Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimin Mahdi Shah-Abadi was a member of the first and second terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly who was martyred on 6‌^th Ordibehesht 1363 (26 April 1984), while visiting the Majnoon Island operational area, as a result of being struck by artillery shrapnel.

Mahdi Shah-Abadi, son of Grand Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad-Ali Shah-Abadi, was born in 1309 (1930/1931) in Qom, and at the age of four moved with his family to Tehran.⁠[1]

From the time of his arrival in Tehran, he spent two years studying the Holy Quran at the Emamzadeh Yahya (AS) maktab (traditional school). At the age of six, together with his two other brothers, he entered primary school and completed it by the age of 12, while simultaneously studying Arabic literature under his father.⁠[2]

At the age of 14, he entered the Marvi Seminary School in Tehran, and at 18, he took on the clerical robe. In 1330 (1951/1952), he went to the Qom Seminary to continue his religious studies, and a year later he returned to Tehran to pursue his high school education, completing the high school curriculum in fourteen months.⁠[3]

At the time of the coup of 28‌^th Mordad 1332 (19 August 1953), he was arrested and released after a short time, and returned to Qom.⁠[4] During this period, he continued his religious studies.⁠[5]

In 1336 (1957/1958), at the age of 27, Shah-Abadi married Ezzat al-Sadat Ayatollahzadeh Shirazi,⁠[6] and they had seven children together.

With the start of Imam Khomeini’ s movement, Shah-Abadi joined it and engaged in promotional activities and the distribution of proclamations, and gave shelter to clerics who opposed the government.⁠[7] In 1350 (1971/1972), he returned to Tehran, and his activities led to his arrest for four months in 1352 (1973/1974). His second arrest was in 1353 (1974/1975) and lasted 20 days. His third arrest was in 1354 (1975/1976) and lasted two months. His fourth arrest was in 1355 (1976/1977), which led to his six-month exile to the town of Baneh in Kurdistan Province. His fifth arrest occurred in Khordad 1357 (May/June 1978), and he was released in Aban of the same year (October/November 1978). Twelve days later, he was arrested again and remained imprisoned in Baghshah Prison until 3‌^rd Bahman 1357 (23 January 1979).⁠[8]

On the eve of Imam Khomeini’ s return to the country, the Bakhtiar government closed Mehrabad Airport. In response to this measure, Shah-Abadi, together with a number of other clerics and academics, staged a sit-in at Tehran University. With the reopening of Mehrabad Airport and the confirmation of Imam Khomeini’ s return, he, alongside Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari (martyred), became a member of the committee for welcoming the Imam, and afterward, on 21‌^st Bahman 1357 (10 February 1979), played a role in disarming police stations and garrisons.⁠[9]

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimin Mahdi Shah-Abadi took on various responsibilities, including membership on the Central Council of the Islamic Revolution Committee, chairmanship of the Shemiranat (Ekhtiarieh) Islamic Revolution Committee, headship of the Propaganda Bureau of the Combatant Clergy Association of Tehran, representing Imam Khomeini on the committee reviewing the performance of the Foundation for the Oppressed, establishing the Deputy for Educational Affairs and Training of the Ministry of Education, and membership in the first and second terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.⁠[10]

With the start of the Imposed War, Shah-Abadi would visit the operational areas so that, in his own words, he could find a single combatant in a single trench, kiss his hand and face, and tell him: “ It is true that we do not know how to fight, and in these matters we cannot do anything for you, but know that our hearts are with you and belong to you. ”⁠[11]

On 5‌^th Ordibehesht 1363 (25 April 1984), during the recess between the first and second terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, in which Shah-Abadi had once again been elected to represent the people of Tehran, he traveled to Khuzestan Province, together with his eldest son and a number of professors from the University of Tehran’ s Faculty of Fine Arts, to visit the Majnoon Island operational area. After the plane landed at Ahvaz Airport, he first delivered a speech before the forces of the 25‌^th Karbala Division (IRGC) at the Shahid Beheshti Garrison in Ahvaz, and the following day they entered Majnoon Island. While he was making his way to one of the island’ s Hosseiniehs to deliver a speech, perform the Maghrib prayer, and recite the Kumayl supplication, he was wounded in the head and leg by artillery shell shrapnel, and, before reaching the hospital, was martyred on the night of the martyrdom of Imam Musa al-Kazim (AS).⁠[12]

After a funeral procession in Tehran, the body of Martyr Shah-Abadi was laid to rest at the Memorial of the 72 Martyrs, in Section 24 of Tehran’ s Behesht-e Zahra Martyrs’ Cemetery, next to the grave of Martyr Beheshti and his companions.⁠[13]

Following Shah-Abadi’ s martyrdom, political and religious figures and organizations issued messages of condolence. Imam Khomeini said that his martyrdom brought “ honor to the eminent clergy. ”⁠[14] Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (President) described Shah-Abadi’ s martyrdom as “ the reward for years of striving in the path of God and effort for the sovereignty of Islam, ”⁠[15] and Hojjat al-Islam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Speaker of Parliament) described this martyrdom as “ an honor for the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Combatant Clergy Association, and the aware and zealous people of Tehran. ”⁠[16]

After Shah-Abadi’ s martyrdom, the “ Al-Ghadir Islamic Association, ” which he had founded, was renamed the “ Martyr Shah-Abadi Seminary” and continued its activities under the supervision of the country’ s seminaries.⁠[17]

The Master’ s Son (Martyr Shah-Abadi Seminary, 1986), The Bloody Lineage (Headquarters for Holding the Clergy Day and Imposed War Ceremonies, 1987), Martyr Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimin Haj Sheikh Mahdi Shah-Abadi as Told by SAVAK Documents (Center for the Study of Historical Documents of the Ministry of Intelligence, 2003), The Life and Struggles of Hojjat al-Islam wal-Muslimin Martyr Mahdi Shah-Abadi (Islamic Revolution Documents Center, 2005), and The Stranger Bird of Love (Soroush, 2020) are among the written works published about this martyr. The documentary “ The Fortunate Ones” is also a visual work about this martyr.