A BIOGRAPHY OF AYATULLAH AL UZMA SAFI GULPAIGANI

Ayatollah Safi was born in Gulpaaygaan on the 19th of Jumadal Awwal 1337 AH (1918). His father was an eminent scholar who has written many famous books.

He learned literature, Tafseer (Qur'anic commentary), Kalaam (theology), Hadith (tradition) and the advanced level of his seminary studies in Gulpaaygaan. There he studied under Akhound Mulla Abul Qasim known as Qutb and under his father until 1941, when he migrated to Qom.

Some of Safi Gulpaaygaani's teachers were:

(1) Sayyid Muhammad Taqi Khaansaari,

(2) Sayyid Muhammad Hujjat Al-Kouhkamar'i,

(3) Sayyid Sadr Al-Din Sadr Al-`Aamili,

(4) Hajj Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Boroujerdi,

(5) and Hajj Sayyid Muhammad Reza Gulpaaygaani.

In Najaf:

(6) Agha Shaykh Muhammad Kaazim Shiraazi,

(7) Agha Sayyid Jamaal Al-Din Gulpaaygaani, and

(8) Shaykh Muhammad Ali Al-Kaazimi

For 17 years, he learned under Ayatollah Boroujerdi in Qom. He was given the authority to test students in Al-Sath (advanced level studies) and Kharij.

After the Iranian Revolution, he was appointed to draft the constitution. Imam Khumayni appointed him as a member of the Guardian Council where he remained for a long time. Currently, he teaches Jurisprudence at the higher level.