View source for Murtadha al-Ansari

{{Infobox religious biography
| honorific-prefix   = [[Grand Ayatollah]] [[Sheikh]]
| location           = [[Najaf, Iraq]]
| children           =
| institute          = [[Najaf Seminary]]
| Madh'hab           = [[Twelver]] [[Shia Islam|Shia]]
| relatives          =
| native_name        = {{lang|fa|شیخ مرتضی انصاری شوشتری}}
| signature          =
| post               = [[Grand Ayatollah]]
| successor          = [[Mirza Shirazi]]
| predecessor        = [[Muhammad Hasan Najafi]]
| period             = 1849–1864
| title              = [[Grand Ayatollah]]
| resting_place      = [[Imam Ali Shrine]]
| name               = Sheikh Murtadha Ansari Shushtari
| death_place        = [[Najaf]], [[Baghdad Eyalet]]
| death_date         = {{death year and age|1864|1781}}
| birth_place        = [[Dezful]], [[Zand dynasty]] [[Iran]]
| birth_date         = 1781
| birth_name         =
| other_names        = Sahib al-Makasib, {{langx|fa|صاحب مكاسب}} <br> Sheikh al-Ta'ifa, {{langx|ar|شيخ الطائفة}}
| education          =
| religion           = [[Islam]]
| caption            =
| alt                =
| image              = Potrait of Sheikh Morteza Ansari.jpg
| background         = #ABE9CC
| nationality        = [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]
}}
[[Marja'|Grand Ayatollah]] [[Sheikh]] '''Murtadha Ansari Shushtari'''(1781–1864), {{langx|fa|مرتضی انصاری شوشتری}}<ref>[https://dehkhoda.ut.ac.ir/fa/dictionary/48149/انصاری, Dehkhoda encyclopedia (in Persian)]</ref><ref> [http://lib.eshia.ir/10055/1/1, Alwathaya va Almawarith, by Morteza Ansari Shushtari]</ref>); ({{langx|ar|مرتضی الأنصاري التستري}},<ref>[http://alhassanain.org/m/arabic/?com=book&id=604, Faraed al-osoul (In Arabic), by Mortadha al-Ansari al-Tostari], </ref><ref> [http://lib.eshia.ir/10055/1/1, Alwathaya va Almawarith (in Arabic), by Mortadha al-Ansari al-Tostari]</ref><ref>[https://makarem.ir/compilation/reader.aspx?pid=72355&lid=0&mid=76812&catid=0, Shia in Isalam (In Arabic), by M.H. Tabatabai]</ref> also transliterated as '''Mortaza Ansari Shushtari''', was an Iranian [[Shia]] [[jurist]] who "was generally acknowledged as the most eminent jurist of the time."<ref>[http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/qajar_class_structure.php The Qajar class structure, by Ahmad Ashraf & Ali Banuazizi]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ANṢĀRĪ, SHAIKH MORTAŻĀ – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ansari-shaikh-mortaza-b|access-date=2021-02-02|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref>
Ansari has also been called the "first effective" model or ''[[Marja'|Marja]]'' of the Shia<ref name="Mottahedeh, 2000 p. 210">Mottahedeh, ''The Mantle of the Prophet'', (2000), p. 210</ref> or "the first scholar universally recognized as supreme authority in matters of [[shia|Shii]] law".<ref name="Esposito, John 2003 p. 21">Esposito, John, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Islam,'' (2003) p. 21</ref>
==Life and studies==
Ansari<ref name="portal.anhar.ir">[http://portal.anhar.ir/node/25703/?ref=sbttl#gsc.tab=0 The demise of scholar of al-Mote'akherin, Sheikh Morteza Ansari]</ref><ref>[http://rasekhoon.net/calender/show/555054/ The demise of scholar of al-Mote'akherin, Sheikh Morteza Ansari Faqih and super Marja' in Najaf (1281 lunar month)]</ref> was born in [[Dezful]] around 1781, the time the [[Qajar dynasty]] was establishing its power in Iran. He commenced his religious studies in Defzul, under the tutelage of his uncle, himself a notable scholar. At the age of twenty, he made [[Ziyarat]] with his father to [[Kerbala]], [[Iraq]], where he met Mohammad Mujtahid Karbala'i, the leader of the city's scholars. Ansari demonstrated considerable promise during a debate with the senior Mujtahid, who was so impressed that he induced his father to allow Ansari to continue his studies with them.<ref name="iranica.com">Murata, S. ANṢĀRĪ, SHAIKH MORTAŻĀ B. MOḤAMMAD AMĪN. ''Encyclopedia Iranica'': www.iranica.com (accessed 29.09.09)</ref> Ansari studied in Kerbala for four years, until the city was besieged by [[Dawud Pasha of Baghdad|Dawud Pasha]] and his rebels, causing the scholars of Kerbala and their students to flee to [[Baghdad]] and the shrine of [[Musa al-Kazim|Imam Kazim]]. From there, Ansari returned to his homeland, where he quickly became restless and resolving to find teachers to continue his religious instruction. After about a year of traveling, he spent two years in [[Najaf]] studying under [[Musa al-Ja'fari]] and [[Sharif Mazandarani]] and a year in Najaf studying with [[Kashf ul-Ghita]]. Returning from a pilgrimage to [[Mashhad]], [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]], he encountered [[Molla Ahmad Naraqi|Ahmad Naraqi]], an authority in [[fiqh]], [[usul al-fiqh]] and [[irfan]], and&nbsp;– although Ansari was already a [[mujtahid]] in his own right when he left Karbala&nbsp;– studied with him for a further four years. After again traveling for a number of years, he returned to Najaf where he completed his studies under Kashf ul-Ghita and [[Muhammad Hasan Najafi]] (author of ''Jawahir ul-Kalam'') and began teaching.<ref name="iranica.com"/><ref name="Amin, Muhsin p. 118">"al-Amin, Muhsin, Ayan ul-Shiah, v.10 p. 118 (Arabic)"</ref>
