Statements at the Meeting of the Organizers of the Congress Commemorating the Late Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Mohaghegh Damad

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

A very appropriate and good work has been done; however, as Mr. Mohaghegh stated, this work is a bit late, otherwise it should have been done twenty years ago, thirty years ago.

At the time we were in Qom, the late Mr. Damad (may God’s mercy be upon him) was one of the few definitive scientific pillars of Qom; there were many professors, but among the professors, he was truly a real and genuine scientific pillar; his class was a truly outstanding class; especially his jurisprudence class; those who attended the late Mr. Damad's class - in our time, those we knew attended jurisprudence, in the period before us they attended principles; I was in the later period, now the last or the one before last [was] when I attended his principles class - and those who had attended his principles class before us were all among the distinguished scholars. When I attended his class, I used the notes from the previous principles course from one of his students, namely the late Mr. Taheri Isfahani (may God’s mercy be upon him) - whose book has apparently been published - I would look at them. The point is that his class was a class for scholars, a class for the outstanding figures of the seminary.

Well, Mr. Salehi mentioned various aspects of his personality, and that is correct; the points he made completely align with our findings and what we saw and witnessed up close. He thought about knowledge; he was truly a researcher and a meticulous scholar in the true sense of the word; his precision in various fields was renowned; the precision he applied to various issues was well-known. Although his expression was not eloquent and good, he completely conveyed the matter; that is, the student who was sitting there and listening could fully grasp the content; thus, he trained good students, several of whom are current sources of emulation, just as you pointed out and he mentioned.

Mr. Aqa Mousa Sadr - may God protect him or may God’s mercy be upon him; I do not know - had just gone to Najaf, he had been there for a year or two; we were also honored; we met him there and asked what the situation and relationship of the professors here with Qom was; since he was a student of Mr. Damad; he said no, I see no preference here; that is, at that time, although there were great figures in Najaf, Mr. Aqa Mousa's judgment was; he said no, I see no preference. Just as he referred to the discussion of the right of obedience, this is among the words of Mr. Damad; now it may be that, for example, two minds intersect in this regard, but considering Mr. Aqa Mousa's move to Najaf and his connection with the late martyr Sadr, it seems very likely that they also utilized [his opinions] here.

One of the characteristics of the late Mr. Damad was his frankness; a person without pretense, straightforward; he was not one to consider the opinions of this and that. Regarding the struggles he referred to, yes, from the year 41, that is, before 42, in the same [issue of] provincial and local associations, he was one of those who signed and wrote letters and sent telegrams and participated in all the meetings. And after Imam was arrested following the incident of the 15th of Khordad and the initial imprisonment and then house arrest and such matters arose, one night my brother and I and Mr. Ebrahimi and the late Sheikh Ali Heydari Nahavandi and the late Mr. Haj Aqa Rouhollah Kamalvand, who had come to Qom, said let’s go to him and request that he ask the scholars in Qom to do something, to take some action, and so on; it was a winter night; we went there, Mr. Damad was also present; he was standing there; we started the conversation and said something, and he began to support Imam and complain about those who had left him alone. I might remember some of the themes of his expressions; very sharp, very sharp! And the funny thing was that coincidentally one of those individuals who were the subject of his complaint entered the meeting! The point is, he was like this; a straightforward, unpretentious person. Both his scientific aspect was prominent and distinguished, and his practical and pious aspect, the aspect of his public engagement that you referred to is the same; despite all his engagements, his congregational prayers and sermons were maintained; and I heard that before us, he used to travel for sermons during the month of Ramadan. Of course, in our time it was not like that; in our time he spoke only in his own mosque; these were never neglected; this is very important. May God, God willing, elevate his ranks. His passing truly created a void. In 47 [when he passed away], it was truly felt that there was a scientific void. Of course, I was not in Qom at that time, but it was clear that Qom suffered a scientific blow with Mr. Damad's departure; had he remained, he would certainly have been much better for the scientific advancement of Qom.

Now, the works you referred to are very good. Well, his principles notes have been published; both by Mr. Makarem and by the late Mr. Taheri; and jurisprudence has several topics, both Hajj and prayer, from the scholars who are available. And whatever you can publish from his jurisprudential contributions is better; now, principles yes, two courses for principles are sufficient; but whatever you can extract from his jurisprudential discussions and make available to everyone, in my opinion, is worthwhile. God willing, may you be successful; may God, God willing, elevate his ranks, protect his honorable sons, and his esteemed family; and may God reward all of you who have worked hard on this and undertaken this good initiative.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.