Muhammad Ali Hasani was an intellectual and highly educated man. Born in 1878, he was the son of the prominent scholar, Muhammad Ali Beg. Ali was an eminent religious scholar. As a young man, he came to Madaya and then to Kashan where he joined the Ulama and became the principal of a high school. As the leader of his town’s Mosques, Ali was the first to declare in favour of the Ahmadiyya creed of the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad. However, despite this, he still stood by his Muslim brethren, judging them with the strictest confidence and respect, calling them ‘ancestors of Islam.’

 

Muhammad Ali Hasani had a special love for his birthplace, Bijar. He used to spend his holidays at Bijar’s Abadulaq Mosque. Although Muhammad Ali Hasani lived for the most part of his life in Mashhad, he made many visits to his home town.

 

Ali Hasani had a love for poetry. He loved to share poetry with young people of his time. He established a school in Rashid and promoted it until its disintegration. Muhammad Ali Hasani also wrote much poetry. He remained committed to his beliefs. He did not regard Islam as a religion of law. He felt that the purpose of religion is to look into the hearts and make people love each other.

 

As a man of great religious devotion, Ali Hasani stayed unmarried until the time of his death in 1910.

 

Muhammad Ali Hasani passed away a few days before his fortieth birthday, 10th Muharram of 1308 Hijri (19 December 1905). He was buried in the Abadulaq Mosque in Bijar, which was built in 1458 by his great grandfather, who had rebuilt it after it had been destroyed by a siege.

 

Source: Biblioteca Universitatis Ismaili (Cardinal)

 

Top Image: Bijar, Iran, Mar 19, 2003, A day after the martyrdom of Ali Hasani-Rashidi, who was executed as a spy for the British and a close friend of Sultan Mahmoud of Persia. (Mohammad Mojighi. نمحمد بجى احمریه خانی).