ABU’L-ḤASAN ṬĀLAQĀNĪ

 

ABU’L-ḤASAN ṬĀLAQĀNĪ, ḤOJJAT-AL-ESLĀM (?-1350/1932), religious scholar and father of the celebrated Āyatallāh Maḥmūd Ṭālaqānī. Born in the village of Gelīrd near Ṭālaqān, he completed the preliminary stages of his religious training in Tehran before joining the circle of the great moǰtahed Mīrzā Ḥasan Šīrāzī in Sāmarrāʾ. After the death of Šīrāzī in 1312/1895, he continued his studies with Āyatallāh Moṣṭafā Ṣadr. He left the ʿatabāt in 1317/1899, and after performing the ḥaǰǰ took up residence in Tehran, where he supported himself as a watch repairer while teaching and preaching at various mosques. Although he never attained the prominence of his son, Āyatallāh Maḥmūd Ṭālaqānī (d. 1979), he engaged, like him, in oppositional activity, protesting in particular against the forced unveiling of women. As a result, he was repeatedly imprisoned and banished to various remote parts of Iran during the reign of Reżā Shah. He died in Šaʿbān, 1350/November, 1931, and his body was transported to Naǰaf for burial in the Wādī al-Salām cemetery. Among his writings are Kīmīā-ye hastī, Maqāla-ye Eṯnāʿašarī, and al-Sīāsat al-Ḥosaynīya

Bibliography:

M. Š. Rāzī, Ganǰīna-ye dānešmandān, Tehran, 1352 Š./1973, IV, pp. 509-10.

Āyatallāh Maḥmūd Ṭālaqānī, undated pamphlet published by the Iranian Ministry of National Guidance.

(H. Algar)

Originally Published: December 15, 1983

Last Updated: July 21, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 3, p. 314

Cite this entry:

H. Algar, “ABU’L-ḤASAN ṬĀLAQĀNĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/3, p. 314; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abul-hasan-talaqani-hojjat-al-eslam- (accessed on 31 January 2014).