Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei has become Iran's new Supreme Leader.
Iran's Assembly of Experts has introduced Ayatollah Hajj Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a large majority of votes.
Mojtaba Khamenei is the son of Iran's late leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28.
The life and activities of Mojtaba Khamenei, who has been elected as Iran's new Supreme Leader, are currently being widely discussed in international media. Among the topics of particular interest in these discussions are where he received his education and the level of his religious training.
AzEdu.az has investigated Mojtaba Khamenei's education.
Mojtaba Khamenei was born in Tehran in 1969 and received his initial education in the capital. After his school years, he went to Qom, considered Iran's most important Shia religious education center, and began his religious studies. The religious seminary (Hawza Ilmiyya) operating in Qom is considered one of the main educational institutions of Shia theology in the world, and many of Iran's renowned clerical leaders have been trained there.
Mojtaba Khamenei also studied classical religious sciences at the Qom seminary for many years. His curriculum included subjects such as Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), the methodology of fiqh (usul al-fiqh), Quranic exegesis (tafsir), hadith studies, Islamic philosophy, and logic. This educational system is conducted in stages, with students first learning fundamental religious sciences and then participating in higher-level academic discussions.
According to reports, Mojtaba Khamenei attended the lessons of several influential Shia scholars in Qom and enhanced his religious knowledge by participating in their academic discussions. Among these scholars, figures such as Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani, and Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, who are considered prominent clerical figures in Iran, are also mentioned.
Continuing his religious education, Mojtaba Khamenei is known as a cleric holding the rank of “Hujjat al-Islam,” which is considered a mid-to-high level in the Shia religious hierarchy. This rank is usually bestowed upon religious scholars who have pursued religious education for many years and possess a certain authority in the field of religious sciences.
According to some reports, during his years of study in Qom, he not only participated as a student but also took part in conducting certain religious lessons. This indicates his continued activity in the field of religious sciences.
Overall, Mojtaba Khamenei's education has primarily been in the religious sphere, and his academic preparation is based on the tradition of clerical education, which plays a significant role in Iran's religious-political system.
