Muhammad Salih Baraghani

Who is Muhammad Salih Baraghani?

Muhammad Salih Baraghani was one of three or four brothers from Baraghan who all established themselves as leading mujtahids in Qazvin. Muhammad Salih was an Usuli Twelver Shi'i mujtahid. He opened the Salehiyya Madrasa in Qazvin in 1817; it soon gained prominence across Iran and India. As many as 700 students attended it. The madrasa also had a women's section.

Muhammad Salih's older brother Muhammad Taqi was also a fervent Usuli. Against common practice, Muhammad Taqi took money for issuing legal opinions and putting them into writing. The younger of the brothers, Mulla Ali, was closer to Shaykhism in his beliefs.

Muhammad Salih married Amineh Salehi, sister of an influential Shaykhi alim, Abd al-Wahhab Sharif Qazvini, imam of the Shah Mosque in Qazvin. Baraghani's wife as well as his four daughters studied in the Salehiyya. His oldest daughter, Fatimah, was one of the most reputed religious scholars of 19th century Iran. She eventually turned towards Bábism and was eventually executed for her rejection of orthodox Twelver faith. His other daughters, Marziye, Robabeh and Khadija Sultan, also became religious authorities, though none was as prominent as Fatimah.