Martyr Murtaza Mutahhari was born on 31st
January 1919 at Fariman, in Iran. He was educated by his father, Muhammad
Hussayn Mutahhari, and also at an exceptionally early age of twelve, he started
the formal religious education in Mashhad.
But in Mashhad, he discovered his great love for
philosophy, theology, and mysticism. This love shaped his entire personality. He attended the Howzah at Qum from 1944 to
1952.He studied Fiqh and Usul under
Ayatullah Hujjat Kuhkamary, Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Dama’ad, Ayatullah Sayyid
Muhammad Reza Gulpaegani, and Haji Sayyid Sader-ad-Din Sadr. But more important
than all these was Ayatullah Brujerdi, who succeeded Ayatullah Ha’iri as the
director teaching establishment in Qum.
Ayatullah Ruhullah Khomayni was a young lecturer teaching
Ethics at Qum. Ayatullah Khomayni was already established himself by the
profoundness and comprehensiveness of his Islamic vision and his ability to
convey it to others. His other teacher who had influenced Mutahhari’s
personality was Ayatullah Muhammad Hussayn Tabataba’i who taught him
materialist philosophy and “Shifa” of Abu Ali Sina’a. He viewed the attainment
of knowledge and understanding as the prime goal and benefit of religion.
Mutahhari adhered to the philosophy of Mullah Sadra, “the sublime philosophy”
that seeks to combine the methods of spiritual insights with those of
philosophical deductions.
He returned to Tehran
and was invited to lectures on Philosophy at the Tehran University for 22
years. His promotion was hampered by his closeness to Ayatullah Khomayni. He
came to this University as an articulate and convinced exponent of Islamic
sciences and wisdom, almost as an envoy of the religious institution to the
secularly educated.
In addition to building his reputation as a popular and
effective University lecturer, he participated in numerous Islamic associations
that had come into being under the supervision of Mahdi Bazargan and Ayatullah
Taleqani. Mutahhari’s wishes for a wider diffusion of religious knowledge
in the society, led him in 1960 to assume the leadership of Tehran Ulema known
as the Monthly Religious Society. For about 8 years he gave lectures at Husseinia
Ershad., which was designed to gain the support of the secularly educated youth.
As he felt the need of accurate and systematic understanding
of Islam and the consequent problems in the society, Mutahhari single-handedly
wrote many books such as Adle Ilahi
(Divine Justice), Nizam-e-Huquq-e-Zan dar Islam (The system of Women’s Rights
in Islam), Mas’alay Hijab (The Question of the Veil), Ashna’e ba Ulum-e-Islami
(An Introduction to the Islamic Sciences), and Muqadama bar Jahanbani-e-Islami
(An Introduction to the Worldview of Islam).
While in Qum, he had sought to instill political consciousness
in his contemporaries, and was particularly close among them who were members
of the Fidayan-e-Islam, the militant
organization founded in 1945 by Nawaab Safavi. When the Islamic Revolution
reached triumphant climax in 1978 when Ayatullah Khomayni left Najaf for Paris,
Mutahhari was among those who travelled to Paris to meet/consult with him. Ayatullah Khomayni appointed Mutahhari as a
member of the Council of Islamic Revolution in 1979.
He was martyred by
an opponent’s bullets on May 1, 1979. When he was buried in Qum, Ayatullah
Khomayni wept openly and described Mutahhari as “his dear son and as a part of
my flesh”
He had written many books on different topics. His emphasis
was more on teaching rather than writing. After his Martyrdom, his students
collected some his lectures and printed them as books. He had authored more
than 60 books. Out of love and respect,
he had dedicated to his father one of his most popular books; Dastan-e-Rastan
(The Epic of the Righteous). The book was later chosen as the book of the year
by the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO in 1965.
In the words of the President of the Republic, Ayatullah
Khamna’i, “The works of Mutahhari have
come to constitute the intellectual infrastructure of the Islamic Republic.”
Sources used:
Islamic Insights
Imamreza.net
Islamic Laws
The Life of Mutaza Mutahhari
WIKIPEDIA
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