Life of Sheikh Murtada Mutahari

Sheikh Murtada Mutahari was born on the 12th of Jumada Al-Thani in the year 1338 of the Hijra (February 2nd, 1920), in the city of Fariman in the province of Khorasan, Iran. His family was a religious, clerical family. His father, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Mutahari received his religious studies in the seminary of Najaf in Iraq which was the center of Shiite learning. In addition to Iraq, he also lived in Hejaz (Saudi Arabia) and Egypt. When he returned to Fariman, he spent his life in preaching religion. He was a very pious scholar and Allah granted him a long life (about 100 years). Sheikh Murtada Mutahari dedicated his book "Anecdotes of Pious Men" to his father, and in the introduction he stated: "He was the first one who guided me to the right path through his faith, piety, and good deed[s]."

Two months before the birth of Sheikh Murtada Mutahari, his mother saw in her dream that she was sitting among women in the mosque of Fariman. A venerable lady followed by two women entered, and they had rose water with them. They started sprinkling it upon the women in the mosque and when they reached her they sprinkled it thrice upon her head. She asked them why, and they answered that it was because she was carrying in her womb a child who will offer great services to Islam.

He moved to Mashahd at the young age of 12 in order to receive religious knowledge, and in five years he was able to master the preliminary lessons in addition to Arabic literature. His love for the domain of philosophy and Islamic mysticism drove him in to become the student of Imam Khomeini in Qom. After about 12 years, he moved to Tehran and after a couple of years he started teaching at the faculty of Theology and Islamic Dogmas in the University of Tehran. After around three years, he began contacting cultural centers in Tehran and started giving lectures. From that time, he also started writing his books.

In 1963, he was arrested for participating in activities supportive of the Islamic Revolution. After a year, and at the advice of Imam Khomeini, he started collaborating with Islamic organizations, and after three years he founded Husayniayt Ershad for the purpose of organizing intellectual and cultural activities.

Two years after founding Husayniyat Ershad, he was arrested for the charge of collecting aid for the Palestinian nation, and after 6 years from this arrest he was banned from giving lectures on pulpits. After a year, he was removed from the Faculty of Theology and he went to Najaf where he joined Imam Khomeini.

After the victory of the Islamic revolution, he was assassinated on the 1st of May in the year 1979.

He was a very spiritual person. He used to wake up at night to perform Night Prayer and cry. He was also humble.

In what follows, we shall state some of his characteristics:
1-He liked nature very much and would sometimes spend hours in nature.
2-He used to sleep early and wake up early to perform Night Prayer.
3-During scholarly research, he used to deeply concentrate to the extent that he would be heedless of those surrounding him.
4-Every day before sleeping, he used to recite the Holy Quran for twenty minutes.
5-He used to watch over his children to see if they were performing their religious duties.
6-He used to help poor people, and this became manifest after his martyrdom.
7-He venerated his parents and teachers very much.

When he was martyred, Imam Khomeini was deeply affected. He said: "Take me with you for I am ready for martyrdom. I have lost my dear son."