For several decades, Ayatollah Muhammad Ali al-Hakim was one of the leading scholars of jurisprudence and principles of jurisprudence within the seminary of Najaf as well as a highly respected teacher of ethics and spirituality. He was also well-versed in the fields of mathematics and was considered an expert in developing the application of modern mathematics to Islamic laws of inheritance.
Respected Muslim scholar and jurist Ayatollah Muhammad Ali al-Hakim passed away in the holy city of Najaf on Friday, February 25. Ayatollah Muhammad al-Hakim was the father of the Marja Taqleed (Religious Authority) Grand Ayatollah Saeed al-Hakim. He was 103 years old.
Sayyid Muhammad Ali al-Hakim was born in the year 1329 AH (1911 CE) to the legendary Al-Hakim family of scholars. His father was Sayyid Ahmad al-Hakim, and he received his religious education under him as well as several other respected scholars in the Islamic seminary of Najaf, including his uncle Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim, Shaikh Hussain al-Hilli, and Ayatollah Muhammad Hussain al-Isfehani. All five of his sons are also respected religious scholars, including Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim, who is one of the four Marjas in the holy city of Najaf and is a contemporary of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani.
For several decades, Ayatollah Muhammad Ali al-Hakim was one of the leading scholars of jurisprudence and principles of jurisprudence within the seminary of Najaf as well as a highly respected teacher of ethics and spirituality. He was also well-versed in the fields of mathematics and was considered an expert in developing the application of modern mathematics to Islamic laws of inheritance. He was noted for his research regarding the Qibla and laws of inheritance, and he wrote extensive annotations and commentaries upon the woks of his teachers Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim and Sayyid Muhammad Hussain al-Isfehani. He was widely adored as a soft-spoken, good-natured, and extremely humble scholar among the inhabitants of Najaf.
Funeral prayers for Ayatollah Muhammad Ali al-Hakim were held on Sunday, February 27 and led by his son Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Saeed al-Hakim. Amid thousands of mourners, his body was laid to rest in Masjid al-Hindi near the grave of his uncle Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim.
