Marja’, Ayatullah Fayyadh

The grand Marja’, Ayatullah Fayyadh was born in 1930 in South Kabul - the capital of Afghanistan - in the village of Gharneen.   From the age of five, his eminence took an active interest in learning the Qur’an and thus, for the next ten years, engrossed himself in the Book of All¡h and its various sciences. 

Through the dedication of his father, he was encouraged to pursue Islamic studies in the Theological Seminaries of Afghanistan and thus, began his introductory studies in Islamic sciences including Arabic, Logic and other disciplines in Kabul under the guidance of the well-known scholars of his time, Shaykh Mullah Ismail and Mullah Haider ‘Ali.

Remaining in the city of Kabul until the death of his mother, when she left this mortal world, he made his first migration to acquire deeper knowledge of Isl¡m.  This first trip saw him migrate to Mashad al-Muqaddas in Iran.   During his stay in the sacred city of Mashad, he studied the works of various prominent and well-known scholars of the Theological Seminary.

However, his thirst for knowledge pushed him to move to other cities in Iran which were offering Islamic guidance including Tabriz and Qum before finally crossing over to Iraq to partake in the Divine banquet of knowledge being offered in Najaf. 

In the blessed city of Najaf al-Ashraf, he was able to drink from the fountain springs of knowledge of the thousand-year-old Seminary in this great city.  While in the precincts of the Commander of the Faithful, he was able to learn and emulate the noble etiquette and morals which were found in the city and amongst the religious students and to take these as an example for his own life.  

During his early days in Najaf, he studied under such notable personalities and well-known scolars as Shaykh Mirza Kadhim Tabrizi, Sayyid Asadullah Madani and Mirza Ali Falsafee.   He then continued on to the higher levels of studies and benefited from the guidance of Shaykh Mujtaba Lankarani while the highest and final level of studies was carried out under the grand Mara’ja and scholars of the Seminary.

It was at this same time that in addition to learning the higher sciences, he also began to teach various disciplines in the Najaf seminary.  Thus, as all other successful students, he too transformed himself from a student into a teacher!  In this new role, he was able to teach the valuable Islamic lessons to countless up and coming students.

He capped the teaching of his Hawza studies by introducing his own discussions, known as “Ba’thul Kharij” in the year 1977 – which continues on until today – some of which have been recorded and published in book form.  This is the final level which one must master before he can be considered as a Mujtahid and one worthy of being followed.

Granted the status of a Mujtahid by personalities such as the late Ayatullah al-Khoei (may Allah shower his mercy upon him) and others, he was also diretly chosen by the late Imam al-Khoei to be on the board of scholars who would be responsible for answering religious enquiries coming in from all over the world!

His website, currently only in Arabic, gives access to his classes being offered in Najaf al-Ashraf and the complete text of many of his books are also hosted in PDF format.