Mohammad Hussain Jalali returned to his Creator the evening of Saturday, 5 Rabi‘ al-Thānī, 1442 / 21 November, 2020, in his home in Chicago, surrounded by his children.

He was born to the Jalali scholarly family in Karbalā’ in 1362/1944. He was trained from an early age in the religious scholarly circles of Karbala, including those of his father, Sayyid Muḥsin al-Ḥusaynī al-Jalālī, and his brother, the martyr Sayyid Muḥammad Taqi al-Ḥusaynī al-Jalālī. After completing his advanced suṭūḥ studies in Karbala, he moved to Najaf in 1379 to complete the abhath al-khārij.

In Najaf, the intellectual and spiritual center of the followers of Ahl al-Bayt, he continued his studies under some of the greatest scholars of the time, such as Grand Āyatullāhs Sayyid Muḥsin al-Ḥakīm, Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim al-Khū’ī and Sayyid Mirza Ḥasan al-Bujnurdī, with whom he specialized. He also collaborated closely with Shaykh Aghā Buzurg al-Ṭehrani with whom he shared an intense love of books.

In his book Ijāzat al-ḥadīth, he mentions that he obtained ijāzahs from:

• Shaykh Āghā Buzurg, the author of the famous “al-Dharī’ah”
• Shaykh Ḥamad al-A‘ẓamī, the Shaykh of the Mosque of Abū Ḥanīfah in Baghdad Sayyid Mirzā Ḥasan al-Bujnurdī, author of “Muntahā al-‘uṣūl”
• Sayyid Muḥmmad Ṣādiq Baḥr al-‘Ulūm
• Shaykh Muḥammad Bahjat al-Bayṭār, whom he met at the Arabic Language Association in Syria
• Sayyid Muḥsin al-Jalālī, his father
• Shaykh Murtaḍā al-Ḥā’irī
• Shaykh Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ al-Simnānī, known as ‘Allāmah Simnānī, who was the shaykh of his maternal grandfather
• Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Alī al-Shahristānī, known as Hibat al-Dīn
• Shaykh ‘Abd Allāh al-Siddīq, one of the great scholars in Tangiers, Morocco
• Shaykh Muḥammad Riḍā al-Ṭabasī
• Shaykh al-‘Alawī al-Mālikī, the Māliki shaykh of Mecca
• Sayyid Muḥammad Mahdī al-Kāẓimī
• Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-Mar‘ashī, known as Shihāb al-Dīn
• Shaykh Ḥamūd al-Mu’ayyad, in San‘ā’, one of the great Zaidī scholars of Yemen
• Shaykh Majd al-Din al-Yaḥyawī al-Mu’ayyadī, Zaidī muftī of Yemen
• Shaykh Ibrāhīm Bā‘alawī, muftī of Ta‘azz in Yemen
• Shaykh Muḥammad YāSīn al-Fādānī, Shāfi‘ī ḥadīth scholar in Mecca

As is clear from his ijāzāt, he was engaged in scholarly pursuits with experts of all madhhabs and all religious denominations. He did not discriminate between Shī‘ī or Sunnī scholars, nor between religious and academic scholars of all backgrounds. He believed that knowledge was a universal treasure and dedicated his life to its pursuit in all forms. Among his numerous publications are:

• Fihris al-turāth, an index of the literary heritage of the followers of Ahl al-Bayt through the centuries
• Dirāyat al-ḥadīth, on the study and analysis of ḥadīths
• Dirāsah ḥawl al-Qur’ān, a study on the history of the Qur’ān
• Dirāsah ḥawl Nahj al-balāghah, a study on the history of Nahj al-balāghah
• Dirāsah ḥawl al-ṣaḥīfah al-sajjādīyah, a study on the history of the Ṣaḥīfah al-sajjādīyah
• Nuṣūṣ al-dirāsah, a compilation of selections from the major texts of religious studies
• Talkhīṣ al-dhahab min lisān al-‘arab, Selections from the Lisān al-‘arab
• Mu‘jam al-aḥādīth, a multivolume collection of ḥadīths

His first son, Muḥammad ‘Alī was born in Najaf. After receiving his ijtihād, Sayyid Jalali traveled to Qatar, where he served as the representative of al-Khū’ī in Qatar and where his second son, Muḥammad Ḥasan, was born. He then traveled to Qum, Iran, and continued his scholarly activities there. Shortly thereafter he traveled to London, England, and then to the United States. In the United States he lived briefly in the state of Ohio, then in the state of Indiana, before settling finally in the city of Chicago. There his third son, Mohsin, and his daughter, Maryam, were born.

