the religion is a comprehensive set of rulings and commands that cover all human needs both in this world and in the [[afterlife]]. For him, religious doctrines encompass all individual and social aspects of the human life. The religion, in his view, specifies axiological dimensions of phenomena. That is to say, the function of religion is to evaluate phenomena and instruct people on how to deal with them in order to achieve happiness. However, science explains how phenomena come to exist.

According to Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi, the Western culture should be fully dismissed as a culture of disbelief and [[atheism]]. He rules out any coexistence and compromise with the Western culture, although he believes in the necessity of deploying modern technologies. In his view, humanism, secularism, and liberalism constitute essential elements of the culture of disbelief and atheism, which is contrasted to [[theism]], the centrality of the religion, and the Guardianship of the Muslim [[Jurist]], as well as human activities being constrained by the obligation for obedience of God as essential elements of the Islamic thought. The two cultures are polar opposites: the former invites human beings to absolute freedom from any constraints, and even freedom from obeying [[God]], while the latter invites people to only obey God.

In Ayatollah Misbah's view, it is not acceptable to have different readings of the religion, since religious judgments and propositions are obvious, and their understanding does not require scientific interpretations and justifications. Qur'anic [[verse]]s and [[hadith]]s can be understood by anyone who knows Arabic language and literature, and the idea of different readings of religious propositions is an atheistic view. The domain of conclusive religious doctrines is very wide-ranging, and they must be acted upon.

According to Ayatollah Misbah, interpretations by Muslim scholars with respect to specialized domains are valid. He concedes that there is [[ijtihad]] and disagreement with regard to [[ancillaries of the religion]]. However, only the views of religious experts are valid in these areas, rather than the views of those who are not knowledgeable enough. Interpretations of experts in these areas are valid insofar as they are pious in their behaviors, understanding, research, and inferences, and are not affected by personal desires and propagations.

Ayatollah Misbah believes in the [[Wilayat al-Faqih|Absolute Guardianship of the Muslim Jurist]]. Since mind-1990s, he has been a main advocate of the view. According to him, the [[Guardianship of the Jurist]] is required in the Period of [[Occultation]] in order to enforce Islamic rulings and realize the Islamic government. Misbah believes that Islamic rulings cannot be fully enforced in a democratic government. Thus, the only possible form of an Islamic government is the one under the Guardianship of the Muslim Jurist.  

He also emphasizes on the "absolute" or the "unconditional" nature of the Guardianship of the jurist. For one thing, this rules out the limited Guardianship of Jurists in the periods of non-Islamic sultans and governments, and for another, it implies that in an Islamic government, the Jurist has all the authorities of an [[Infallible]]. Thus, according to the theory of [[Absolute Guardianship of the Jurist]], the qualified jurist has all the authorities possessed by the Infallible [[Imam]], and all regulations, instructions, and procedures within an Islamic government are legitimate only after the Jurist's endorsement. In this framework, the Jurist Guardian is thought to be appointed by God, and his rule is not considered to be legitimized by people's votes. People can only play a role in the realization of his rule.

Thus, the Jurist Guardian has a place above the law. In fact, it is the constitution that derives its validity from the Jurist's endorsement, and not vice versa. People's votes and wants are valid as long as they fit the framework of Islamic values and are endorsed by the Jurist Guardian.

Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi's works are concerned with the exegesis of the [[Qur'an]], Islamic philosophy, Islamic beliefs and [[Theology]], [[ethics]], and Islamic political thought.