Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom (جامعهٔ مدرسین حوزهٔ علمیهٔ قم), was founded 1961 by the leading Shi'a clerics of Qom

Qom

Qom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....

 to organize religious teachings in the seminaries, and expand the religious teachings in Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. It currently heads the Supreme Council of Qom Hawza

Hawza

Hawza or ḥawza ʻilmiyya is a seminary of traditional Islamic school of higher learning. It is a term used mostly by the Shi'a Muslims communities to refer to a traditional Shi'a centre where clerics are trained...

s, and proposes judges to the judiciary system

Judicial system of Iran

A nationwide judicial system in Iran was first implemented and established by Abdolhossein Teymourtash under Reza Shah, with further changes during the second Pahlavi era....

.

Founders

Its founders comprising (none of them were Ayatollah at that time):

• Azari Qomi
• Ebrahim Amini
  Ebrahim Amini
  Ayatollah Haj Shaykh Ebrahim Amini is an Iranian politician in the Assembly of Experts. He is also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council.-External links:*...
  
  
• Ali Meshkini
  Ali Meshkini
  Ayatollah Ali Akbar Feyz Meshkini was an Iranian hardline cleric and politician.-Life:Meshkini was an Iranian Azerbaijani born in a village near Meshkinshahr and the Sabalan mountain. He was born as Āli, but preferred the pronounciaton, Ali during his career. He succeeded Ayatollah Montazeri as...
  
  
• Hossein-Ali Montazeri
• Qoddusi
• Rabbani Shirazi

Members

Its current members include among others:

• Ayatollah Morteza Moghtadai
  Morteza Moghtadai
  Ayatollah Morteza Moghtadai is an Iranian Shia scholar, and deputy chairman of Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom. He was re-elected to the fourth Assembly of Experts...
  
  
• Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi
  Naser Makarem Shirazi
  Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi is an ayatollah in Iran. He is a spiritual guide for many Shia Muslims.-In Iran:He started his formal Islamic studies at the age of 14 in the Agha Babakhan Shirazi seminary....
  
  
• Grand Ayatollah Moslem Malakouti
• Grand Ayatollah Hossein Mazaheri
  Hossein Mazaheri
  Grand Ayatollah Hossein Mazaheri is an Iranian Shia Marja. At the age of 14, he moved to Isfahan Seminary to start his religious studies. Five years later, he moved to Qom to complete his studies under Ayatollah Boroujerdi and Ayatollah Khomeini...
  
  
• Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi
• Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi
• Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi
  Mohammad Yazdi
  Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdii is an Iranian cleric who served as the head of Judiciary System of Iran between 1989 and 1999, following Ayatollah Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili and succeeded by Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi....
  
  
• Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini
  Ebrahim Amini
  Ayatollah Haj Shaykh Ebrahim Amini is an Iranian politician in the Assembly of Experts. He is also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council.-External links:*...
  
  
• Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami
  Ahmad Khatami
  Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami is a senior Iranian Ayatollah, as well as a senior member of the Assembly of Experts. In December of 2005, Ali Khamenei appointed him as Tehran’s substitute Friday prayer leader.He was born in the town of Nīr, Northern Iran...
  
  
• Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati
  Ahmad Jannati
  Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati Massah is a hardline Iranian politician, fundamentalist Shi'i cleric and a founding member of Haghani school with close ties with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mesbah-Yazdi...
  
  

Activities

The Society approves a list of marjas in Qom

Qom

Qom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....

. In 1963 the Society declared Ayatollah Khomeini as marja

Marja

Marja , also known as a marja-i taqlid or marja dini , literally means "Source to Imitate/Follow" or "Religious Reference"...

. In 1994, after the death of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki

Mohammad Ali Araki

Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Araki (1889 in Arak – November 24, 1994 in Qom was an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja.Ayatullah Araki began his Hawza studies in Arak, and was the student of many prominent scholars during this time,...

, the Society nominated seven of the Ulama

Ulama

-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...

 as his succeeders to be Marja

Marja

Marja , also known as a marja-i taqlid or marja dini , literally means "Source to Imitate/Follow" or "Religious Reference"...

 including Ayatollah Khamenei .

See also

• List of Ayatollahs
• Council for Spreading Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Thoughts
  Council for Spreading Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Thoughts
  The Council for Spreading President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Thoughts is an official high-council, established by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in order to spread the philosophy, ideology and sociology of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.The aim of the council "to define and guard over the thought...
  
  
• Haghani Circle
  Haghani Circle
  Haghani school is a Shi'i school of thought in Iran by a group of hardliner right-wing clerics based in the holy city of Qom and headed by Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, an influential theologian. The Haghani Circle has its origin in the Haghani seminary, founded in 1964, which previously...
  
  
• History of principle-ism in Iran