Allameh Tabatabai

Allameh Tabatabai, born Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i (1903 to 1981), was an Iranian scholar and philosopher, born in Tabriz and educated in the seminary at Najaf, who became one of the most influential figures in twentieth century Shia Islamic thought. His central work, the twenty seven volume Quranic commentary Tafsir al-Mizan, completed between 1954 and 1972, is built on the method of interpreting the Quran with the Quran, drawing together linguistic, historical, theological, philosophical and social analysis. In The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism, a five volume philosophical work with commentary by Morteza Motahhari, he set out a comparison between Islamic philosophy and Western thought and offered a sustained critique of the philosophical foundations of communism. He held philosophical dialogues in Qom and Tehran with the French scholar Henry Corbin, and his students included Motahhari and Seyyed Hossein Nasr.