Dar al-Zahra was the first women's Shia seminary to be opened in Qom. It was established by grand ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, who opened it in 1973 as a section of his hawza Dar al-Tabligh. [1]
By 1975, Dar al-Zahra already counted 150 female students, taught by male teachers from behind a curtain. [2]
With the fall-out between Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari and Khomeini, the seminary was closed and Shariatmadari was placed under house arrest.
Dar al-Zahra was run by Fatemeh Amini. After Dar al-Tabligh was closed, she opened a number of other women's seminaries in Tehran. [3]
Ayatollah is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
The Iranian Revolution, also known as the 1979 Revolution and the Islamic Revolution, was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution also led to the replacement of the Imperial State of Iran by the present-day Islamic Republic of Iran, as the monarchical government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was superseded by the theocratic government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a religious cleric who had headed one of the rebel factions. The ousting of Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, formally marked the end of Iran's historical monarchy.
A hawza or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah is the collective term for madrasa where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated.
Sayyid Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, also spelled Shariat-Madari, was an Iranian Grand Ayatollah. He favoured the traditional Shiite practice of keeping clerics away from governmental positions and was a critic of Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, denouncing the taking hostage of diplomats at the US embassy in Tehran.
In Shi'a Islam the guidance of clergy and keeping such a structure holds great importance. There are several branches of Shi'ism, of which Twelver Shi'ism is by far the largest, and each of the branches has different clergy structures. Individual clerics are referred to as mullā or ākhūnd, but since those terms have developed "a somewhat pejorative connotation" since at least the 1980s, the term rūḥānī has been "promoted" as an alternative, "especially by the clerical class itself".
Haghani school is a Shi'i school of thought in Iran based in the holy city of Qom and formerly headed by Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, an influential theologian. The Haghani Circle has its origin in the Haghani seminary, founded in 1964, which previously had been called Muntashiriya. After Ayatollahs Qoddusi and Beheshti, two of the leading members of the circle, were assassinated in 1981, the hawza changed its name to Shahidan Seminary.
Traditionally, the thought and practice of Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism in the nation of Iran has referred to various forms of Shi'i Islamic religious revivalism that seek a return to the original texts and the inspiration of the original believers of Islam. Issues of importance to the movement include the elimination of foreign, non-Islamic ideas and practices from Iran's society, economy and political system. It is often contrasted with other strains of Islamic thought, such as traditionalism, quietism and modernism. In Iran, Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism is primarily associated with the thought and practice of the leader of the Islamic Revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ("Khomeinism"), but may also involve figures such as Fazlullah Nouri, Navvab Safavi, and successors of Khomeini.
Ayatollah Seyed Reza Zanjani was a Shia Iranian cleric who opposed first the autocracy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and then theocracy that was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his supporters following the Islamic Revolution.
The Qom Seminary is the largest Islamic seminary (hawza) in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom. It trains Usuli scholars.
The Dar al-Tabligh was a Shiite seminary in Qom. It was established in the mid-1960s by eminent grand ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari and soon emerged as one of the most popular hawza for Iranian and foreign students, with a prolific publishing outlet.
Maktab-e Tawhid was a Shi'i seminary for women, established in Qom, Iran's clerical center in 1975, as a wing of the Haghani school.
Sayyida Farideh Mostafavi Khomeini is an Iranian female religious scholar and Ayatollah Khomeini's youngest daughter.
Jami'at al-Zahra is the largest seminary for Muslim women in the Islamic world. It is located in Qom, Iran.
Ahmad Khonsari, also Aḥmad Khvānsārī, or Khvunsārī was an Iranian Grand Ayatollah and attained marja status after the death of marja Boroujerdi in 1961. In contrast to the other maraji of his time, who lived in the holy cities of Qom or Najaf, he was based in Tehran, where he ran his own hawza. Khonsari was one of the teachers of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Fatemeh Amini is a female religious leader of Iran, who has directed and opened a number of women's seminaries in Qom and Tehran.
Mohammad Hasan Mamaqani was a leading mujtahid of Najaf in the 19th century.
Abdol Hossein Dastgheib. He was appointed Imam of Friday Prayer and one of the representatives of the Supreme Leader in Shiraz. He was a Mujtahid, expert in Arabic language, theology, revealed texts, and the principles of jurisprudence. He was killed by the People's Mujahedin of Iran.
Seyed Abolfazl Rihani, was known as Ayatollah Seyed Abolfazl Mousavi Tabrizi. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts, involved with the creation of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran being a member of the Assembly of Experts for Constitution, and was the Prosecutor-General of Iran.
Shia Islamism is the usage of Shia Islam in politics. Most study and reporting on Islamism has been focused on Sunni Islamist movements. Shia Islamism, a previously very small ideology, was boosted after the Iranian Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini, whose Shia Islamist policies became known as Khomeinism.
Abd al-Rahim Aqiqi Bakhshayishi was an Iranian Islamic jurist, religious writer, journalist and translator, widely known for his biographies of Twelver Shia scholars. Born in Bakhshayesh village of Heris County to an Azeri farmer family. He completed his religious studies in Qom with prominent scholars and graduated from Tehran University in 1971. From religious journalism, he started his independent writing and activities in 1961. A pro-Khomeini during 1979 revolution, Aqiqi was also active in the Islam Da'wah as a Twelver Shia faqih. He died in Qom at the age of seventy and left many works and translations from Arabic to Persian.