Abdolreza Helali

Abdolreza Helali — commonly known as Reza Helali — is an Iranian maddah (eulogist) known for his innovations in maddahi, especially in the shoor style, and for leading Tehran's Heyat al-Reza. ¹ His Instagram account counted 508,193 followers in November 2026, read on the platform on 7 November 2026 — a dated platform figure, not a measurement the museum makes itself. ²

Helali was born on 12 Aban 1360 in the Persian calendar (3 November 1981) in Khorramshahr and raised in Tehran, as he stated himself in his Fars News Agency interview, explaining that his birth certificate was backdated into the month of Shahrivar (September) to ease his school enrolment — which is why some tables give his birth as 3 September. ^{3 1} He studied building drafting at technical school and read judicial law at university for two terms before leaving his studies altogether. ^{4 3} He is married with two daughters and, in addition to maddahi, works in car brokerage, according to English Wikipedia. ¹

Helali began reciting religious poetry at the age of 11; he was a student of Abbas Saberi, the founder of the "Heyat al-Reza, Gathering of Basijis and Followers of the Martyrs" in Tehran, and after Saberi's martyrdom he took over the recitations for the gathering at 14. ^{1 3} He expanded Heyat al-Reza's activities, holding its gatherings first at the Abu Dhar Grand Mosque, then at the Qahroudi Hosseiniyah, and later at a permanent base in the renovated Hosseiniyah of the Khomeinishahri community. ¹ In his interview he put the crowd at his hey'at's busiest nights at seven to eight thousand people. ³

Helali is known for the shoor style of maddahi, which he defended in his interview on the grounds that the audience asks for it and needs it. ^{3 1} His recorded works include "Rafigham Hossein" ("My Friend Is Hossein"), with Hamed Zamani, "O King of Sorrow and Grief's Shrine" (Muharram 2007), "I Owe a World of Tears to the Mourning Ceremonies", "I Fell for Ali and Discovered Love" and "The Moon on the Spears". ¹ In 2022 (1401 in the Iranian calendar) he founded the Takiyegah Agha Morteza Ali cultural-social complex in Tehran's Harandi neighbourhood, expanding Heyat al-Reza's work from religious gatherings to social services: the complex provides healthcare, wellness and nutrition services to people struggling with addiction. ¹

During the 2017 Iranian presidential election Helali supported Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and after Ghalibaf's withdrawal endorsed Ebrahim Raisi; after Hassan Rouhani won, he joined Rouhani's supporters in celebrating and distributed sweets, and a video of the event drew varied reactions. ¹ In July 2017 he was arrested, along with other maddahs, by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; no official body confirmed the charges, unofficial accusations circulated online, and the judiciary spokesperson later said the case was not security-related; from the Fatimiyya period of 2019 Helali resumed public eulogies, and his hey'at's weekly gatherings continued at the Mehdioun Hosseiniyah in Tehran. ^{1 4} These episodes are reported here as the encyclopaedias document them, attributed to their sources and without a verdict from the museum.

His Instagram account (@rezahelaliofficial) counted 508,193 followers when read on the platform on 7 November 2026. ² Earlier readings of the same account had given about 600K followers in post metadata of July 2025 and 538K in the ranking screenshots of spring 2025; the fresher reading is carried, and it remains well above this lane's threshold despite the fall. ²

• The English Wikipedia article on Abdolreza Helali, read in full on 7 November 2026. ¹
• The Persian Wikipedia article on Abdolreza Helali, read in full on 7 November 2026. ⁴
• His interview with Fars News Agency, republished by Pars News, read in full on 7 November 2026. ³
• His Instagram account (@rezahelaliofficial), read on the platform on 7 November 2026. ²