Iran’s Supreme Leader Offers Condolences Following Ayatollah Fayyaz’s Death

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a message of condolence following the passing of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq Fayyaz, praising the revered Afghan-born cleric as a lifelong pillar of Islamic scholarship whose influence spanned from the holy seminary of Najaf to Shia communities worldwide.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei expressed deep sorrow over the passing of the senior religious authority, saying the loss has “plunged the Islamic seminaries, especially the holy seminary of Najaf Ashraf, into mourning”.

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The late Grand Ayatollah, who died at the age of 96, was one of the most senior Shia jurists and a prominent figure among the “Big Four” marja based in Iraq.

Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted the late scholar’s enduring legacy, noting his decades of presence in Najaf where he studied under the late Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qassem Khoei .

“Educating students, authoring books, supervising the scholarly affairs of that seminary, and guiding believers and his followers were only a part of the services rendered by this jurist,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“Services that will not be forgotten and whose righteous effects will, God willing, endure.”

Born in 1930 in the village of Soba in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, Ayatollah Fayyaz’s journey took him from local seminaries to major centers of Islamic scholarship in Mashhad and Qom before he ultimately settled in Najaf.

In the Iraqi city, he rose through the ranks to become a leading religious authority, amassing followers across Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. His seminal work, “Al-Hukuma al-Islamiya,” outlines his views on Islamic government and the authority of the jurist.