Ismail as-Sadr


Ismail as-Sadr was a Lebanese-Iraqi Grand Ayatollah, a title which is used in Iran and Iraq referring to a Twelver Shi'a scholar who is a fully qualified mujtahid who asserts authority over peers and followers by virtue of sufficient study and achievement of the level of necessary competency needed to obtain permission to practice ijtihad. He was born in Isfahan, Iran.

Life and family

Ismail as-Sadr is the grandfather of the Sadr family. He is the first to be known with the last name of as-Sadr after his father Sadr ad-Din ibn Salih, whose ancestors had been from the Jabal Amel in Lebanon.
Ismail As-Sadr was born in Isfahan, Iran. He was the youngest of five brothers all of whom became scholars of Shia Islam. He had four sons:
He resided in Najaf, Iraq, and became the sole marja until his death in 1338 A.H..