Grand Ayatollah Syed Ali Naqi Naqvi (born 26 December 1905 – 18 May 1988) (26 Rajab 1323 AH – 1 Shawal 1408 AH), also known as Naqqan Sahib, was a Twelver Shia Marja, thinker, poet, writer, jurist and Qur'anic interpreter. He is famous for his writings in Urdu, including the most famous Shaheed-e-Insaniyat and Tareekh-e-Islam. He has also written Tarjuma wa Tafseer of Quran e majeed and dozens of books in Arabic. One of the most highly regarded scholars of Shia Islam at his time, he wrote more than 100 books and 1000 short books. His books were published by him in 12 languages in India. He is among the most learned Islamic scholars in Indian History. Ayatullah ‘Ali Naqi Naqvi is arguably the single most important religious figure of the twentieth century Indian Shi’ite Islam. Emerging out of a very well-known family of traditional scholars and the seminaries of India and Iraq, his religious and intellectual career lasted several decades during which he remained prolific and continuously preached from the pulpit. During his life he wrote and spoke about a host of subjects: the reason-revelation divide, a defense of Islam from attacks on its core beliefs and practices, Qur'anic exegesis, theology, defense of Shi’ite theology and religious practices from sectarian polemics, Islamic history, Islamic political and social thought, explanation of the various rulings of Islamic law, and the theme of Karbala and the martyrdom of Husayn. Conscious of his role as the most learned juridical authority (marja al-taqlid) to whom the community would turn to in times of crisis, for ‘Ali Naqvi, in his life the greatest crisis facing the community was that of irreligiosity, of people losing confidence and conviction in the worth of religion for human civilization. Early life and education Naqvi was born in 1905 in Lucknow, British India. Between the ages of 3 and 4 in 1327 Hijri, his father Syed Abul Hasan Naqvi (Mumtaz al-ulama) took him and his family to Iraq. His 'Bismillah' at the age of seven in Rauza-e-Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq. In Iraq at the age of 7, Ali Naqvi's formal education began with Arabic and Persian grammar and basic learning of the Qur’an. In 1914, the family returned to India and he continued his religious education under the supervision of his father and later at the Sultan al-Madaris seminary. He also studied Arabic literature with Mufti Muhammad ‘Ali. In