Biography

Āyatullāh Muḥammad Bāqir Taḥrīrī was born in Tehran in the year 1955 to a family of religious scholars. His father was the late Āyatullāh Maḥmūd Taḥrīrī, a mystic and well-known scholar in Tehran.
Ayatullah Maḥmūd Taḥrīrī (His Father)
Āyatullāh Maḥmūd Taḥrīri spent his noble life in acquiring knowledge of the Qurʾān and the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) along with practicing and preaching this knowledge. He was born in Tehran in the year 1920, to a religious family with deep love of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them). While still young, he associated with spiritual personalities such as Shaykh Rajab ʿAlī Khayyāṭ and later began his studies in the Islamic seminaries of Tehran. There he became acquainted with great scholars such as Āyatullāh Shāh Ābādī and Sayyid Riḍā Darbandī. Afterwards, he enrolled in the Islamic seminary of Qom and studied under great scholars such as Āyatullāh Shahābuddīn Marʿāshī Najafī, Āyatullāh Muḥammad Riḍā Gulpaygāni, Imam Rūḥullāh Khumaynī, and Āyatullāh Ḥusayn Burūjardī (may Allah’s mercy be upon all of them).
In addition to this Āyatullāh Maḥmūd was in touch with and benefited spiritually from Āyatullāh Bahjat as well as some of the students of the well-known mystic Mīrzā Jawād Malikī Tabrīzī such as Sayyid Ḥusayn Qummī and Shaykh ʿAbbās Tehrānī. However, his primary teacher in matters of mysticism and spirituality was ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Ḥusayn Tabātabāʾī. At the same time, he established a spiritual bond with the great mystic, Shaykh Jawād Anṣārī Hamadānī.
From the age of 30, Āyatullāh Maḥmūd led congregational prayers and held many sermons, preaching and enlightening the youth. He passed away in the mosque before leading the prayers in the year 1990.
Early Life in Tehran
Āyatullāh Muḥammad Bāqir Taḥrīrī entered elementary school at the age of six and spent two years in high school while also attending religious gatherings and benefiting from his father’s spiritual presence. It was his father who inspired him to acquire religious knowledge. He entered the Islamic seminary of Mullā Muḥammad Jaʿfar in Tehran in the year 1969, which at the time was under the management of Āyatullāh Mujtahidī. Here he studied some of the book Sharḥ al-lumʿah along with other introductory studies under Āyatullāh Mujtahidī and other teachers.
In addition to benefiting from the spiritual presence of Āyatullāh Mujtahidī, he also benefited spiritually from Shaykh Jawad Karbalāʾī and the gatherings of Sayyid Hāshim Tehrānī.
Arrival in Qom
Because of the lack of scholars in Tehran and in order to benefit spiritually, Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī sought permission from his mentor Āyatullāh Mujtahidī to move to the city of Qom. In 1973 he did so, first living in the Ḥujjatiyyah school and then later Āyatullāh Marʿāshī Najafī’s school. When he first entered Qom, on his father’s advice, he went to the holy shrine of Sayyidah Maʿṣūmah (peace be upon her) and requested from her to provide him with a home, an academic teacher, and a spiritual mentor to guide him. Allah fulfilled all these requests for him.
Teachers
Some of Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī’s teachers in the holy city of Qom and books that he has studied with them include:
• Shaykh Bākūʾī: A large part of the book Maʿālim
• Āyatullāh Dūzdūzānī: Qawānīn al-uṣūl
• Āyatullāh Ustādi: Parts from the Sharḥ al-lumʿah
• Āyatullāh ʿAlawī Gorgānī: Parts from the Sharḥ al-lumʿah
• Āyatullāh Sayyid Abū al-Faḍl Mūsawī Tabrīzī: Parts from the Sharḥ al-lumʿah
• Āyatullāh Ṣalawātī: Makāsib al-muḥarramah
• Āyatullāh Sitūde: Kitāb al-bayʿ, Makāsib and Matājir
• Āyatullāh Sayyid Rasūl Mūsawī: A large part of Rasāʾil
• Āyatullāh Dhihnī: Parts of Rasāʾil
• Āyatullāh al-Uẓmā Fāḍil Lankarānī: volume one of Kifāyah al-uṣūl, and one year of dars al-khārij in the principles of jurisprudence
• Āyatullāh Ḥusayn Mazāhirī Iṣfahānī: volume two of Kifāyah al-uṣūl
• Āyatullāh Ibrāhīm Amīnī: A part of Bidāyah al-ḥikmah and Ishārāt
• Āyatullāh Muḥammad Gīlānī: Manẓūmah of Mulla Hādi Sabzwārī
• Āyatullāh Girāmī: The section on logic from the Manẓūmah
• Āyatullāh Miṣbāḥ Yazdī: Nihāyah al-ḥikmah and some subject-wise tafsīr
• Āyatullāh Jawādi Āmulī: Parts from five volumes of Al-asfār al-arbaʿah
• Āyatullāh Hasanzāde Āmulī: Parts from two volumes of Al-asfār al-arbaʿah. Parts of the Ilāhiyāt and Ṭabīʿīyāt of the Shifāʾ as well as parts of the Tamhīd al-qawāʿid, Fuṣuṣ al-ḥikam and Miṣbāḥ al-uns (textbooks in ʿirfān).
