1. A Brief Biography:
Ayatollah Mohamad Reza Mahdavi Kani was born on August 5th, 1930 in Kan, a suburb of Tehran. After finishing the primary school in Kan, he entered Lorzadeh Seminary School in Tehran and learned lots of moral and scholarly values from the late Ayatollah Borhan. When he was seventeen, he immigrated to Qom City for continuing his religious studies at Qom Seminary School. There he was educated by great Ayatollahs such as Meshkini, Jebel Ameli, Sadooghi, Soltani, Mojahedi, Rafii Ghazvini, Shoarani, Alameh Tabatabai, Boroojerdi, Imam Khomeini, and Golpayeghani. They taught him high religious courses such as: Islamic Jurisprudence, the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Islamic Interpretation (Tafsir), Islamic Philosophy (Hekmat), Kala'am and Advanced Seminary Courses.
In 1961, he returned to Tehran and stared to teach religious courses in Marvi seminary school. Two years later he became the leader of Moslems’ prayers in Jalili mosque, a newly established one. Later, this mosque became a centre for social and political activities. Because of his fight against the Pahlavi Dynasty he was arrested, tortured and exiled for many times. Ayatollah Mahdavi was the only Islamic scholar who was arrested during the last days of Pahlavi Regime.
After the victory of Islamic revolution he took on different duties entrusted to him by Imam Khomeini (PBUH). Ayatollah Mahdavi is the father of a son and two daughters who are university teachers.

2. Fighting against Pahlavi Regime:
When Ayatollah Mahdavi entered Qom Seminary School he became acquainted with Imam Khomeini’s viewpoints. At the same time, he could see that Islam was tried to be disgraced, and people were suffering from political and social oppression. Consequently, he accepted Imam Khomeini’s political method as a method which could lead to the revival of Islam and Shiite thought. His first arrest which was followed by torture and exile was made when he was only 18 years old. When the news of his arrest spread quickly around the Qom town, the great ayatollah Boroojerdi criticized the Prime Minister Eghbal because of his students’ arrest and torture.
Atatollah Mahdavi started his political activity in Qom Seminary School by participating in a political assembly in which prominent clerics were taking part. One of the activities of the assembly was studying and criticizing the materialistic and communist books. One of the other activities of the members of this assembly was participating in political meetings in order to share their ideas with the other religious thinkers such as Ayatollah Beheshti, Motahari, Moosavi Ardebili … In these meeting some viewpoints such as Islamic economy and Islamic government were expressed. These meeting were led to the establishment of Combatant Clergy Association (Jame’e-ye- Rowhaniat-e Mobarez-e Tehran; website: rohaniatmobarez.com) and the writing of its political and religious article of association. Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani’s activities in Jalili Mosque were of different religious, cultural and social aspects. His support from Imam Khomeini’s view points with remarkable persistence led to his arrest. During his residence in Tehran, Ayatollah Mahdavi was arrested several times and Pahlavi regime imposed tough restrictions on his political speeches and teaching. Then, he was sent into an internal exile. When it was discovered that Ayatollah Mahdavi’s political activity had been further than his supports from Imam Khomeini, he was interrogated and tortured by the Intelligence Agency of Pahlavi Regime (SAVAK). He was accused of helping the political prisoners’ families and cooperating with the anti-Pahlavi activists. He was sentenced to four years in prison, but he was released after 2 years because of the victorious acts of many political activists against the Pahlavi regime. Ayatollah Mahdavi’s political activities continued under Imam Khomeini’s supervision until the victory of Islamic Revolution of Iran. Ayatollah Mahdavi’s book of memories contains different valuable points about the famous Islamic Revolution’s political activists such as Ayatollah Taleghani, Hashemi-e-Rafsanjani, and Anvari …

3. Academic Works:
• The Explanation of Ayatollah Boroojerdi and Imam Khomeini’s Advanced Seminary Courses
• Starting Points in Practical Logic
• The Basics and Principles of Islamic Economy in Holy Koran
• The Explanation of Iftitah Prayer

4. Teaching Activities:
• Teaching advanced courses of jurisprudence in university and also Marvi Seminary School
• Teaching Aya’at-al-Ahkam (Koranic Verses Related to the Islamic Decrees) and Koranic Verses related to the Economics in Imam Sadiq University
• Teaching the courses of Islamic Ethics in Imam Sadiq University and Marvi Seminary School
• Academic interviews
• Academic lectures
• Supervising PhD and MA Dissertations

5. Governmental Positions:
During and over the course of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Mahdavi has accepted different governmental responsibilities and missions which include:

5.1: The Previous Responsibilities:
• Membership in the First Council of Islamic Revolution. His membership was appointed by Imam Khomeini (P.B.U.H). Many key figures such as Beheshti, Motahari, Bahonar, Ayatollah Khamenei (the Present Supreme Leader of I .R .Iran) Hashemi Rafsanjani, Moosavi Ardebili were the members of the First Council of Islamic Revolution.
• The membership in the Welcome Committee of Imam Khomeini(P.B.U.H)
• The Supervision of Islamic Revolution Committee, appointed by Imam Khomeini’s command
• Membership as a jurisprudence in the Guardian Council (two periods)
• Imam Khomeini’s agent in the Committee for Resolving Disagreements and also the same missions during the course of Islamic Revolution
• Interior Minister in the Rajai and Bahonar’s Cabinet
• The Prime Minister after the martyrdom of Rajai and Bahonar
• Appointed as a member in the Committee of Islamic Revolution by Imam Khomeini’s Decree
• Appointed as a member in the Council of Islamic Revolution by Imam Khomeini’s Decree, (His membership continued by the Supreme Leader’s Decree)
• Supervising the Aid Committee of the Bombarded Areas
• Membership in the Council for the Revision of the Constitution of I. R. Iran
• The Directorship of the Mosque Affairs
• Membership in the Expediency Council of I. R. Iran

5.2: The Present Responsibilities:
• The Establisher and the Secretary General of the Combatant Clergy Association
• The President of Imam Sadiq University
• Custodianship of the Marvi Seminary School and the related donations appointed by the Imam Khomeini’s (P.B.U.H) decree
• Chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership