About Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) Institute

Payam-e emam Hadi alayhissalam Institute (Imam Hadi «peace be upon him»’s message institute) was founded in 1992 under the directorship of ayatollah Seyyed Hadi Rafi’ipour for the purpose of editing, examining, authoring, reviving the heritage, publishing needed books on Islamic jurisprudence, on Islamic narrations (hadith), and on Islamic sciences, and solving the research shortage in the society especially in Hawzah schools. Towards that end, this institute has edited, examined, and authored some books which have been approved and admired by the supreme leader, marja’s, academic centers in universities and Hawzah schools, and cultural figures and some of the books have received Iran's book of the year award, Qom’s Hawzah book of the year award, the international festival of Razavi book of the year’s award, Welayat book of the year award, Mahdawiyyat book of the year award, and so on.

With almost thirty years of scientific and research activities, this institute has had some great and notable achievements some of which are mentioned briefly below:

1. Editing and examining the book Al-Muqni’ (satisfactory) written by Shaikh Saduq (may God bless him and make him rest in peace) which was printed and published in 1995. After years of research, in this work, the mentioned book was proved to be on both Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and Islamic narrations (hadith), i.e. a jurisprudential book based on narrations. This book was selected as the winner of Iran's book of the year award.

2. Editing and examining the book Al-Hidayah (the guidance) written by Shaikh Saduq (may God bless him and make him rest in peace) which was printed and published in 2000. This book was selected as the winner of Iran's book of the year award. The content of Al-Hidayah is as that of Al-Muqni’ Islamic narrations and it is one of the references of the book Bihar al-Anwar (oceans of lights). The text of this book was compared and matched with some handwritten manuscripts. The introductory chapter of this book contains the most comprehensive biography of the late Shaikh Saduq and also some new contents including those about Shaikh Saduq.

3. Editing and examining the book Muntakhabul anwaril mudhee’ah fi dhikril hujjah (A selection of brightening lights about Imam Mahdi «may God hasten his reappearance»). This book received the Hawzah book award, the third Welayat book of the year award in 2000, and the first Mahdawiyyat book of the year award for cultural work in Jamkaran mosque. This is a selection of the book Anwarul mudhee’ah which is one of the references of Bihar al-Anwar and is designed in twelve chapters speaking about Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) as well as responding to the questions and resolving the doubts about him.

4. Editing and examining the book Al-I’tiqadat (the beliefs) written by Shaikh Saduq (may God bless him and make him rest in peace) which won a tablet and an award in the Hawzah book of the year festival, 2011. Al-I’tiqadat is one of the earliest and most authoritative books about Shi’a beliefs and it is more than ten centuries that this book is favoured and paid attention to by Shi’a scholars. This book was considered so significant and distinguished by Shi’a people and the religious scholars of the time of Shaikh Saduq that all Islamic denominations were inclined to know Shi’a Islam by those characteristic features. Eloquence and plain wording is one of the characteristics of this outstanding text on beliefs. With this eloquent writing style, Shaikh Saduq has refuted the false statements made by some Islamic denominations against Shi’a Islam and also outlined the beliefs of Twelver Shi’a Islam in a true and reliable manner.

5. The book Du’a unnudbah wa tawthiqihi min alkitabi wassunnah (Supplication “Nudbah” and its authenticity in the Book and tradition) which was awarded and … in the twenty-third book of the autumn awards in 2012. At the twenty-sixth Tehran international book fair in 2013, Iran’s supreme leader visited the stall of Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) institute, became acquainted with the newly published works of the institute and regarding the noble book “Du’a unnudbah wa tawthiqihi min alkitabi wassunnah” he said: “This is a very good work”. In this book, all the phrases of supplication Nudbah were tried to be compared with Qur’anic verses and Islamic narrations and all the narrations with the same or similar content were cited in the footnotes so that should anyone possibly question the authenticity of this supplication, it could be so clear for them that this supplication is in full accordance with Islamic narrations and Shi’a beliefs. This book contains a very elegant and scientific introduction about the authenticity of the supplication with supporting evidence. Since this book is going to be used by researchers, several lists emerge on the ending pages and it can be claimed that such a book regarding the supplication Nudbah is quite unique and its content was provided with the utmost care. This work has been awarded, received a tablet, and selected as the best.

6. Authoring the book Mowsoo’atu ziyaratil ma’soomeen (A collection of books written about pilgrimage texts of the people of infallibility «peace be upon them all») in seven volumes and it won the seventh Welayat book of the year award, Iran's book of the year award, Mahdawiyyat book of the year award, was selected as the best book for editing and examining by Authors of Isfahan in 2005, and was also selected as the best book at the fourth festival of Razavi book of the year in 2011. This collection which is matchless in its kind contains pilgrimage texts of the people of infallibility (peace be upon them all) including generic texts, specific texts, inclusive texts, etc. in five volumes. In addition to those five volumes, there are two other volumes: one is the specialized lists and bibliography, the other is an introduction to the collection. Pilgrimage texts of every one of the people of infallibility (peace be upon them all) are designed in these following chapters: «1- a brief biography, 2- virtues of the city they are buried in, 3- virtues of the place they are buried in, 4- virtues of pilgrimage, 5- recommended occasions for pilgrimage, 6- recommended acts of pilgrimage, 7- the manner of making a pilgrimage, and 8- acts of after pilgrimage and Prayers» and all of them are separately mentioned for each one of the people of infallibility (peace be upon them all).

7. Best publisher at the thirteenth conference of Hawzah book of the year in 2011

8. Best publisher at the fourth festival of Razavi book of the year in 2011

9. This institute was chosen by the vice- chancellor for Research Affairs of Qom’s Hawzah as one of the top ten research institutes in Qom’s Hawzah schools in 2015 and won a tablet and an award.

This institute tries to share its research experiences and activities with scholars and experts and to seek guidance from them in the meetings with them. For this reason, several meetings were held with the supreme leader and also with grand ayatollah Shobairi Zanjani, grand ayatollah Wahid Khorasani, grand ayatollah Sistani, grand ayatollah Sobhani, grand ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, the late grand ayatollah Tabrizi, and so forth.

For the first time, some workshops were held by this institute on learning about the texts and contents of pilgrimage texts of the people of infallibility (peace be upon them all) in Qom and Isfahan Hawzah schools. In this one-day intensive course, some scientific and theological issues about the resources of pilgrimage texts, social and political affairs in pilgrimage texts, beliefs in pilgrimage texts, and ethics and education in pilgrimage texts were explained to the participants and some questions were answered.