Moulana Ali Azhar Arastu was born and raised in a Bohra family in Hyderabad, India. He later moved to the US in his early twenties and subsequently converted to the Shi'a Ithna 'Ashari faith. He has been studying in Qum since 2002 and his focus is on Qur'an and Hadith studies.

Muhammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Mūsā (Arabic: محمد ابن علی ابن موسی ) (circa 12 April 811 - c. 29 November 835) was the ninth of the Twelve Imams and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He was also called Abu Ja'far, Ibn al-Ridha ("the son of al-Riha); al-Jawād ("the generous") and al-Taqī ("the pious").

'Alī ibn Mūsā ar-Riḍā (Arabic: علي ابن موسى الرّضا‎), also called Abu al-Hasan, Ali al-Reza (c. 29 December 765 – 23 August 818) or in Iran (Persia) as Imam Reza (Persian: امام رضا‎), was a descendant of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and the eighth Shi'ite Imam, after his father Musa al-Kadhim, and before his son Muhammad al-Jawad.