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AMI Faculty

Dr Haidar Hobballah

Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies & Research Lead for Hadith and History

Hadith Studies
Islamic Historiography
Qurʾanic Interpretation & Methodology
Jurisprudence & Legal Theory

Biography

Dr Haidar Hobballah completed his introductory and intermediate levels of hawza studies in 1995 at the age of 22 and went on to undertake advanced studies with Sayyid Mahmud al-Hashimi al-Shahroudi. In 2004, Dr Hobballah graduated with a master’s degree in Quranic and Hadith Studies from the college of Usul al-Din. Thereafter, he received another masters in Islamic Law from al-Mustafa International University in 2016. He received his PhD in Comparative Religions and Christian Theology from the University of Religions and Denominations in 2020. Amongst his notable teachers are Sayyid Mahmud al-Hashimi al-Shahroudi, Shaykh Hussain al-Najati, Shaykh Baqir al-Irawani, Shaykh Wahid al-Khurasani, and Shaykh Abdullah Jawadi Amuli.

As well as his hawza studies, Dr Hobballah worked as the editor in chief of various academic journals such as al-Minhāj al-BayrūtiyyaNuṣūṣ Muʿāṣira, and al-Ijtihād wa-l-Tajdīd. He was previously a member of the editorial board of the journal of Fiqh Ahl al-Bayt al-Takhaṣṣuṣiyya. He has authored two dozen books and numerous articles in the fields of jurisprudence, legal theory, theology, philosophy, and Quranic and hadith studies. Dr Hobballah taught intermediate level classes in the hawza for more than 15 years and began teaching advanced classes (baḥth khārij) in 2005 at the Hawza of Qom in jurisprudence, legal theory, hadith, and the study of narrators. In addition to his teaching and publications, he has also supervised many masters and doctoral theses in the seminary of Qom, al-Mustafa University, the University of Religions and Denominations, and the College of Usul al-Din.

Taught at Al-Mahdi Institute:

  • Hawza Programme: Lecturer in Qur'an and Hadith Studies, Al-Mahdi Institute
  • Post-graduate Diploma in Islamic Studies (PGDip): Qurʾānic and Ḥadīth Studies (ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān wa al-Ḥadīth): 14 lessons
  • Islam & Self-development Programme (ISDP): Introductory Courses in Qurʾānic and Ḥadīth Studies (ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān wa al-Ḥadīth): 10 lessons

 

Advanced Seminary Lessons (Baḥth al-Khārij):

Uṣūl al-Fiqh

  1. The Authority of Ḥadīth: 98 lessons
  2. The Scope of the Authority of Ḥadīth: 144 lessons
  3. The Comprehensiveness of the Sharī‘ah: 113 lessons
  4. The Jurisprudence of Maṣlaḥah (Public Interest): 85 lessons
  5. Maqāṣid-based Ijtihād (Purpose-Oriented Jurisprudence): 175 lessons
  6. The Theory of Abrogation in Islamic Thought (Naẓariyyat al-Naskh fī al-Fikr al-Islāmī): 125 lessons

Fiqh

  1. Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil: 109 lessons
  2. Contemporary Jurisprudential Studies: 229 lessons
  3. Studies in the Jurisprudence of Religious Minorities: 94 lessons
  4. The Jurisprudence of Food and Drink: 118 lessons
  5. The Jurisprudence of War and Peace in the Sharī‘ah: 140 lessons

Theological Studies:

  1. The Theory of Infallibility (Baḥth Naẓariyyat al-ʿIṣmah): 84 lessons
  2. Advanced Study in the Science of Narrators (ʿIlm al-Rijāl)
    253 lessons

The Intellectual Sciences

  1. Explanation of “The Logical Foundations of Induction الأسس المنطقية للاستقراء” by Muḥammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr: 57 lessons
  2. Explanation of “The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realismاصول الفلسفة والمذهب الواقعي ” by ʿAllāmah al-Ṭabāṭabāʾī: 170 lessons
  3. Explanation of the Theory of Knowledge in (Falsafatunāفلسفتنا ) by Muḥammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr: 11 lessons
  4. Explanation of “The New Method in Teaching Philosophy المنهج الحجديد في تعليم الفلسفة ” by Muḥammad Taqī Miṣbāḥ Yazdī: 127 lessons
  5. Studies in Modern Kalām- علم الكلام الجديد (Theology): 48 lessons

The Transmitted Sciences العلوم النقلية

  1. Lessons on Orientalists and Ḥadīth Studies: 32 lessons
  2. Lessons on Fabrication and Falsehood in Ḥadīth: 21 lessons
  3. Lessons on the History of Tradition-Based Exegesis among Muslims: 16 lessons
  4. Lessons on the Sources of Imāmī Ḥadīth: 12 lessons
  5. Studies on the General Principles of Qurʾānic Jurisprudence: 18 lessons
  6. Exegesis of the Noble Qurʾān (Explanation of the Short Sūrahs): 98 lessons
  7. Lessons on the Verbal and Conceptual Revelation of the Qurʾān: 18 lessons

