Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, in a meeting with members of the Policy Council of the Congress of Allamah Behabadi Yazdi (RA), referred to the pivotal role of personalities like Allamah Behabadi (RA) in linking historical seminaries, and stated,” Allameh Behabadi’s intellectual and educational trajectory passed through Shiraz and Isfahan and ended in Najaf, and this scientific path can indicate a meaningful relationship among these three great seminaries in the history of Shiite Islam, and if we can examine and analyze this relationship more accurately, we can focus on such personalities to shed light on the history of seminaries.”
He further noted, “The Isfahan Seminary had become a scientific center during that period, where all sciences, from jurisprudence and principles to philosophy, theology, hadith, interpretation, and even natural sciences such as astronomy, geography, urban planning, and architecture, were taught there. Figures such as Sheikh Baha’i (RA) played a key role in this comprehensiveness with his wide range of knowledge. We rarely see such a comprehensiveness in other seminaries, although each seminary is more prominent in some sciences, and the Najaf seminary has also excelled in jurisprudence in some periods.”
Pointing out the importance of reviewing the history of seminaries, the member of the Presiding Board of the Assembly of Leadership Experts stated, “This opportunity should be taken advantage of so that, through the commemoration of personalities such as Allameh Behabadi (RA), a new perspective can be created on the interaction and connection between the great seminary history centers such as Isfahan, Shiraz, and Najaf.”
“Unfortunately, a coherent and comprehensive history of seminaries has not yet been compiled, and what has been written to date is either monographs about specific personalities or individual seminaries, while seminaries have been a living and dynamic entity that has passed from generation to generation over the centuries.” He concluded.
