Haydar al-Sadr
Ayatollah Haydar al-Sadr (
1891-
1937) who was born during 1891 in the city of
Samarra, which is part of the
Salah ad Din Governorate in
Iraq. His father,
Ismail as-Sadr (d.1920), was a Grand Ayatollah and the first to be use the as-
Sadr surname, which came to be associated with a long line of religious scholarship within
Shia Islam. Haydar and the as-Sadr family are also considered as
Sayyid, or those who can trace their lineage back to the
Prophet Muhammad (d.632). The family's lineage is traced through
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq and his son Imam
Musa al-Kazim the sixth and seventh Shia Imams respectively. This direct and meticulously documented lineage is unprecedented even among the illustrious families in the Islamic world who claim such lineage. The Shia Muslims consider themselves the followers of Prophet Muhammad's bloodline, thus a great deal of respect and reverence is paid to the
Sayyids throughout society. Some of the well known relatives of Haydar al-Sadr include his brother,
Sadr al-Din Sadr (d.1954), and his nephew
Moussa as-Sadr.
Haydar was considered a grand
marja at-taqlid (supreme religious authority) of his time. A
marja' at-taqlīd, literally, means "reference point for emulation", or one who through his learning and probity is qualified to be followed in all points of religious practice and
Islamic law by the generality of Shi'is. He died in the city of
Kazimayn, Iraq in 1937 leaving three children: Isma'il,
Mohammad Baqir as-Sadr (d.1980) and Aminah (known as
Bint al-Hoda).
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Imam Moussa as-Sadr Website