In Fiqh and Uṣūl

  1. Explanation of al-Ṣadr’s “الحلقة الثالثة في الاصول”: 268 lessons
  2. Explanation of al-Khurāsānī’s “Kifāyat al-Uṣūl”: 308 lessons
  3. Explanation of the Section on Options (al-Khiyārāt) from “al-Makāsib”: 153 lessons
  4. Lessons on the Philosophy of Fiqh: 13 lessons
  5. Lessons on the Sunni Schools of Fiqh, their Doctrines, and Historical Development: 14 lessons

The History of the Sciences

  1. The History of the Science of Narrators (ʿIlm al-Rijāl) among the Shīʿah: 21 lessons
  2. The History of ʿIlm al-Rijāl among the Sunnis: 9 lessons
  3. The History of the Science of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in Shīʿī Thought: 25 lessons
  4. The History of the Science of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in Sunni Thought: 21 lessons
  5. Introductory Lessons on the History of Christian Theology: 41 lessons

Miscellaneous

  1. Methods of Study and Ijtihād-Based Teaching: 15 lessons
  2. Methods of Authorship and Writing: 17 lessons
  3. Various Lectures in Islamic Thought: 203 lectures

Invited Lectures and Academic Seminars

  1. ‘Shi‘a–Christian Debates in the Early Centuries: The Debates of Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha as a Case Study’
    Annual Summer School, Centre for Muslim–Christian Studies, Oxford, United Kingdom.
    15 August 2025.
  2. ‘The Specification of the Qur’an by a Single Report: A Comparative Study of Islamic Usuli Schools’
    Weekly Academic Seminar, Research Department, Mofid University, in collaboration with the Centre for Qur’anic Studies, Online (Iran).
    1 June 2025.
  3. ‘Ethical Ijtihad in Deriving Sharia: Analysing Theories on the Relationship Between Religious Texts and Moral Reason’
    Research Seminar, Omani Cultural Club, Muscat, Oman.
    23 February 2025.
  4. ‘The Authority of Sharia: Attempting to Rethink the Role of Sharia in the Modern Age’
    Public Lecture, Omani Cultural Club, Muscat, Oman.
    5 May 2024.

 

Conference Papers

  1. ‘Shi‘i Ijtihād Methodologies in Contemporary Issues’
    Islamic Jurisprudence and Contemporary Ethics Conference, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
    7–8 July 2025.
  2. ‘Sadd al-Dharā’i (Blocking the Means) in the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence: A Comparative Study between Sunni and Shi‘i Legal Theory’
    Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
    30 June–1 July 2025.
  3. ‘Avicennian Philosophy in Contemporary Imami Religious Seminaries and Institutes’
    International Conference Avicenna, Avicennism, and Later Philosophical Traditions, jointly organised by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the German Oriental Research Center (Beirut), Munich, Germany.
    15–17 November 2024.
  4. ‘The Theory of Qiyas among the Imamis and Its Transformations from the 4th to the 7th Century AH’
    Second International Conference Jurisprudential Schools in the Classical Era: History and Society, organised by Namā Institute for Studies and Research (Morocco) and the University of Münster (Germany), Online.
    29–30 May 2024.
  5. ‘The Hadith Criticism Movement among Twelver Shi‘i Scholars in the Twentieth Century: The Case of Sayyed Abu al-Fadl al-Burqa’i’
    Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS), University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
    20–21 May 2024.
  6. ‘Circumstances of the Emergence of Imāmī Jurisprudence in the Second Century Hijrī’ Early Islamic Jurisprudence and the Question of Origin Conference, jointly organised by the University of Münster (Germany) and the Namā Centre (Morocco), Online.15 December 2023.
  1. The transmission of hadith from Kufa to Qom in the second and third centuries. Paper presented at the International Conference, Compiling a Tradition: The History and Development of the Early Imāmī Hadith Corpora, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 12–13 February 2024.
  2. The Athari tafsir in Imami thought, history, structure, and epistemological and methodological issues. Paper presented at the International Conference: Diverse approaches to Quranic exegesis: historical trends, and contemporary trajectories. Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 14-15 April 2025.
  3. The Theory of Specificity (Naẓariyyat al-Takhṣī) in Islamic legal theory, examining specification of the Qur'an by solitary narrations. Paper presented at the 12th Annual Contemporary Fiqhī Issues Workshop, Language and Meaning in Islamic Legal Theory, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 4–5 July 2024.
  4. A Critical Examination of the Rational Foundations of the Theory of Blocking the Means in Islamic Legal Theory – Paper presented at the 13th Annual Contemporary Fiqhī Issues Conference, Reason and Rationality in Islamic Legal Theories and Law, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 17–18 July 2025.
  • Head of the Department of Qur'anic and Hadith Studies, Al-Mahdi Institute (AMI).
  • Associate Lecturer at the University of Birmingham.
  • Member of the International Centre for Collective Ijtihad (ICCI).
  • Member of the International Advisory Board of Metafizika, a multilingual academic journal specialising in philosophical studies, published in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan.

Recent Contributions

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