Ayatollah Abolfazl Mousavi Tabrizi alongside Grand Ayatollah Shariatmadari and Grand Ayatollah Khomeini before his exile in the 1960s.
Abolfazl Mousavi was born in the city of Tabriz in East Azerbaijan to a religious family. His father's family were a religious clerical family in Tabriz and as a result of this, at the age of 13 Abolfazl Mousavi began his Islamic studies at the Hasaneh Padshah School in Tabriz. After excelling in his studies, he went to Qom to begin his studies in the Hawza. At the age of 27, he began his studies in Dars-e-Kharej (lit. 'beyond the text'), and Principles of Islamic jurisprudence taught by Ruhollah Khomeini. After these studies, he attended classes of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari.[4]
Political life
Before the Iranian Revolution Abolfazl Mousavi was involved with spreading the tapes of Khomeini and getting the people to back him in Tabriz during his exile. In the Seyyed Hamzeh Mosque in Tabriz, he called on people to follow the path of Khomeini, this led to him being arrested by SAVAK. After his release, he fled to Qom, where he became a member of the Society of Teachers of the Seminary of Qom and, along with other members of this group, issued statements against the Pahlavi regime.[4]
After the Revolution, Abolfazl Mousavi was very close to Grand Ayatollah Shariatmadari, however due to the infamous clash between him and Khomeini, Tabrizi distanced himself from Shariatmadari.[4] He was a member of the Assembly of Experts for three terms, he represented Tabriz in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, was involved with the creation of the Constitution, was a member of Assembly of Experts for Constitution, and was also the Attorney General of Iran.[5]
