Message of the Supreme Leader to the Congress Commemorating Allameh Syed Nematollah Jazayeri

Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a message to the congress commemorating Allameh Syed Nematollah Jazayeri, praised the scholarly and literary status of this great scholar, emphasizing his mastery and comprehensive understanding of Shia hadiths with a precise jurisprudential perspective, and added: "Commemorating the late Syed Nematollah Jazayeri is, in fact, commemorating divine knowledge and teachings."

The text of the Supreme Leader's message, which is derived from his statements during a meeting with the members of the organizing committee for the congress commemorating Allameh Syed Nematollah Jazayeri, was read this morning (Thursday) by Ayatollah Syed Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, the representative of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist in Khuzestan Province and the Friday prayer leader of Ahvaz, at this congress in the city of Shushtar, is as follows:

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

We are very grateful to Mr. Jazayeri and the other gentlemen who thought to introduce this great and unknown personality. Unknown in the sense that although the late Syed Nematollah Jazayeri is known for two famous books: "Zahr al-Rabi" and "Anwar al-Nu'maniyyah," the status of the late Syed Nematollah is much higher than these. He was both a jurist - a skilled jurist, the late Syed Nematollah - and a knowledgeable hadith scholar with extensive knowledge of the books of hadith, as well as a literati. Interestingly, his family is one that, in addition to jurisprudence and hadith, is also well-versed in literature and language; the late Syed Noor al-Din - his son - wrote the famous book "Furuq al-Lughat" which is not just a dictionary, but signifies complete mastery of the Arabic language; his grandson is also the late Syed Abdullah Jazayeri; thus, three generations in a row are among the prominent and well-known scholars, recognized in the religious seminaries. Of course, all three are known as Akhbari (hadith scholars); the late Syed Abdullah more so, Syed Nematollah and Syed Noor al-Din less so; however, Syed Nematollah, despite being Akhbari, pays attention to the opinions of the Usuli (principlist) scholars and has a book - I cannot recall the name of the book now - on the necessity of referring to the books of jurists; by jurists, he naturally means the Usuli jurists. He is a great man.

His works and writings are numerous. Now you mentioned about 60 works; I had thought he had about thirty or forty works; among these are important commentaries on our four major books - meaning he has a commentary on Tahdhib, a commentary on Istibsar, and I believe he has a commentary on Kafi - he has commentaries on many of the books of Sadouq - like Tawhid Sadouq and the like. He is a very prominent personality in his mastery and understanding of Shia hadith; and along with a precise jurisprudential perspective, not just hadith. He was a student of Allameh Majlisi. Well, Allameh Majlisi is a very great man; anyone who looks at the statements he has in Bihar - in the context of the narrations - understands that this man is both a jurist and a theologian, and knowledgeable in rational sciences. Majlisi is very great, but he is only known for hadith; whereas this is not the case, he is also a hadith scholar - well, his hadith book, Bihar al-Anwar, is a large book - but he is a jurist, a theologian, and an opinion holder; sometimes he has very prominent opinions - in the context of narrations - in theological and rational issues that are very significant. The late Syed Nematollah is a student of such a person, a student of the late Allameh Majlisi. I believe he was also a student of the late Feyz. In any case, he is a prominent personality.

Now, the book Zahr al-Rabi, although it is a book that has become known in the seminaries as a humorous book, nevertheless indicates that our jurists, our great scholars, in the midst of deep scientific and jurisprudential work, also paid attention to such matters. He states at the beginning of Zahr al-Rabi - I might have looked at Zahr al-Rabi fifty or sixty years ago - that he saw that students needed some amusement and relaxation, so he wrote this book for them; meaning it is a book he wrote so that a student who is now immersed in scientific work and in the school and dormitory has a means for relaxation; meaning they were not oblivious to these matters. Now we sit here stiffly, and as soon as someone over there makes a joke, we immediately get offended! Our scholars were not like that; especially a scholar like Syed Nematollah who is Akhbari and rigid; but they also had these things. In my opinion, this amusement of our past scholars is very important; one example of which is the very Furuq al-Lughat that we mentioned, which Syed Noor al-Din - his son - although he is a jurist, although he is a hadith scholar, a student of his father, but at the same time writes Furuq al-Lughat in the field of language. In any case, in our view, the late Syed Nematollah is a prominent personality.

And well, the family is a family of knowledge; thanks be to God, until today this family has been a family of knowledge, and we hope it always remains so. Commemorating him is commemorating knowledge and commemorating divine teachings; [if] these great figures are introduced, it is very good. Especially if you can publish and print his books. Now, Anwar al-Nu'maniyyah has of course been printed repeatedly; of course, that book is a famous book, but his other books are not accessible, meaning less attention has been paid to his hadith books and the commentaries he wrote on hadiths. God willing, may you be successful and supported. We also thank Mr. Hosseini who is assisting in these efforts.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.