Hassan al-Shirazi

al-Shirazi was born to Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi and Halima al-Shirazi. Both of his parents are from the distinguished clerical al-Shirazi family that emigrated from Shiraz to Karbala in the 19th century. He is the fourth of ten children. All of his brothers are clerics, and his brothers' Muhammad al-Shirazi and Sadiq al-Shirazi are marja's. His mother is the great-granddaughter of Mirza Shirazi, the pioneer of the Tobacco Movement. His nephew, Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi is also a marja'.

Ayatollah Sayyid Hassan al-Husayni al-Shirazi. (Arabic: حسن الحسيني الشيرازي; Persian: حسن حسينى شيرازى; 1935–May 2, 1980) was an Iraqi-Iranian Shia scholar, thinker, and poet. He was assassinated in Beirut at the hands of the Baathist intelligence.

On Friday, 2 May, 1980, al-Shirazi was on his way to Borj El Brajneh to attend the funeral of Muhammad-Baqer al-Sadr, who was assassinated in Iraq at the hands of the Baathists along with his sister, Bint al-Huda. al-Shirazi was in a taxi, and then two cars showed up on either side of the taxi, allegedly carrying Baathist intelligence officers, who sprayed the taxi with bullets. Thirteen bullets hit al-Shirazi, mostly in his head, killing him.

al-Shirazi issued numerous statements against the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979. He aided a lot of activist groups in Afghanistan against the communist influence of the Soviet Union.

al-Shirazi established two seminaries in the Levant. He set up the Imam al-Mehdi school for religious studies in Lebanon and in Syria, he founded the Zaynabiya Islamic Sciences Seminary in Sayyeda Zainab in 1975.

Through al-Shirazi's numerous visits to Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj, he met with officials and the Muslim World League, and through them, in 1972, he managed to meet with King Faisal, where he discussed beginning the conversation in regards to rebuilding the Baqi cemetery. al-Shirazi's effort is considered to be the most progressive when it comes to any action carried out in regards to the rebuilding of the cemetery. However these efforts came to a halt with his death. Murtadha al-Qazwini states that upon meeting Mohammed Suroor Sabban, he told him "the current wall that surrounds the cemetery was built due to the efforts of Muhammad al-Shirazi and his brother Hassan."

Because of this poem, al-Shirazi began to face pressures from the Baathists, that led to his immigration to Lebanon in 1964. Whilst in Lebanon, he founded Dar al-Sadiq, a publishing house that produced many Islamic books. He then returned to Iraq, before Abd al-Salam Arif 's death. He continued his activism, against Abd al-Salam, his brother Abd al-Rahman, and later the Baathists, who assumed full control with a bloodless coup against Abd al-Rahman. The Baathists imprisoned al-Shirazi in 1969, and tortured him along with a number of other scholars in the Nihahya Palace. Due to the intensity of the torture, he was transferred to the military hospital, and then to a prison in Baqubah. He was released that same year, and shortly after, in 1970, immigrated to Lebanon. At first he sought treatment for the injuries he suffered under the torture of the Baathists. Then he resumed his activism, visiting many countries, and publishing more books and poetry.

In 1963, during an annual function held in Karbala, commemorating the birth of Ali, al-Shirazi recited his renowned poem, za'imuna al-karrar (transl. Our leader, the valiant [Ali]), criticising Britains meddling with Iraqi politics, the Baath party, and specifically its founder, Michel Aflaq:.mw-parser-output .verse_translation .translated{padding-left:2em}@media only screen and (max-width:43.75em){.mw-parser-output .verse_translation.wrap_when_small td{display:block;padding-left:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .verse_translation.wrap_when_small .translated{padding-left:0.5em}}

al-Shirazi was an avid critic of the British-sponsored monarchy in Iraq, the communist tide that hit the country after the monarchy, as well as the Baathist regime that also followed. Along with his brother, Muhammad, he staged many protests and activities to counter the parties and their ideologies of communism and socialism. He used to display his sentiments in his poetry, that he would often recite in festivals and conferences set up in Karbala. In 1950, he set up the al-shabab al-husayni (transl. The youth of Husayn), a youth organisation, as part of his anti-communist campaign.