Qom Seminary



The Qom Seminary is the largest Islamic seminary (hawza) in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom. It trains Usuli scholars.

History
Although big Shi'a academies existed in Qom dating back as early as 10th century CE, the hawza (seminarium) of the city became prominent at the time of the Safavids when Shi'a Islam became the official religion of Iran in the 16th century. The famous teachers of that era included Mulla Sadra and Shaykh Bahai. The modern Qom hawza was revitalized by Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi and is barely a century old. There are nearly three hundred thousand clerics in Iran’s seminaries. Grand Ayatollah Hossein Vahid Khorasani heads the Qom Seminary.

Law school
Because Sharia is legally binding in Iran, the Qom seminary also functions as a law school in Iran. Ebrahim Raisi, the former Chief Justice and former President of the Islamic republic of Iran, was one of the alumni of the Qom seminary.

All judges in the Islamic Republic of Iran must have received education in Islamic Law; most qadis are "members of the group of ruling clergies."

Notable teachers
• Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi

• Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili

• Ahmad Khonsari

• Ali Meshkini

• Ali Safi Golpaygani

• Ayatollah Haj Mirza Khalil Kamareyi

• Hossein Vahid Khorasani

• Hussein-Ali Montazeri

• Jawad Tabrizi

• Mehdi Shab Zende Dar Jahromi

• Mohammad Alavi Gorgani

• Mohammad Ali Araki

• Mohammad Beheshti

• Mohammad Fazel Lankarani

• Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari

• Mohammad al-Husayni al-Shirazi

• Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani

• Mohammad-Taqi Bahjat Foumani

• Morteza Haeri Yazdi

• Mousa Shubairi Zanjani

• Muhammad Hujjat Kuh-Kamari

• Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i

• Naser Makarem Shirazi

• Ruhollah Khomeini

• Sadr al-Din al-Sadr

• Sayyid Sadeq Rohani

• Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi

• Shahab al-Din Mar'ashi Najafi

• Yousef Saanei

• Seyed Reza Bahaadini

Notable alumni
• Ahmad Ahmadi

• Hassan Farhang Ansari

• Hesamodin Ashna

• Asadollah Bayat-Zanjani

• Seyed Ali Asghar Dastgheib

• Ali Davani

• Hassan Hassanzadeh Amoli

• Sadegh Khalkhali

• Ali Khamenei

• Esmaeil Khatib

• Najaf Lakzaee

• Mohammad Fazel Lankarani

• Mahmoud Mar'ashi Najafi

• Hossein Modarressi

• Mohammad Mofatteh

• Majid Mohammadi

• Muhammad Mohaqiq

• Morteza Motahhari

• Movsum Samadov

• Ebrahim Raisi

• Hassan Rouhani

• Musa al-Sadr

• Ahmad Vaezi