Grand Ayatollah
Grand Ayatollah or Ayatollah al-Ozma ( Arabic آية الله العظمى, DMG Āyat Allāh al-ʿUẓmā ; Persian آیتاللهالعظمی Ayatollah al-Uzma , 'Grand Ayatollah ') is a spiritual title of the Twelve Shiites thatranksabove an Ayatollah but below the Marjah-e taqlid .
Beginnings
In the 19th century there were only 12 to 18 ayatollahs , of which a few were “superordinate” ayatollahs, the majority of them in Iran . The title Grand Ayatollah was not finally established until around 1920, replacing the name Mardscha in the title hierarchy, which had been used until then.
The ascent to a Grand Ayatollah is a long and arduous journey for a Shiite clergyman ( mullah ) that requires at least 25 to 30 years of intensive study. Wilfried Buchta describes (as of 2004) the number of Grand Ayatollahs worldwide as 20, 14 of them in Iran.
practice
Every believer usually looks for a Grand Ayatollah as a "source of imitation" ( mardscha ), lives according to its interpretation of the law and pays a tax to this Grand Ayatollah, which he uses for charitable purposes and for the education of students. The rank of a Grand Ayatollah is derived to a considerable extent from the number of his followers.
"Shiite Pope"
The office of a Marscha-e taqlid (“source of imitation”) can only be filled if all Grand Ayatollahs at least tacitly recognize this rank to one of their midst. This was the case only three times in the history of the Twelve Shiites. First Mortaza Ansari (1800–1864) held this office, then Mohammad Hasan Schirazi (1815–1895), lastly Hossein Borudscherdi (1875–1961).
List of Grand Ayatollahs
Known and as these also generally recognized Grand Ayatollahs, in the order of their birth:
Deceased Grand Ayatollahs
- Mortaza Ansari (1799–1864) Marjah-e taqlid
- Mohammad Hasan Shirazi (1815–1895) Marja-e taqlid
- Mohammed Kazim Tabatabai Yazdi (? –1919)
- Abdolkarim Haeri Yazdi (1859-1937)
- Hossein-Ali Borudscherdi (1875–1961) Mardscha-e taqlid
- Mohammad Ali Araki (1894-1994)
- Mohsen al-Tabataba'i al-Hakim (1889–1970)
- Abu l-Qasim al-Choei (1899–1992)
- Mohammad Reza Golpayegani (1899–1993)
- Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari (1905–1986)
- Sayed Hassan Tabatabai-Qomi (1912-2007)
- Ali Safi Golpaygani (1913-2010)
- Mohammad Taghi Bahdschat (1917-2009)
- Mohammad Ezodin Hosseini Zanjani (1921–2013)
- Hossein Ali Montazeri (1922-2009)
- Muslim Malakuti (1923-2014)
- Mohsen Koochebaghi Tabrizi (1924-2011)
- Mousavi Ardebili (1926-2016)
- Mohammad Husseini Shirazi (1928-2001)
- Mohammad Fazel Lankarani (1931-2007)
- Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr (1935–1980)
- Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935-2010)
- Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim (1939-2003)
- Muhammad Muhammad Sadiq as-Sadr (1943–1999)
Current Grand Ayatollahs
Iran
- Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani (1917–)
- Taqi Tabatabaei Qomi (1922-)
- Hossein Vahid Khorasani (1924–)
- Mohammad Schahrudi (1925–)
- Mohammad Alavi Gorgani (1926-)
- Hossein Noori Hamedani (1926–)
- Sadeq Rohani (1926-)
- Naser Makarem Shirazi (1927–)
- Musa Schubairi Zanjani (1927–)
- Abbas Mahfuzi (1928-)
- Mohammad Rahmati Sirjani (1928–)
- Ja'far Sobhani (1928–)
- Mohammad Hussain Najafi (1932–)
- Mohammad Ebrahim Jannati (1932–)
- Hossein Mazaheri (1934-)
- Javad Gharavi Aliari (1935–)
- Jusuf Sanei (1937-)
- Kazem al-Haeri (1938-)
- Sadiq Hosseini Schirasi (1942–)
Iraq
- Morteza Hosseini Fayaz (1928–)
- Ali as-Sistani (1930–)
Pakistan
- Muhammad Hussain Najafi (1932–)
Afghanistan
- Mohaqiq Kabuli (1928-)
- Muhammad Asif Muhsini (1935-)
literature
- Wilfried Buchta: Shiites . Hugendubel, Munich et al. 2004, ISBN 3-7205-2491-4 , ( Diederichs Kompakt ).
- Heinz Halm : The Schia . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1988, ISBN 3-534-03136-9 .