world<\/a>\u00a0capitals; they welcome no salutations and no \u2018guards of honour\u2019 and sit on the ordinary tattered mat that you can find in the poorest house holds. However, when Ayatollah Khomeni gives a clarion call of rebellion, the crown and scepter of mighty Arya Meher Shanshah Raza Pehelvi go to dust. When Ayatollah Sheestani speaks from his hovel in Iraq, his every word is analysed with utmost care in the most powerful capitals of the world. What makes these Ayatollahs so powerful?<\/p>\nWe can\u2019t understand this enigma without an understanding of the theological principles of SHIA religion. According to Ithna Ashri (believers in 12 Imams) Shia belief, whoever dies without following an Imam (Religious Jurist) dies in ignorance. Living Imam is not visible and God has put him beyond the visual reach of ordinary human being. He guides through his \u2018spiritual agents\u2019 and \u2018Ayatollahs\u2019 are those revered agents or representatives. It requires decades of serious learning and hardships to reach to the position of Ayatollah. There are seminaries in Iraq, Iran and recently in Syria also where the Shia Knowledge Seekers and students are attracted, taught, patronised and polished to begin their upward journey towards religious perfection as guides. These seminaries are known as \u2018Hawazat Ilmiyyah\u2019 where Islamic Jurisprudence, Quranic Explications, Philosophy, Sufism, History, Mathematics and Islamic Sciences are taught. These seminaries are headed by Ayatollahs. No formal degrees, certificates or licenses are awarded to students. Emphasis is laid in developing the student\u2019s research skills and mental capacities on increasing the cultural, juridical and philosophical information. An attitude in inculcated for scientific and political approach. These seminaries are located in Najaf, Samaraa, Baghdad and Karbala in Iraq, and in Qum and Mashad in Iran.<\/p>\n
After few years of learning if the Ayatollah feels a student fit as beginner he is called the Molvi, Moulana or Mulla.<\/p>\n
Maturing after the first rank, he goes the higher stage of learning and it is known as \u2018Ijtihad\u2019 and he become as \u2018Mujtahid\u2019. Next position is \u2018Hujjat Al-Islam\u2019. Then he climbs to the pedestal of \u2018Hujjat Al-Islam wa Muslimeen\u2019. As the learning proceeds he becomes an \u2018Authoritative Source\u2019 or \u2018Ayatollah\u2019. There after he is last authority of Shias \u2013 The Grand Ayatollah or \u2018Ayatollah al Uzma\u2019.<\/p>\n
The financial support for these seminaries comes from every Shia household who can afford and from every country where he resides. It is the most powerful institution of Shia Jurisprudence. The nominated sources or ‘Nayabs’ of these Ayatollahs are present in every country where there is a reasonable population of Shias exists. They collect Zakah, the obligatory charity and \u2018Khums\u2019 which is a fifth of total saving of the year. They do distribute that money in their own country also for the welfare of their people. According to Shia doctrine \u2018Khums\u2019 is mentioned in Quran and allocated to Prophet during his life time and to his kith and kin after him.<\/p>\n
According to Sunni Doctrine, the right of a fifth of saving was only related to spoils of war and lost effect by the Prophet\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
The money collected as KHUMS had always been the prominent source of strength of Shia Clergy. It makes Shia priest richer by degrees and independent of any ruler who could interfere in religious affairs. In all matters to religion the decree of Ayatollah al Uzma runs supreme. It is the base of the \u2018Theory of Clerical Rule\u2019 or \u2018Guardianship of the Jurist\u2019. This Guardianship implies that every public act of Islamic government require a pre-permission or approval of Ayatollah before being done. State derives its legitimacy from being under the \u2018Supervision\u2019 of Jurist Guardian \u2013 the Ayatollah al Uzma.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It requires decades of serious learning and hardships to reach to the position of Ayatollah. There are seminaries in Iraq, Iran and Syria where the Shia Knowledge Seekers and students are taught, patronised and polished. RITUALS, RHETORIC and dramatisations are the salient characteristics of the might rulers. The \u2018Ayatollahs\u2019 employ none. They don\u2019t visit\u00a0world\u00a0capitals; they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[198,195,199],"class_list":["post-367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","tag-arya-meher-shanshah-raza-pehelvi","tag-ayatollah","tag-hawazat-ilmiyyah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369,"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions\/369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.amroha.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}