• Āyatullāh Sayyid Muḥammad Rūḥānī: Approximately two years dars al-khārij in the principles of jurisprudence
• Āyatullāh al-Uẓmā Mirzā Jawād Tabrīzī: 10 years dars al-khārij in jurisprudence and 7 years dars al-khārij in the principles of jurisprudence
• Āyatullāh al-Uẓmā Bahjat: Approximately 17 years of dars al-khārij in jurisprudence
Teachers in Akhlāq and Spirituality
Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī attended Āyatullāh Bahjat’s congregational prayers and rozeh (mourning gatherings) from the beginning of his time in Qom. In addition to this, he maintained a spiritual bond with Āyatullāh Bahjat until the end of his life.
In the early days of his coming to Qom, Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī also developed a bond with Āyatullāh Saʿādat Parvar. He used to attend private sessions with Āyatullāh Saʿādat Parvar, and it was through him that Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī became acquainted with the great mufassir of the Qurʾān, ʿAllāmah Tabātabāʾī. Thereafter, he participated in different academic and spiritual gatherings of ʿAllāmah. He was mentored spiritually by these two great teachers, ʿAllāmah Tabātabāʾī and Āyatullāh Saʿādat Parvar until the end of their lives.
In addition to all the above, he also benefited spiritually from his esteemed father.
Teaching Positions
From the early days of his time in the Islamic seminaries, Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī began to teach. Aside from the courses he taught in the introductory levels of the Islamic seminary, some of the courses he has taught include:
• Chapters from Sharḥ al-lumʿah and Makāsib al-muḥarramah (books in jurisprudence)
• Chapters from Rasāʾil and Kifāyah al-uṣūl (books in the principles of jurisprudence)
• A full dars al-khārij course in the principles of jurisprudence
• Courses in Islamic philosophy such as the Manẓūmah, Bidāyah al-ḥikmah, Nihāyah al-ḥikmah, Ḥikmah al-ishārāt, and two complete courses on Al-asfār al-arbaʿah
• About 20 years of Tafsīr al-mīzān, teaching it repeatedly
• Islamic theology and ethics at the University of Tehran for four years
• Islamic theology, ethics and philosophy at the IRGC college of mentor training
• Islamic theology and ethics to the IRGC land and navy forces
• Head of the Beliefs group at the IRGC Research Centre of Qom for about five years
• Dars al-khārij in both jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence. This started in the holy shrine of Sayyidah Maʿṣūmah (peace be upon her) in the year 2015, and continues to date in the Marvī school in Tehran
Tablīgh Activities
Towards the end of the second stage of his seminary studies, Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī began to do tablīgh. This was in the year 1977. From then onwards he would regularly engage in tablīgh activities.
After the death of his father in 1990, Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī continued his father’s Friday morning gatherings in Tehran. His father Āyatullāh Maḥmūd Taḥrīrī was giving a commentary on the famous narration of ʿaql and jahl (the intellect and ignorance) when he passed away. Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī first continued this, then moved on to discuss commentaries on Ziyārah al-jāmiʿah al-kabīrah, the letter of Imam ʿAlī (peace be upon him) to Mālik al-Ashtar, the Noble Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) instructions to Abū Dharr, the supplication of Imam al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him) on the day of ʿArafah, and then the sermon of Ghadīr. These gatherings continue to this date at the Muʿayyir al-Mamālik school in Tehran, and Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī is currently giving a commentary on the advice of Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) to ʿAbdullāh bin Jundab.
