24th of Shaban, Passing Anniversary of Mirza Shirazi
On 24th of Shaban, 128 years ago, the leader of the Tobacco Protest, the great Shia scholar Ayatollah Sayed Mohammad Hasan Husaini Shirazi, commonly known as the Great Mirza, passed away.
The Great Mirza Shirazi was a leading Shia marja, who is famously known for his verdict against the usage of tobacco in what became known as the Tobacco Protest in Iran.
Born in Shiraz, Iran, Shirazi began his Islamic religious studies at the age of four. He completed his preliminary-level studies by age eight and at age 12, he began advanced lessons in jurisprudence and methodology at the Shiraz seminary. At the age of 29, he began studying under Sheikh Morteza Ansari in Najaf. Upon Ansari’s death in 1864, Shirazi succeeded him as marja’.
Among his notable students were Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi (Mirza the second), Sheikh Abdul Karim Haeri (the founder of Qom Seminary), Mirza Hussain Naeini, Sheikh Fazlulla Nouri, Mohammad Kadhim Khorasani, and Sayed Mohammad Kadhim Yazdi (the author of Orwatul Wothqa).
The Great Mirza Shirazi is a great grandfather of the current Grand Jurist Ayatollah Sayed Sadiq Shirazi.
