Mahammadali Huseinzadeh

Akhund Mahammadali Huseinzadeh (Azerbaijani: Məhəmməd Əli Hüseynzadə) — first shia Sheikh ul-Islam of the Caucasus from 1823 to 1852.

He got his primary religious education in Salyan, Ganja, and later in Baghdad and came to Tbilisi in 1802 where he was appointed as akhund of Shah Abbas Mosque.

This influence was mainly decreased after the appointment of Mir-Fatah-Agha as head of the Caucasian Spiritual Assembly in 1828.

[3] His main accomplishment was imperial legalization of sharia courts and feudal rights of beys on 6 December 1846 by Nicholas I just days before his resignation.

Despite his resignation, he was active in the religious scene and helped to fund a Shiite theological school in Tbilisi on 12 December 1847 with help from Fathali Akhundov and Abbasgulu Bakikhanov.