Ayatullah
Sayyid Mohammad Raza Gulpaygani
Ayatullah
Seyed Muhammad Reza
Gulpaygani
departed for his heavenly
abode on
Thursday night, 9th of
December at
the age of 96. He suffered
from acute
respiratory deficiency and
lung infection
for which he was confined
at hospital.
The Ayatullah
who was the supreme
religious
authority of the Shi'a world,
became
terminally ill immediately after
midnight
Tuesday and was rushed to
the Cardiac
Care Unit of the hospital but
his condition
continued to deteriorate
despite the
extra care and attention of
his doctors.
Ayatullah
Gulpaygani went into a coma in the wee hours of
Wednesday
morning and eventually left the mortal world minutes
before evening
prayers Thursday.
He saw the
light of day in the village of Koukeh near the city of
Gulpaygan (135
kms north-east of Isfahan) in the closing years of
the 19th
century and at the age of 20 went to Arak which was the
Centre of the
Theological studies. There, he received his education
under
Ayatullah Abdul Karim Haeri. Later in 1921 he went to the city
of Qum to
complete his studies.
In the early
1960s following the death of Grand Ayatullah Boroujerdi
and during the
banishment Ayatullah Imam Khumayni from Iran, he
became
superintendent of the Qum Theological Seminary. He took
over the
administration of the school at a crucial time when both
the
theological school and Islamic scholars were in at stake due to
repressive
measures directed by Shah. At that time he had about
800 students
who attended his classes and received advanced
training in
religious studies.
Ayatullah
Gulpaygani is the author of a number of scholarly works
and treatises
as well as commentaries on various other works of
scholastically
abstruse character. Among them is an annotation on
the
Al-Urwat-ul-Wuthqa, 'Tawzih-al-Masa'il' the Manasik-e-Hajj' and
so on.
He rendered
valuable services during his superintendence of the
Theological
Seminary in Qum, and also helped establish almost 30
theological
schools in various towns and cities throughout Iran, as
well as health
clinics for students and other types of public utility
centers in
many parts of the country and abroad as well.
Ayatullah
Gulpaygani was a great scholar and a 'Marj'a' and he had
many followers
throughout the world. He subscribed to the concept
of
'Willayat-e-Faqhih put forwarded by Imam Khumayni.
The Leader of
the Islamic Revolution Ayatullah Seyed Ali Khamenei
expressed deep
condolence over the sad demise of the Grand
Ayatullah
Muhammad Reza Gulpaygani.
He was one of the
pillars of the Islamic Revolution and The Islamic
Republic, said
the leader in a statement.
During the
oppressive rule of the former regime and in confronting
the bitter
incidents which occurred in the years after the
banishment
from Iran of Imam Khumayni (1963), there was some
occasions when
the voice of this great personality was the only
threatening
voice against the former regime, which raised from the
Qum
theological seminary and gave enthusiasm to the Islamic
movement.
After the
victory of the Islamic Revolution, he had an active
contribution
in managing the general affairs of the revolution, said
the statement
adding that he unequivocally supported the Islamic
Republic
system and its exalted leadership. He was respected and
honoured by
the late Imam Khumayni.
The departure
of this divine scholar was a grave and irreparable
loss, the
statement added.
The statement
also said that the grand Ayatullah was
Marja'-e-Taqlid
for 32 years, and a teacher at the Qum theological
seminary for
about 72 years while keeping on learning and teaching
Fiqh
(Jurisprudence) for about 85 years.
He was the
first person to establish modern theological seminary and
the first
great institute for Quranic studies in Qum. He was the first
person to
prepare a table of contents of Fiqh and Hadith (Tradition)
by using
modern technology and knowledge.
He founded
hundreds of schools, mosques and Islamic propagation
centres in
Iran and other countries and brought up thousands of
disciples.
Article taken from
http://www.playandlearn.org/Scholars/index.htm