Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Responsive image


Hawza Najaf

Ali Sistani (current chancellor of Hawza 'Ilmiyya Najaf) and Abu al-Qasim Khoei (ex-chancellor of Hawza 'Ilmiyya Najaf)

The Najaf Seminary (Arabic: حوزة النجف), also known as the al-Hawza Al-Ilmiyya (الحوزة العلمية), is the oldest and one of the most important Shia seminaries (hawza) in the world.[1] It is located near the Imam Ali Shrine in the city of Najaf in Iraq, and also operates a campus in Karbala, Iraq. It was established by Shaykh Tusi (385 AH/995 CE – 460 AH/1067 CE),[2] and continued as a center of study after the establishment of modern Iraq in 1921.[3][4]

As of 2023, Ayatollah Ali Sistani heads Hawza 'Ilmiyya Najaf, which includes two other Ayatollahs - Mohammad Ishaq Al-Fayyad and Bashir al-Najafi.[5] The number of students studying there has waxed and waned in modern times, from 15,000-20,000 in the mid-20th century, down to 3000 during the repressive reign of Saddam Hussein, to around 13,000 as of 2014.[6]

As of 2014 the curriculum has been updated to include many modern subjects as well as inter faith and inter sectarian initiatives.[6]

  1. ^ "A rare look inside the 'heart of society' for Iraq's Shi'ites". Reuters. 12 October 2017.
  2. ^ http://www.al-islam.org/fiqh/chap2.html [1] FIQH and FUQAHA - An Introduction to Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) Containing Forty Four Life Sketches of the Great Past Masters, Published by the WORLD FEDERATION OF KHOJA SHIA ITHNAASHERI MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference ai-Hawza was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Sreeram Chaulia. "Shiites and Democracy". Mideast Monitor. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008.
  5. ^ Marcinkowski, Christoph (25 April 2007). Thinking ahead : Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries (hawzah 'ilmiyyah) (PDF). Singapore: S. Rajaratnam School of international Studies. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b Mamouri, Ali (8 April 2014). "Najaf's Shiite seminaries enter 21st century". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Previous Page Next Page






حوزة النجف Arabic Theologische Hochschule von Nadschaf German حوزه علمیه نجف FA החווזה של נג'ף HE Necef Havzası Turkish Najaf Havzasi UZ

Responsive image

Responsive image