About Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei
Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khoei (Persian: ابوالقاسم موسوی خویی; Arabic: أبو القاسم الموسوي الخوئي; November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992) was a major Iranian-Iraqi Shia marja and dean of the Hawza of Najaf. Khoei was widely considered the most influential Twelver Shia Muslim scholar of his time. After the death of Muhsin al-Hakim in 1970, he became the spiritual leader of much of the Shia world until his death in 1992. He was succeeded briefly by Abd al-A'la al-Sabziwari, until his death in 1993, after which his former student Ali al-Sistani, under the direction of Taqi al-Khoei, took leadership of the seminary, whereby many of his followers became followers of Sistani. == Biography == === Early life === Khoei was born to Shaykh Ali Akbar al-Musawi al-Khoei, a Sayyid of Iranian Azerbaijani origin, in the northern Iranian city of Khoy, West Azerbaijan in 1899. Khoei grew up in Qajar Iran. Around the age of 13, he and his family moved to Iraq along with his older brother Abdullah, and took up residence in the holy city of Najaf, where he began studying Shia theology at the Hawza al-Ilmiyya, under Muhsin al-Hakim and Agha Zia ol Din Araghi. === Scholastic career === In Iraq, he received his first Ijazah 8 years later from Muhammad Hussain al-Naini at the age of 21, however he went on to further his studies at Isfahan Seminary, continuing researching for his risalah another 11 years. At Isfahan, he went on to receive Ijazat from Muhammad Husayn Qaravi and Fethullah Isfahani among others, later attaining the rank of a qualified Jurist in 1933 at age 32, becoming a Marja shortly after having started teaching the Bahath al-Kharij. Khoei then continued to live in Najaf, becoming a teacher for the remainder of his life, and overseeing the studies of scholars who would be qualified to issue fatwas based on Shia jurisprudence.
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