Ali al-Sistani

Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani (Arabic: علي الحسيني السيستاني; born 4 August 1930) is an Islamic scholar and the dean of the Hawza in Najaf, Iraq. A Grand Ayatollah, Sistani is considered one of the leading religious leaders of Twelver Shia Muslims. After the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent overthrow of the authoritarian Baathist regime, Sistani advocated for democratization instead of the system of Wilayat al-Faqih. He has likewise endorsed rule of law, Iraqi nationalism, non-sectarianism and popular sovereignty. He has been a vocal critic of foreign interference in Iraqi affairs and has warned foreign actors against imposing their will on the Iraqi people.

Born in Mashhad, Iran to a Sayyid family, Sistani studied in Qom under Hossein Borujerdi and later in Najaf under Abu al-Qasim al-Khu'i. An Usuli, Sistani rose to the rank of mujtahid in 1960 and succeeded Abd al-A'la al-Sabziwari as Grand Ayatollah. Sistani was included in top positions of The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential Muslims from 2004 to 2024 and named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2004 and 2005.

Sistani was born in 1930 in Mashhad, to a family of religious clerics who claim descent from Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. His father was Mohammad-Baqir al-Sistani and his mother was the daughter of Ridha al-Mehrebani al-Sarabi.

Sistani began his religious education as a child, first in Mashhad in his father's hawza, and continuing later in Qom. In Qom he studied under Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi. Later in 1951, Sistani traveled to Iraq to study in Najaf under Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei. Sistani rose to the rank of mujtahid in 1960 at thirty-one.

When Ayatollah al-Khoei died in 1992, Abd al-A'la al-Sabziwari briefly became the leading marja'. However, when he died in 1993, Sistani ascended to the rank of Grand Ayatollah through formal peer recognition of his scholarship. His role as successor to Khoei was symbolically cemented when he led funeral prayers for Khoei, and he also inherited most of Khoei's network and following.

During the years of Saddam Hussein's rule of Iraq through the Arab nationalist and Sunni dominated Baath Party, Sistani was untouched during the violent Baathist repression and persecution that killed many clerics including Muhammad al-Sadr in 1999, for which Saddam denied any involvement. Sistani's mosque was forcefully shut down in 1994 and did not reopen until the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq.

Since the overthrow of the Baath Party of Iraq in 2003, Sistani has played an increasingly prominent role in regional religious and political affairs and he has been called the "most influential" figure in post-invasion Iraq.

Shortly after the American invasion began, Sistani issued a fatwa advising Shia clergy to become engaged in politics to better guide the Iraqi people toward "clearer decisions" and to fight "media propaganda."^{[citation needed]} As the summer of 2003 approached, Sistani and his followers began petitioning the occupying forces for a constitutional convention. Later, Sistani called for a democratic vote of the people to form a transitional government. Observers described the move as being a path leading directly to Shia political dominance over Iraq's government, as Shia Muslims make up approximately 65% of the total Iraqi population.^{[citation needed]} Subsequently, Sistani criticized plans for an Iraqi government for not being democratic enough.^{[citation needed]}