Muhammad ibn Muhammad Bagher Iravani or Fazil Iravani was an Islamic jurist and the second Sheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus and an Ayatollah al-Uzma.
15 Facts About Fazil Iravani
1.
2.
Fazil Iravani was born in Yerevan in either 1782 or 1817 to Muhammad Baqir Iravani.
3.
Fazil Iravani's grandfather Mir Abdulfattah Iravani was a cleric as well.
4.
Fazil Iravani got his primary religious education in same city.
5.
Fazil Iravani went on to continue his education in 1802 to Al-Azhar University.
6.
Fazil Iravani later went on to be a disciple of Ayatollah Sayyed Ibrahim Qazwini in Karbala and later studied in Najaf.
7.
Fazil Iravani was a disciple of Sayyid Husayn Kuhkamara'i, uncle of Muhammad Hujjat Kuh-Kamari.
8.
Fazil Iravani was akhund of Isfahan and Tabriz in his 40s.
9.
Fazil Iravani returned to his native Yerevan in 1827 and became akhund of Blue Mosque.
10.
Fazil Iravani was appointed as deputy of Sheikh ul-Islam Mahammadali Huseinzadeh in 1843.
11.
Fazil Iravani succeeded him as Sheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus prior to former's resignation in 1846.
12.
Fazil Iravani reformed many clerical issues, including taking nikah rights from mosque mullahs and handing it over to more educated akhunds.
13.
Fazil Iravani resigned his post in 1852 and was succeeded by Ahmad Huseinzadeh.
14.
Fazil Iravani died on 3 March 1885, Yerevan in very old age and buried in Najaf.
15.
Fazil Iravani was long thought to be the author of famous novel The Rose and the Nightingale, being mistaken for Fazli Kara, an Ottoman poet.