He also conducts another session on Fridays in Tehran that has been running for more than 20 years. In this gathering, topics such as the Munājat al-shaʿbāniyyah, Duʿāʾ Kumayl, letter number 31 of Nahj al-balāghah (Imam ʿAlī’s instructions to Imam al-Ḥasan, peace be upon them), the Munājāt khamsah ʿashar, and the sermon of Sayyidah Zahrā (peace be upon her) have been discussed. Currently in these sessions, Āyatullāh Taḥrīrī has started going through Nahj al-balāghah from the beginning of the book.
In addition, he holds lessons in Qom in which akhlāqī and spiritual topics are covered. For example, he has given commentaries on the ḥadīth of ʿUnwān al-Baṣri and Duʿāʾ al-iftitāḥ during the past. One example of an ongoing tablīgh engagement of his are the akhlāq lessons that he has been teaching at the Imam Khumaynī school, an affiliate school of Al-Mustafa International University in Qom. These lessons started in the year 1988 and continue to this date. Various books, letters, supplications and other narrations have been discussed in these lessons. Initially the book Miʿrāj-i saʿādah of Mullā Mahdī Narāqi was discussed, then Letter 31 of Nahj al-balāghah, the Noble Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) instructions to Abū Dharr, Imam al-Sajjād’s (peace be upon him) Risālah al-ḥuqūq, Duʿāʾ makārim al-akhlāq, various supplications from the Saḥīfah al-sajjādiyyah, and the narration of Imam ʿAlī (peace be upon him) known as Ḥadīth arbaʿah mīʾah.
He also taught the book Forty Ḥadīth by Imam Khumaynī at The Supreme Assembly of Islamic Philosophy in Qom and is currently discussing the Nahj al-balāghah there.
In addition to regularly leading the congregational prayers at the Imam Khumaynī school for over 15 years, one of his continuous works is to counsel people in akhlāqī and spiritual matters. Despite his busy schedule, large numbers of students in Tehran and Qom regularly meet him for this purpose. After leading congregational prayers or conducting public classes, he humbly allocates time to meet with students, patiently listening to them one-by-one and guiding them in accordance with the true spirituality of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).
In the year 2011 he was entrusted with leading the the Muʿayyir al-Mamālik school in Tehran. In the year 2017, he was appointed by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Āyatullāh Khāminiʾī (may Allah protect him), to also lead the Marvī school in Tehran. In the following year he became a member of The Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Seminary of Tehran and in the year 2020 he also established a school in Qom catering for senior students of the Islamic seminary. The school is named after his late teacher Āyatullāh Saʿādat Parvar and is in the previous residence of this teacher.
Notable Works
• Bandigīy-i ḥaqīqī va ḥaqīqat-i ʿilm (True Servitude and the Reality of Knowledge) – A commentary on the ḥadīth of ʿUnwān al-Baṣrī
• Gāmhāy-i āghāzīn-i sulūk – A summary of the above book
• ʿUrūj-i ʿaql – A two-volume commentary on the ḥadīth of the armies of the ʿaql (intellect) and the jahl (ignorance)
• Najvāy-i ʿārifāni – A commentary on the Munājāt al-shaʿbāniyyah
• Sīmāy-i mukhbitīn – A commentary on Ziyārah amīnullāh
• Jilvehāy-i lāhūtī – A two-volume commentary on Ziyārah al-jāmiʿah al-kabīrah
• Insān va gustarey-i ḥuqūq-i bandegī – A commentary on the Risālah al-ḥuqūq of Imam al-Sajjād (peace be upon him)
• Manshūr-i bandegī (The Declaration of Servitude) – A summary of the above book
• Ṭarīq-i saʿādat – A collection of questions and answers pertaining with different areas such as spirituality, ethics, and family life
• Bāzgasht bi sūy-i ū – A commentary on the Munājāt al-tāʾibīn
• Dard-i dil bā khudāwand – A commentary on the Munājāt al-shākkīn
• Rāz-i nahān-i ranj – A commentary on the seventh supplication of Saḥīfah al-sajjādiyyah
• Ḥadīth arbaʿah mīʾah – A commentary on the narration of Imam ʿAlī known by the same name
Other books such as a commentary on Duʿāʾ makārim al-akhlāq are currently in the process of being compiled.