Conference on the late Ayatullah Saanei, his work and impact on Islamic Law 27th December 2020 12:15pm – 4:00pm Full programme streamed live: youtube.com/sicmtv/live 02/12/2020 1 Page 1 www.sicm.org.uk www.thesalaamcentre.com Conference on the late Ayatullah Saanei, his work and impact on Islamic Law 27th December 2020 12:15pm – 4:00pm Agenda 12:15pm Introduction 12:20pm Qur’an recitation 12:30pm First panel discussion 1:30pm Q&A for panel 1 2:00pm Second panel discussion 3:00pm Q&A for panel 2 3:30pm Networking and discussion Page 2 www.sicm.org.uk www.thesalaamcentre.com Conference on the late Ayatullah Saanei, his work and impact on Islamic Law 27th December 2020 12:15pm – 4:00pm Panel 1 Behind the law: Ayatullah Saanei's Approach to Islamic Law Chair: Mahdiya Abdulhussein Ayatullah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad The Jurisprudential School of Qum in the 21st century Ayatullah Dr Nobahar Ayatullah Saanei's approach to equality under Islamic law Dr Ali-Reza Bhojani Continuity and change in the interpretation of Sharīa Panel 2 Ayatullah Saanei: A Pioneer in Reformist Rulings in the Hawza? Chair: Zahra Al-Rikabi Dr Masoumeh Rad Goudarzi Theological and Epistemological foundations of Ayatollah Saanei’s View on Women and Minorities Rights Miqdaad Versi Case study: A Whistlestop Tour of Ayatullah Saanei's “non- mainstream” Fatawa and their Derivation Shaykh Kumail Rajani The future of progressive thinking within the Hawza after the death of Ayatullah Saanei Page 3 www.sicm.org.uk www.thesalaamcentre.com Conference on the late Ayatullah Saanei, his work and impact on Islamic Law 27th December 2020 12:15pm – 4:00pm Panel 1: Behind the law: Ayatullah Saanei's Approach to Islamic Law This panel discussion will be chaired by Mahdiya Abdulhussein Mahdiyah Abdul-Hussain has a background in both Islamic jurisprudence and an LLM in Medical Law and Bioethics from the University of Birmingham. She conducted her research on Organ Donation in Shi’i Jurisprudence gaining an MRes from Royal Holloway, University of London. She is currently a faculty member at Al-Mahdi Institute teaching theology, legal theory, and jurisprudence at an introductory level and coordinating the Institutes research activities. Panellists for Panel 1: Ayatullah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Topic Abstract Profile Ayatullah Dr Nobahar Topic Abstract Profile Dr Ali-Reza Bhojani Topic Abstract Profile Panellist: Ayatullah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Topic: The Jurisprudential School of Qum in the 21st century Abstract for talk In the history of Ijtihad in recent times, there are three seminary schools: of Samarra, Najaf and Qum. The seminary of Samarra derived from Najaf and was instituted by Seyed Hassan Shirazi (1894). Despite not lasting a long time, it had a vast influence over the development of Shia society, both in politics and in the method of Ijtihad. It closed shortly after the passing of Mirza Shirazi, and his learned students immigrated to Najaf carrying new ideas, a new method of writing and a new method of jurisprudence. The head of the seminary in Najaf at the time were the two great Maraji’, Kazim Khorasani and Tabatba’i Yazdi. Khorasani’s method in Ijtihad was very rational – he had learned Islamic philosophy in Khorasan from Sabzavari, and he had therefore mixed Usul al-fiqh with many principles of philosophy in his famous manuscript Kifayat al-Usul, which became a textbook for Islamic students throughout the world. He supported the constitutional movement in Iran and succeeded in the forming of the connotational law of Iran and the establishment of the Parliament for confirmation laws. One of the immigrants from Samarra to Najaf was Shaykh Abdulkarim Hayery Yazdi who later became the founder of the seminary of Qum (1922) when he immigrated there and a group of scholars and students joined to learn Islamic studies. His manuscript in Usul al-Fiqh was named Durar al-Usul. He lived in Qum for 15 years and during this period, he educated and trained about 400 men who were all at the level of Mujtahid and later reached the level of Marja’, including Golpaygani, Khomeini, Mohaghegh Damad, Sharatmadiri Marashi etc.. Whilst Shaykh Abdulkarim was educated in Samarra, he had a special aptitude and method of understanding Quran and Hadith as well as teaching and educating. Page 4 www.sicm.org.uk www.thesalaamcentre.com Conference on the late Ayatullah Saanei, his work and impact on Islamic Law 27th December 2020 12:15pm – 4:00pm Panel 1: Behind the law: Ayatullah Saanei's Approach to Islamic Law Some of the concepts he derived from the Holy Qur’an, resulted in new fatawa concerning Islamic law. He was particularly concerned about women’s rights. His heritage remains and can be seen in his pupil’s works. When we say the “Qum school of jurisprudence”, we mean the same method established by the founder of this seminary. When Boroujerdi immigrated to