Ayatullah
Haj Shaykh Ali Rasti Kashani
An eminent Faqih in the Hawzah of Qom and a member of the Teachers Assembly in Qom
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He was born in 1306 A.H. (1888 A.D.) in Kashan, where he finished primary school. Then he entered the Hawzah, wherein he learn the preliminary stage - literature, grammar, rehetoric, logic, Usool, and Fiqh from the late Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Razawi, Ayatullah Mirza Husayn Fadhil Naraqi, Ayatullah Gharawi Kashani (known as Hujjat Zadeh), Ayatullah Shaykh Ali Akbar Samadi, and Ayatullah Haj Shaykh Ja`far Sabouri Qummi. Having finished those lessons, Kashani entered the Hawzah of Qom and began studying at the higher stage at which time he benfitted very much from Haj Shaykh Murtadha Ha'iri, Haj Shaykh Abdul Jawad Isfahani, Sayyid Shihab al-Din Mar`shi Najafi, and Ayatullah Haj Sayyid Muhhamd Baqir Tabataba'i Boroujerdi (known as Sultani). He also learned exegesis, astronomy, and other texts under Mandhoumah. He learned Philosophy from the late Ayatullah `Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i.
In order to complete his studies, Kashani migrated to Najaf Ashraf, where he remained for about 25 years. There he could benefit from many great and eminent scholars such as Haj Sayyid Abul Qasim Khou'i and Agha Mirza Baqir Zanjani (for two complete courses of Kharij in Usool and Fiqh). He also benefited greatly from the lectures of Ayatullah Sayyid Muhsin Hakim, Haj Sayyid Mahmoud Shahroudi, Agha Sayyid Abdul Hadi Shirazi, Haj Mirza Husayn Yazdi, Haj Shaykh Husayn Hilli, Agha Mirza Hasan Bujnourdi, and Haj Sayyid Husayn Hammami.
Kashani studied the sciences of Tradition, Wisdom, and Philosophy with the late Ayatullah Haj Sayyid Abdul A`laa Sabzewari, and he learned the same subjects and Theology from the late Ayatullah Haj Shaykh Sadra. He studied exegesis under Ayatullah Haj Shaykh Muhammad Ali Sarabi, and some other lessons on the principles of Fiqh under Ayatullah Haj Shaykh Mujtaba Lankarani.
After the arrival of Imam Khumayni to Najaf Ashraf, Kashani began attending his lectures, whlie at the same time he was able to teach all the text books of that time, which were mostly books of Usool and Fiqh.
Upon his returned to Iran, Kashani became a member of the Teachers Assembly of Qom and a member of the High Management Assembly of the Hawzah in Qom. To this day he has maintained this position.