Hossein Vahid Khorasani

Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Hossein Wahid Khorasani (; born Mohammad-Hossein Molla-Saleh (Persian: )‎; 1 January 1921) is an Iranian author and Shia marja'.

He is the current head of the Qom Seminary. Khorasani is considered to be the most learned Shia religious authority alive by a number of scholars.

Early life and education Khorasani was born in Nishapur, a city 130 km west of Mashhad, to Sheikh Esmail Khorasani, a revered alim and orator.

He began his religious education at an early age in Mashhad, completing his muqadamat and Arabic under Sheikh Shams and al-Muhaqiq al-Mughani in the Ba'in Ya school. He then moved to the Mirza Jafar school and completed his intermediate level studies under Sheikh Husayn Birsi, Mirza Ahmed Kifaei, Abu al-Qasim al-Hakim al-Ilahi and Sheikh Husayn-Ali al-Isfahani. He also attended the classes of Mirza Mehdi al-Isfahani, Sheikh Mahdi al-Ishtiyani and Sheikh Muhammad Nahawndi. He received an ijaza from his teacher Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat Kuh-Kamari.

He moved to Najaf in 1949 and studied in the Yazdi school for ten years. He attended the classes of Sheikh Muhammad-Husayn Naini for a year; Abu al-Hasan al-Isfahani for two years; Sheikh Musa Khonsari for six years; Agha Dhiya al-Din al-Iraqi, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Golpayegani, Sheikh Kadhim al-Shirazi, Sayyid Abd al-Hadi al-Shirazi and Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim. He studied under Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei the longest, which was twelve years, becoming one of the distinguished students of al-Khoei.

He returned to Mashhad in 1972, and taught there for just under a year, and then travelled to Qom, to settle there until today.

Fatimah's death Khorasani believes the attack of Fatimah's house holds a very high religious significance in the Shi'i creed. He leads a large mourning procession in Qom, on the anniversary of her death–in accordance to the third narration– annually, that sees hundreds of thousands of people participating in it.

When the controversial marja' Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah declared his opinion that the attack of the door was a myth, and deemed most stories as fiction, Khorasani along with Mirza Jawad Tabrizi and Sayyid Mohammad Sadeq Rouhani deemed him a "deviant".

Islamic Republic Khorasani's stance on Iran's government has been relatively vague, and he has been considered–if anything–an indirect critic. He has been often quoted in his lectures to challenge the opinion of Ali Khamenei the Former Supreme Leader of Iran.

Works

Khorasani has written many books some of which have been translated into Urdu, Persian, Arabic, English, and other languages.

Some of his works include:

Principles of Faith. . Sharh al-Urwatul Wuthqa (Explanation of The Firmest Bond). Laws of Hajj.

Rulings of Medicine. Ahkam-e-Shabab (Laws for Youth). Misbah al-Huda Wa Safinat al-Najat (Light of Guidance and Ark of Salvation). Two Volumes.

Personal life Khorasani was married and has two sons, Mohammad-Esmail and Mohsen.

He is the father-in-law of Sadeq Larijani.

In 2023, Ali Khamenei the Supreme Leader of Iran offered his condolences to Khorasani upon the death of his wife.