Musa Shubairi Zanjani

One of Twelver Shi'ism's most senior maraji' (sources of emulation) and a leading authority on Ilm al-Rijal, the science of authenticating hadith narrators. Born in Qom, he trained under some of the 20th century's foremost jurists in both Qom and Najaf. Following the death of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki in 1994, he was recognized as one of a small number of jurists qualified for marja'iyyah, and went on to teach advanced seminary courses (dars al-kharij) and lead congregational prayers at the Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom for decades. He was widely regarded as one of the foremost living specialists in hadith transmitter criticism, and his scholarship — including his critical edition of the classical rijal work Rijal al-Najashi and his own extensive biographical compendium Jur'a-i az Darya — is considered a major reference within the field. He passed away on 21 September 2026; funeral and burial arrangements were announced by his office to follow.