Ali al-Kourani (
Arabic: علي الكوراني; 22 November 1944 – 19 May 2024) was a Lebanese
Shia scholar cleric. He was born in 1944 in
Yater (Lebanon) In
Jabal Amel, migrating to
Najaf, Iraq to study in a hawza in 1958.
In 1967,
Grand AyatollahMuhsin al-Hakim sent him to Kuwait to educate
Shia people.[1] He returned to Lebanon in 1974, and established a mosque and a hospital. He lived in Lebanon until 1980. After the
Islamic Revolution in Iran, he moved to
Qom, Iran. He established the Centre of the Encyclopaedia of
Islamic Jurisprudence (
Arabic: معجم فقهى) and the Mustafa Centre for Religious Studies (
Arabic: مرکز المصطفى للدراسات الدینیه) in Qom.[2][3]
Al-Kournai died from a heart attack in Qom, on 19 May 2024, at the age of 79.[4]
Most of his research in
hadiths is focused on
Imam Mahdi, his appearance and the circumstances of the world before his coming. In his last years, he was frequently interviewed in Shia communities for providing political analysis of
Middle East developments in the light of
End Time Hadiths. He believed that according to prophecies the recent events in the Mid-East are a prelude to Imam Mahdi's appearance. For example, he held that the creation of a group which closely resembles
ISIS had been prophesied in Shia narrations, particularly in a hadith from
Ali ibn Abi Talib. As for Mahdi's utopian government, he stressed that it would be incomparable to existing governments of the world.[5][6]
Books
He wrote many books, many of them listed below:
Epoch of Appearance (
Arabic: عصرالظهور) is Ali Al-Kourani's most famous book. This book is written in
Arabic, and is about the events that occur before the appearance of
Imam Mahdi in
Shia beliefs. In this book he describes the fate of nations and ethnicities, such as Iran, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq,
Romans,
Turks,
Jews and
Arabs in the
End time according to the Shia and
Sunni narrations. Also in a part of the book he mentions a Sunni viewpoint about
Imam Mahdi.[7]
Smoothing of Appearance of Mahdi (
Arabic: الممهدون للمهدی)
Saint Peter in Islamic Narrations (
Arabic: شمعون الصفا وصي المسيح(ع) وجد الإمام المهدي(ع)لأمه)
Imam
Hasan al-Askari Father of Imam Mahdi (
Arabic: الإمام الحسن العسكري(ع) والد الإمام المهدي الموعود)