Ayatollah Sayyid Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Passes Away

Ayatollah Sayyid Mahmoud Hāshemī Shāhroudī an Iranian scholar in fiqh, politician and a Shi’a religious authority who was born in Najaf and Passed Away at the age of 70.

Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, passed away at 70, on. The health condition of Ayatollah Shahroudi had turned worse on Sunday, and he was in the intensive care unit of a hospital for a digestive system problem; A member of Ayatollah Shahroudi’s office had called on the “pious and God-loving people to pray for him”, on Sunday.

Ayatollah Sharoudi had not attended Expediency Council’s sessions since mid-summer and EDC Secretary, as recommended by doctors.

The senior cleric was appointed by Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei as chairman of Expediency Council in 2017.

In his youth, Ayatollah Shahroudi followed intellectual principles and practical conduct of his teacher al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and began his activities in the seminary of Najaf and fought against Saddam’s regime. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran and due to the pressures of Saddam’s regime, he followed the advice of al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and returned to his original homeland. At that time, he founded the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and at the same time, continued teaching and research in fiqh and usul. Some of his most important responsibilities he has had in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been being a member of the Guardian Council of the Constitution, a member and deputy chairman in the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership, head of the Judiciary, head of the Supreme Committee for Dispute Resolution and Alignment of the Relations between the three Powers, a member and head of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System.

Life and Education

Sayyid Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, son of Sayyid Ali Hashemi Shahroudi, was born in 1948 in Najaf, Iraq. He began his primary educations in Alawi school in Najaf and then entered the seminary and learned basic lessons of Seminary mostly in private classes. Afterwards, he participated in the class of al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and learned the principles of Ijtihad. He also participated in the classes of Imam Khomeini and Sayyid Abu l-Qasim Khoei for a while.

Scientific Activity

When Hashemi Shahroudi entered Iran in April 1979, Imam Khomeini asked him to begin teaching in the seminary of Qom. Since then, his advanced classes in fiqh and usul have been held. His most important books are:

• Buhuth fi ilm al-usul (the lecture notes of al-Sayyid Muammad Baqir al-Sadr’s lectures on usul in seven volumes)
• Kitab al-khums (two volumes)
• Maqalat fiqhiyya
• Qa’idat al-faraq wa l-tajawuz (the Rule of Completion and Passing)
• Tafsir aya-yi mawaddat-i dhi l-Qurba (the exegesis of Love of Relatives’ verse)
• Buhuth fi l-ilm al-zira’i
• Muhadarat fi l-thawra al-Husayniyya
• Al-sawm
• Al-tarbiya wa l-hidaya
• Kitab al-ijara (two volumes)
• Kitab al-zakat (four volumes)
• Kitab al-mudaraba
• Qara’at fiqhiyya mu’asara (two volumes)
• Manasik al-hajj (in Farsi and Arabic)
• Masa’il wa rudud
• Al-sirat
• Kitab al-hajj
• Azwa’ wa ara’ (three volumes)
• Risala tazih al-masa’i (manual of fatwas)

• He has been one of the members of the fiqh council of Ayatullah Khamene’i for years. He has also been the chairman of the two congresses of the Role of Time and Place in the Thoughts of Imam Khomeini and the First Congress of Islamic Fiqh Encyclopedia. He is currently the head of the Institute for the Encyclopedia of Islamic Fiqh, appointed by Ayatullah Khamene’i and has published several articles in the Quarterly of Fiqh of the Ahl al-Bayt (a). Foundation of the University of Justice is among his educational and scientific activities.

Political Activities

• During the years of his education and teaching in Najaf, Hashemi Shahroudi followed the thought model of his teacher al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and engaged in political activities. Following the attacks of the agents of Saddam to Shi’a scholars in 1974, he was imprisoned and was tortured. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, he organized demonstrations in different cities of Iraq, especially in Najaf to commemorate that victory and was prosecuted by the Baath regime of Iraq. He went to Iran following the advice of al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr to be in contact with Imam Khomeini as the representative of al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr. After he went to Iran, followed the suggestion of Ayatollah Khamene’i who managed the Islamic movements at that time and established the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq together with some political activists and scholars, especially al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim. Hashemi Shahroudi was the spokesman of the Council for a while. After being appointed as the head of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System, he had a journey to Iraq and met up with some politicians of that country.

Responsibilities

In addition to being the director and spokesman of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Hashemi Shahroudi had some other responsibilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the most important ones of which have been:

• A member of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) World Assembly
• A member of The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought
• The head and founder of the Institute for the Encyclopedia of Islamic Fiqh
• A member and deputy chairman in the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership,
• A member and deputy chairman in the society of teachers in the seminary of Qom
• A faqih member of the Guardian Council
• Head of the Judiciary
• Head of the Supreme Committee for Dispute Resolution and Alignment of the Relations between the three Powers
• A member and head of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System

Demise

Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, passed away at 70, in 24 December 2018. The health condition of Ayatollah Shahroudi had turned worse on Sunday, and he was in the intensive care unit of a hospital for a digestive system problem; A member of Ayatollah Shahroudi’s office had called on the “pious and God-loving people to pray for him”, on Sunday.