Sayyid ʿAlī al-Muwaḥid al-Abṭaḥī al-Iṣfahānī

Sayyid ʿAlī al-Muwaḥid al-Abṭaḥī, the son of Sayyid Murtaḍā, was among the contemporary scholars of Isfahan. He was born in the year 1359 AH (equivalent to 1319 SH / 1940 CE) in Isfahan. He was the brother of Sayyid Muḥammad-Bāqir al-Muwaḥid al-Abṭaḥī and Sayyid Muḥammad-ʿAlī al-Muwaḥid al-Abṭaḥī. Among his notable scholarly contributions are Āyat al-Taṭhīr fī Aḥādīth al-Farīqayn (“The Verse of Purification in the Traditions of the Two Schools”) and al-Shīʿa fī Aḥādīth al-Farīqayn (“The Shīʿa in the Traditions of the Two Schools”), both of which exemplify his rigorous engagement with inter-sectarian ḥadīth literature.

He began his preliminary Islamic studies under the tutelage of his father, completing up to Sharḥ al-Lumʿa. He studied Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām with Mīrzā Muḥammad Ṭabībzādah, al-Rasāʾil with Muḥammad Ḥasan Najafābādī, and astronomy (hayʾa) with the late Majd al-ʿUlamāʾ. He also learned traditional medicine from his father.

In 1379 AH (1339 SH / 1960 CE), he moved to Qom to pursue advanced studies. There, he studied the first volume of Kifāyah al-Uṣūl under Muḥammad Mujāhidī, and the second volume under Ḥājj Sayyid Muḥammad-Bāqir Sulṭānī. He studied Manẓūmah (Sabzawārī’s philosophical treatise) under ʿAbdullāh Jawādī Āmulī and Ḥājj Āqā Sayyid Muṣṭafā Khomeinī, and al-Asfār al-Arbaʿa (by Mulla Ṣadrā) under ʿAllāmah Sayyid Muḥammad-Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī. He also studied al-Makāsib under his brother, Sayyid Muḥammad-Bāqir al-Muwaḥid al-Abṭaḥī.

He later attended dars-e khārij (advanced jurisprudential discourse) in uṣūl al-fiqh with Imam Khomeinī and Āyatollāh Muḥammad-ʿAlī Ārākī, and in fiqh under Grand Ayatollahs: Golpāygānī (for approximately 15 years), Sharīʿatmadārī (approx. 8 years), Sayyid Muḥammad Dāmād (approx. 8 years), and his brother, Ḥājj Sayyid Muḥammad-Bāqir al-Muwaḥid al-Abṭaḥī.

Around 1382 AH (1342 SH / 1963 CE), he traveled to Najaf al-Ashraf to continue his scholarly pursuits, where he studied under Grand Ayatollahs: Sayyid Maḥmūd Shāhrūdī, Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim al-Khūʾī, Ḥusayn Ḥillī, and Mīrzā Bāqir Zanjānī.

During his years of study in Qom, he would return to Isfahan during summer breaks and benefit from the teachings of scholars such as Āyatollāhs Khorāsānī, Khādimī, and Behbahānī.

He passed away on Monday, 20 Azar 1402 SH (27 Jumādā al-Ūlā 1445 AH / 11 December 2023 CE). His funeral procession took place on Tuesday, 21 Azar, starting from the Imam Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī Mosque in Qom and proceeding toward the sacred shrine of Lady Fāṭimah al-Maʿṣūmah (peace be upon her). Following funeral prayers led by Āyatollāh ʿAlī Karīmī Jaharmī, he was buried near the shrine of Shāh Ḥamzah in Qom.