Qom Seminary

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the Qom Seminary, 15 March 2016

The Qom Seminary (Persian: حوزه قم‎) is the largest Islamic seminary (hawza) in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom.[1]

Although big Shi'a academies existed in Qom dating back as early as 10th century CE,[2] the hawza of the city became prominent at the time of the Safavids when Shi'a Islam became the official religion of Iran. The famous teachers of that era included Mulla Sadra and Shaykh Bahai. The modern Qom hawza was revitalized by Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi and is barely a century old. There are nearly three hundred thousand clerics in Iran’s seminaries.[3] Grand Ayatollah Hossein Vahid Khorasani currently heads the Qom Seminary.

Notable teachers

See also

References

  1. ↑ Walbridge, Linda S. The most learned of the Shiʻa: the institution of the Marjaʻ taqlid Oxford University Press, p.217.
  2. ↑ Thinking ahead: Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries, Christoph Marcinkowsi, Nayang Technological University, Singapore
  3. ↑ A History of Tension between Iran's Clerics and the State, Mehdi Khalaji July 26th 2010 Washington Institute

Coordinates: 34°38′29″N 50°52′48″E / 34.6414°N 50.8800°E / 34.6414; 50.8800

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