==Religious leadership==
When the last of the prominent scholars of the generation senior to Ansari died in 1849, Ansari was universally recognized as the 'most learned [[Mujtahid]]' ([[marja']]) in the Twelver Shi'ah community.<ref>Mottahedeh, ''The Mantle of the Prophet'', (2000), p. 213</ref> His lessons in [[Fiqh]] and [[Usul al-fiqh]] became incredibly popular, attracting hundreds of students.<ref name="Amin, Muhsin p. 118"/> Furthermore, it is estimated that 200,000 Tomans a year of [[Khums]] money was tithed to Ansari's base in [[Najaf]] "from all over the Islamic world". Despite this, Ansari lived humbly, generously provided stipends to his [[Talibe|Islamic students]] with these funds, and this resulted in a confirmation of Najaf's standing as center of Shiah learning.<ref>Mottahedeh, ''The Mantle of the Prophet'', (2000), p. 213-4</ref> In spite of the tremendous prestige attached to his position, Ansari lived the life of an ascetic. When he died, his two daughters were unable to pay for his funeral expenses from his inheritance.<ref name="iranica.com"/> He rarely used his authority in the Shia community, seldom judging cases or giving [[Fatwā|fatawa]].<ref>Mottahedeh, ''The Mantle of the Prophet'', (2000), p. 214</ref>
From the beginning of the [[Oudh Bequest]] in 1850, Morteza Ansari along with Sayyid Ali Naqi Tabatabie transferred the bequest from India through agents. Morteza Ansari had devised a mode of distribution which included "junior ''mujtahids'', low-ranking indigent ''[[ulama]]'', Persian and Arab students, the custodians of the shrines, and the poor."<ref name="Meir2">{{cite journal|last1=Litvak|first1=Meir|title=The Finances of the 'ulamā' Communities of Najaf and Karbalā, 1796–1904|journal=Die Welt des Islams|date=1 January 2000|volume=40|issue=1|pages=41–66|doi=10.1163/1570060001569875|url=http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/1570060001569875?showFullText=pdf|accessdate=18 November 2016}}{{subscription required|Brill}}</ref>
==Intellectual contribution==
According to [[Roy Mottahedeh]], Ansari was celebrated for his piety and generosity and "more than that of any mullah leader of the past two centuries, his leadership celebrated his learning." Through the expansion of rational devices in [[Usul al-fiqh]], Ansari implicitly admitted the uncertainty of much of the sacred law. For this reason, he emphasized that only a learned [[Mujtahid]] could interpret scripture (i.e. the [[Qur'an]] and [[Hadith]]) and employ reason to produce legal doctrines. The rest of the community was obliged to follow ([[Taqlid]]) the doctrines of these legal scholars.<ref name="Mottahedeh, 2000 p. 210"/>
Ansari was the author of some thirty books and treatises, noted for their clarity and readability.<ref name="iranica.com"/> Most of his works center on [[Fiqh]] and [[Usul al-Fiqh]]. Of the former, his most important work is the [[Makasib]], a detailed exposition of [[Islamic Commercial Law]], which is still taught today in the [[Hawza]] and has yet to be surpassed.<ref name="iranica.com"/> Of the latter, his ''Fara'id ul-Usul'' remains an extremely important work. In it, he is credited with expanding the scope of the ''usul 'amaliyyah'' (practical principles, as opposed to semantic principles) in Shi'i jurisprudence. For this reason, Ansari is said to have laid the foundations of modern Twelver jurisprudence and his style&nbsp;– more than any other classical scholar&nbsp;– is imitated by the modern jurists.<ref>"al-Amin, Muhsin, Ayan ul-Shiah, v.10 p. 119 (Arabic)"</ref>
==See also==
*[[List of Islamic studies scholars]]
*[[Qajar dynasty]]
==Sources==
*[[Roy Mottahedeh|Mottahedeh, Roy]], ''The Mantle of the Prophet : Religion and Politics in Iran'', One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000
*Amin, Muhsin, ''Ayan ul-Shi'ah'', Dar ul-Ta'aruf, Beirut, 1983 (Arabic)
*Murata, S. ANṢĀRĪ, SHAIKH MORTAŻĀ B. MOḤAMMAD AMĪN. Encyclopædia Iranica: www.iranica.com (accessed 29.09.09)
*Momen, ''An Introduction to Shi'ī Islam''
*Tabataba'i, [[Hossein Modarressi]], ''An Introduction to Shi'i Law: A Bibliographical Study'': London 1984
===References===
<references/>
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Morteza}}
[[Category:1781 births]]
[[Category:1864 deaths]]
[[Category:Iranian Arab Islamic scholars]]
[[Category:People from Dezful]]
[[Category:Iranian ayatollahs]]