One of the first things he did in Chicago was to establish the first cemetery for the followers of Ahl al-Bayt. With the assistance of the marja‘ of the time, āyatullāh al-Khū’ī, he established the Ahl al-Bayt cemetery to serve the community’s needs. At that time, he purchased for himself the very first grave. He was a man of foresight who looked to the future for his community and his faith.

In Chicago, he served the cause of the Ahl al-Bayt by making himself available to anyone and everyone for religious studies free of charge. He remained independent of any affiliation with any religious group or organization. He did not join or lead any mosque or any other religious association. Instead, he served the community from his own home, and also taught lessons in his home, which he called “The Open School” because it was open to all. No one who wanted to learn was ever refused, and no one was ever charged fees. He firmly believed that education was the right of everyone. His classes were open to anyone without discrimination and at no cost. He made his own personal library, which he amassed from around the world, available to his students. Courses could be taken in person at his home, by telephone, or via correspondence by postal mail, and later, with the advent of the internet, by email as well. The curricula depended on the level of the student, which varied greatly from recent converts to Islam who wanted to learn basic Arabic in order to read the Quran, to advanced students who had already begun their studies in ḥawzah.  Introductory courses using original Arabic texts were basically structured around the book he compiled, Nuṣūṣ al-dirāsah fī al-ḥawzah al-‘ilmīyah. Subjects offered included, but were not limited to: Arabic, the Qur’ān, ḥadīth, fiqh, Islamic philosophy and Islamic history. Students were expected to conclude their studies with a research paper that was often published by the Open School.

He also continued his own personal research, working on editing manuscripts, investigations into aspects of Islamic sciences and heritage, and analyses of canonical texts. All of his works were published and distributed free of charge to libraries, researchers, and Islamic institutions around the world including America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Some of the publications were translated by his students into their native languages. He had a solid and steadfast commitment to preserving the heritage of Ahl al-Bayt and making that heritage accessible to everyone by printing any valuable manuscripts he came across and sending them to libraries and researchers around the world so that they would not be lost. He also traveled the world in search of knowledge and of scholars dedicated to keeping alive the tradition of Prophet Muḥammad and his Ahl al-Bayt. In addition to traveling throughout the Middle East in his early life, he traveled extensively in his later years in search of libraries, archives, manuscripts, and scholars in Russia, Central Asia, Japan, and China.

In approximately Sha‘bān 1441 (April of 2020) he began to develop unexplained fevers. In spite of conducting many tests, the doctors were not able to find an explanation for his fever and his condition continued to worsen until he was unable to wake from bed and unable to talk. Finally, one of his tests revealed that he had a rare type of autoimmune disease that was only discovered in 2016. He was transferred to the care of doctors who specialize in these types of illnesses. By the grace of God, his condition improved, though sadly the improvement was temporary. His children gathered to him as his condition worsened and he died in his own home shortly after ṣalāt al-‘ishā’, as if he wished to recite his final prayer in this world. He returned to his Lord on Saturday, the 5th of Rabī‘ al-Thānī, 1442 (21 November, 2020). His ghusl and janāzah were performed according to his wishes and he was buried without delay in the grave he purchased for himself upon founding the Ahl al-Bayt section at Arlington Cemetery.

We, the family of the deceased, thank all who honored his wishes during his life and in his death. And we thank all who helped us to execute his wishes for his burial just as he instructed us.

Indeed, we belong to God and indeed, to God we return.       إنَّا لله و إنَّا إليه راجعون

Muḥammad ‘Alī al-Ḥusaynī al-Jalālī
Chicago,
Rabī ‘ al-Thānī 1442 / November 2020