Hajji Shaikh Mohammad-Taqi Esfahani, commonly known as Agha Najafi Esfahani (1846-1914), was a prominent Iranian religious leader during the Qajar era, particularly in the city of Isfahan, where he served as the prayer leader at the Shah Mosque (Masjed-e Shah), Isfahan's foremost mosque.[1][2]
Hailing from a lineage associated with the local rulers (khans) of Varamin near Tehran, Agha Najafi's family migrated to Isfahan, a thriving center for religious studies at the time.[1] The family produced a lineage of eminent scholars, including numerous olama and mojtaheds—high-ranking Shi'i jurisprudents. Agha Najafi's grandfather, Shaikh Mohammad-Taqi ibn Abdolrahim (entitled Saheb-e Hashia; died 1832), and his father's uncle, Shaikh Moḥammad-Hosayn ibn ʿAbdolrahim (entitled Saheb-e Fosul; died 1845), established a notable school of Shi'ite jurisprudence. This institution gained recognition and garnered followers, among them later Shi'ite authorities such as Akhund Khorasani.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Hairi, A.-H. (1985). "ĀQĀ NAJAFĪ EṢFAHĀNĪ". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume II/2: Anthropology–ʿArab Moḥammad. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 178–180. ISBN 978-0-71009-102-4.
- ^ Afary, Janet (2010). "Agha Najafī". In Norman A. Stillman (ed.). Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Brill Online.
Further reading
edit- Martin, Vanessa (2008). "Aqa Najafi, Haj Aqa Nurullah, and the Emergence of Islamism in Isfahan 1889-1908". Iranian Studies. 41 (2): 155–172. doi:10.1080/00210860801913370.
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