Khuzestan, as Recounted by the Director of the Department of Contemporary Jurisprudence (Fiqh)

Last week, together with the Director of the Islamic Seminaries and senior officials, we undertook an intensive visit to the Khuzestan Seminary. Although our schedule was exceptionally demanding—with continuous meetings from early morning until midnight—the outcomes were so encouraging and inspiring that they dispelled any sense of fatigue.

The Khuzestan Hawza, particularly in the city of Ahvaz, proved to be a remarkably vibrant, active, and energetic environment. We benefited greatly from engaging with numerous scholars and also met with the newly appointed provincial director, Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Beladian. He is a learned, highly respected, and ethical figure, possessing both scholarly depth and a strong revolutionary outlook.

In addition, we had the honor of meeting Ayatollah Jazayeri, who conducts an extensive dars al-kharij (advanced jurisprudence course) in Ahvaz. 

A photograph from his dars al-kharij is shown below.

During our two-day stay in Khuzestan, Ayatollah Jazayeri was experiencing some physical discomfort—as can be seen in the photo below—yet he showed remarkable enthusiasm for contemporary fiqh. After I presented a comprehensive report on the achievements of contemporary fiqh during a meeting at his residence, he was so pleased that he immediately accepted our proposal. It was agreed that throughout the current year, he will dedicate one weekly session of his main dars al-kharij to a dars al-kharij on legal constructs (ashkhāṣ i‘tibārīyah) within contemporary fiqh.

Another significant outcome of this trip was meeting Ayatollah Mohsen Heydari, one of the dars al-kharij instructors in Ahvaz. In a session held at his hawza—attended by faculty members and administrators, as shown in the image below—it was particularly noteworthy that he has delivered an extensive dars al-kharij on Wilāyat al-Faqīh (Guardianship of the Jurist). He has also published works in Arabic on the Shi‘a perspective of governance, which have been disseminated across the Arab world. Even more striking was the strong and serious engagement of the seminary’s senior instructors with the latest discussions in contemporary fiqh.
 

Ayatollah Heydari stated that after completing his current dars al-kharij—which focuses on joint ownership and land issues (a topic of practical relevance in the region)—he intends to enter one of the other fields of contemporary fiqh.

Postscript:
A point you may not be aware of: accompanying the current 63-year-old Director of the Islamic Seminaries on a work trip means continuous work—work, and more work—without a moment’s pause. Believe it or not, the only opportunity I found to buy souvenirs for my young children was at the airport on the return journey, and that was solely because the flight was delayed by a few minutes. One suspects that had the respected Director known of the delay, he would have promptly ordered a meeting to be convened on the spot to resolve an outstanding issue.