After that overthrow...

After that overthrow, Isfahan was no longer the center of religion, and some of the ‘ulema and jurisprudents, amongst them Seyyid Sadr ud-Din Razawi Qumi, the teacher of Wahid Bahbahani, left Iran as the result of the Afghan turmoil and went to the atabat , the holy centers of Iraq. Wahid Bahbahani made Karbala the new center and there he tutored a number of outstanding pupils, many of them famous in their own right.

Besides this, it was he who led the intellectual combat against the ideas of the akhbariyyin , which in those days were extremely popular. His defeat of the akhbariyyin and his raising of so many distinguished mujtahid s has led to him being termed as “ Ustad ul-kul ” (“The General Teacher”). His virtue and piety were perfect and his students maintained profound respect for him.

Shaykh Morteza Ansari, a descendant of Jaber ibn Abdullah Ansari, is one of the great companions of the Holy Prophet himself. On a visit with his father to the atabat of Iraq at the age of twenty, the ‘ulema, appreciating his genius, asked his father to let him stay. He remained for four years in Iraq and studied there under the leading teachers. Then, due to a series of unpleasant events, he returned to his home.

After two years he went once more to Iraq, stayed for two years, and again returned to Iran, this time deciding to benefit from the ‘ulema in Iran. He set off to visit Mashhad and on the way visited Hajj Mulla Ahmad Nuraqi the author of the famous Jam’i S’adat in Kashan. This visit became a long stay as he benefitted from the teachings of Mulla Ahmad in Kashan for three years. He then went to Mashhad and stayed there for five months.

He also journeyed to Isfahan and to Burujerd in Iran and the aim of all these trips was to learn from men of knowledge. Around 1202/3 A.H. he went for the last time to the atabat and began giving lessons. After the decease of Shaykh Muhammad Hasan, he became recognized as the sole authority for referral for verdicts. Shaykh Ansari is called the Khatim ul fuqiha walmuitahidin (the seal of the jurisprudents and the mujtahids).

He was one of those who in the precision and depth of his views have very few equals. Two of his books, Risa’il and Mukassib are today’s textbooks for (higher) religious students, and many commentaries have been written on his books by later ‘ulema. After Muhaqqiq Hilli and Allamah Hilli and Shahid Awal, Shaykh Ansari is the first person whose books have been so regularly subject to commentaries.