Two respected scholars and jurists of the Muslim world passed away recently. Ayatollah Muhammad Ali Shahabadi returned to his Lord on Saturday, January 7, whereas Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Milani bade farewell to this world on Wednesday, January 11.

Ayatollah Shaikh Muhammad Shahabadi was born in Tehran to a scholarly family in 1927. He received his early religious education under his father, a prominent scholar, and continued his higher studies under Ayatollah Burujardi and Imam Khomeini. For 35 years, he was a noted teacher of jurisprudence, philosophy, and ethics in the Islamic seminary of Qom. On Friday, January 6, he was taken to a hospital in Tehran due to deteriorating health conditions, where he passed away the next day. His body was laid to rest in the sanctuary of Lady Fatima al-Masooma (peace be upon her) in Qom.

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Milani also hailed from a scholarly family. He was the son of Ayatollah Abbas Milani and grandson of the renowned Religious Authority Ayatollah Sayyid Hadi Milani. He studied in Qom, but spent the later days of his life in the holy city of Mashhad, where he served as a senior scholar and teacher in the Islamic seminary. He was also widely recognized as a great speaker and orator. On January 11, he passed away. Funeral prayers were held for him in Mashhad, and then his body was transferred to Najaf for burial in the Wadi al-Salam cemetery.