Ja'far Sobhani

جعفر سبحانی

Iran · Shia jurist and theologian in Qom, founder of the Imam Sadiq Institute

Ja’far Sobhani is an Iranian Shia jurist and theologian based in Qom. After studying Arabic literature and legal theory in a seminary elsewhere in Iran, he moved to the Qom seminary in 1946, where he attended classes in jurisprudence, legal theory, Qur’anic exegesis and philosophy under teachers including Hossein Borujerdi, Ruhollah Khomeini and Mohammad Tabatabai.

He founded the Imam Sadiq Institute in Qom, ran the journals Maktab-e Islam and Kalam-e Islami, and is credited with building up the study of kalam (theology) in the Qom seminary. He also took part in drafting the constitution of the Islamic Republic.

Sobhani is a prolific author with hundreds of research works in Persian and Arabic, including multi-volume thematic and consecutive commentaries on the Qur’an and an eight-volume study of religions and sects. English readers know him mainly through Doctrines of Shi’i Islam, a compendium of Imami belief and practice translated by Reza Shah-Kazemi, and through translations of his biography of the Prophet and other works.

Photo: Seyed Ruhollah Moosavi (Fars News Agency), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Archived 19 October 2026 · Biography sources: en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org

Works

Books 4

BOOK 2001 · English

Doctrines of Shi'i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices

A compendium of Twelver Shia belief and practice, translated and edited by Reza Shah-Kazemi and published by I. B. Tauris with the Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Sobhani, Ja'far. Doctrines of Shi'i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices. 2001. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/doctrines-of-shii-islam-jafar-sobhani. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/jafar-sobhani/#jafar-sobhani-doctrines-of-shii-islam-a-compendium-of-imami-beliefs-and

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BOOK English

Secrets of Success

A book for young people on reaching their goals, illustrated with examples from the lives of well-known figures.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Sobhani, Ja'far. Secrets of Success. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/secrets_of_success_202006. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/jafar-sobhani/#jafar-sobhani-secrets-of-success

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BOOK English

The Message: The Life of the Holy Prophet of Islam

A detailed account of the Prophet Muhammad's life based on historical sources, from pre-Islamic Arabia onward.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Sobhani, Ja'far. The Message: The Life of the Holy Prophet of Islam. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/the_message_201506. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/jafar-sobhani/#jafar-sobhani-the-message-the-life-of-the-holy-prophet-of-islam

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BOOK English

The Twelve Imams

A brief overview of the lives and achievements of the twelve Imams of Twelver Shi'ism.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Sobhani, Ja'far. The Twelve Imams. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/the-twelve-imams. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/jafar-sobhani/#jafar-sobhani-the-twelve-imams

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