Murtadha al-Ansari
Murtadha al-Ansari al-Tostari | |
|---|---|
مرتضی الأنصاري التستري | |
| Title | Grand Ayatollah |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1781 |
| Died | 1864 (aged 82–83) |
| Resting place | Imam Ali Shrine |
| Other names | Sahib al-Makasib, Arabic: صاحب المكاسب Sheikh al-Ta'ifa, Arabic: شيخ الطائفة |
| Relatives | Jabir ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari (ancestor) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Twelver Shi'a |
| Institute | Najaf Seminary |
| Jurisprudence | Ja'fari |
| Creed | Usuli |
| Muslim leader | |
| Based in | Najaf, Iraq |
| Post | Grand Ayatollah |
| Period in office | 1849–1864 |
| Predecessor | Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi |
| Successor | Mirza Shirazi |
Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Murtadha al-Ansari al-Tostari, also Morteza Ansari Shushtari (1781–1864; Arabic: مرتضی الأنصاري التستري; Persian: مرتضی انصاری شوشتری), known as Shaykh al-Ta'ifah (Arabic: شيخ الطائفة, romanized: Shaykh al-Ṭāʾifah; Persian: شیخ الطائفه) was a Shia Islamic scholar who was “generally acknowledged as the most eminent jurist of the time". He is considered to have laid the foundation of modern Shi'i jurisprudence, and his style has been imitated more than any other classical scholar of Shia Islam. Ansari is considered the "first effective" model or Marja of the Shia or "the first scholar universally recognized as supreme authority in matters of Shi'i law".
In Iraq, al-Ansari is referred to with the honorific Ustād al-Fuqahā wa al-Muhaqiqīn.