Qum (1944), the seminary started a new period but continued to promote the seminary as he was following the method of Shaykh Abdulkarim Hayery. The special elements of the conduct of Boroujerdi and Hayery were their re-reading of the transmitted scriptures and what was quoted from the Prophet and Imams. Boroujerdi emphasized the importance of the context of the hadith quoted from the Prophet or Imams, the atmosphere of the time and the place of the hadith. He also believed that Shi’ite Fiqh was like a comment to Sunni Fiqh. So understanding Sunni Fiqh is a must for all Shiite mujtahids. Ayatullah Saanei is one of the second generation of educated mujtahid of the Qum school. He always was troubled over human rights and in particular, the rights of women. Examples of his ideas include his belief that we cannot accept any discrimination between men and women based on the fact that .”Allah is not tyrannical to the servants أَ نَّ َّّللاَ لَ ْي َسَّ بِ َظﻻ مَّ ِل ْلعَبيد( “) God has said 5 times in Holy Quran that He also recently said in an interview that the enacting of Hudud in our times, when the Imam is absent, should not take place. Panellist: Ayatullah Dr Nobahar Topic: Ayatollah Yousef Saanei’s Approach to Equality in Islamic Law Abstract for talk In traditional Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) a wide range of inequality is recognized. Classification of man into free and slave, discrimination between man and woman in general, and wife and husband in family relationships, and the difference between Muslim and non-Muslim in their rights and obligations are some examples of recognized discrimination. In pre- modern era these discriminations were, to a large extent, normal and common in different cultures and civilizations. In Modern era, however, equality in rights and obligations connected to inherent dignity of mankind per se has become the prominent paradigm. Late Ayatollah Sanei (1937-2020) has criticized a lot of traditional opinions (fatava) concerning inequality and has argued in favor of equality in some fiqhi questions. Equality of diyah (ransom) of man and woman, and Muslims and non-Muslims, equality of the share of wife and husband from each other in some cases of inheritance, balancing the right of wife and husband in divorce, the priority of mother over grandfather in guardianship of the child in case of the death of father are but some examples of his efforts for promoting legal equality. In this presentation, I would concentrate on some methodological bases which have resulted in these new opinions. In sum, it seems that equality as such is not a focal point and at the core of the attention of Ayatollah Sanei’s methodology. Rather, in search of equality, he almost always relies upon the very traditional methodology. However, borrowing from a Muʿtazili perspective, he insists that no injustice and aggression can be accepted even in a single divine legislation. In his view, any discrimination is only unacceptable as long as it implies aggression and/or injustice. Page 5 www.sicm.org.uk www.thesalaamcentre.com Conference on the late Ayatullah Saanei, his work and impact on Islamic Law 27th December 2020 12:15pm – 4:00pm Panel 1: Behind the law: Ayatullah Saanei's Approach to Islamic Law Therefore, some inequalities remain not only unsolved, but acceptable and even welcomed in his system of jurisprudence; because equality is not recognized as an independent principle. To develop his approach and follow up his concerns I, then, mention some bases help recognizing equality as an independent principle of legal reasoning (ijtihad) regardless of its connection with aggression and/or injustice. Panellists: Dr Ali-Reza Bhojani Topic: Continuity and change in the interpretation of Sharī‘a: Yusef Saanei (d. 2020) on the legal status of non-Muslims Abstract for talk The late Ayatollah Yusef Sanaei, known for a range of progressive juristic opinions, has been described as attempting to institutionalise ‘a new method of ijtihad’ and ‘a paradigm shift in Twelver legal theory’. Through analysis of some of his juristic opinions pertaining to the legal status of non-Muslims, this paper will argue that his views can be seen as emerging in continuity with the theological and jurisprudential tradition from which he speaks. Saanie argues that, with respect to the rulings of Sharī‘a, people should be considered to fall into one of three categories; Muslim, non-Muslim or Kāfir. Accordingly, the apparently discriminatory Sharia rulings that have been typically applied to non- Muslims, he argues, are not relevant to the vast majority of humankind today. This distinction is drawn out of his commitment to a substantive understanding of God’s justice, a fundamental pillar of Shī‘ī theology, combined with analysis of scriptural evidence that is clearly positioned within the dominant methodological framework of Shī‘ī legal theory and in a manner consistent with earlier jurists.