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Ali al-Sistani

Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husaini Sistani (Arabic: السيد علي الحسيني السيستاني Persian: سید علی حسینی سیستانی), born approximately August 4, 1930, is a Grand Ayatollah, a Shia marja and currently an important person in relation to the occupation of Iraq.

Biography

Ali al-Sistani was born in Mashhad, Iran to a family of religious scholars. His grandfather, for whom he was named, was a famous scholar who had studied at Najaf. Sistani's family originated from the area of Iran known as Sistan and this accounts for the title "al-Sistani" in his name. Sistani began his religious education as a child, starting out in Mashhad, and moving on to study at the Shia holy city of Qom in central Iran. After spending a few years at Qom, he went to Iraq to study at Najaf under Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qassim Khoei.

It is in Najaf that Sistani settled down, raising a family and becoming an integral member of that city's community when he was made a marja by Khoei in the 1960s. The influence of Khoei on Sistani is well-known. Among other things, Sistani follows Khoei's belief of separating the clergy from politics, and subsequently of keeping out of great political involvement. This helped to keep him away from the attention of the Baath Party that was notorious for its treatment of Shias, and its persecution of Shia leaders in order to keep the Shia population under control. Despite Sistani's non-involvement in politics, he was nonetheless harassed numerous times by the Baath party, and imprisoned for a short while after the Shia Rebellion that followed the first Gulf War. He was also the target of a number of assassination attempts during the 1990s.

Khoei died in 1992, but not before naming Sistani as his replacement. Ayatollah Sistani cemented his relationship as successor to Khoei by leading the funeral prayers of his teacher. Khoei's death was followed by that of other notable clerics in Najaf, leading Sistani to become among the most respected of the Shia imams in Iraq. He had been contested by other clerics including Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, but his role as successor to the legacy of Abdul-Qassem Khoei gave him an edge over other clerics. His role as the preeminent leader of Iraqi Shias was cemented after the assassination of Sadr by Saddam Hussein. In his role as Ayatollah, Sistani oversees millions of dollars of money that he distributes in various ways, including paying for the religious education of would-be scholars across the Muslim world.

While Sistani survived the persecution that had killed many other Shia clerics, his mosque was shut down in 1994, and continues to be to this day. Since around that time, he has usually kept himself in his house in Najaf, in what is seen by many as a protest against persecution, but others consider to have originated from house-arrest orders issued by the Baath Party. Despite his seclusion and inaccessibility, Sistani exerts great control over the Shia population of Iraq, and is seen as the main leader of the majority of that nation's Shia. It is because of this influence that he continues to play an important role in the current politics of Iraq.

In early August 2004, Ayatollah Sistani, who has long been suffering from a heart condition, reportedly suffered serious health problems. He is said to have been transported to Beirut and from there to London for treatment. This was the first time in years Sistani has left his home in Najaf, which seems to indicate that his medical condition was serious. On August 25, Ayatollah Sistani returned from London to attempt to intervene in the standoff in Najaf over the Imam Ali shrine.

Role in contemporary Iraq

Since the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Sistani has played an increasingly political role in Iraq. Shortly after the American occupation began, he issued fatwas calling on Shia clergy not to get involved in politics. However, as the summer approached, Sistani became more involved himself and began to call for the formation of a constitutional convention, and later demanding a direct vote for the purpose of forming a transitional government. Subsequently, he has criticized American plans for an Iraqi government as not being democratic enough. As such, he has refused to directly speak with American authorities, and uses his many representatives spread out across Iraq and the Middle East to disseminate his edicts and rulings.

His edicts and rulings have provided many Iraqi Shia religious backing for participating in the January 2005 elections - he urged, in a statement on the 1st of October 2004, that the people should realize that this was an "important matter" and he also hoped that the elections would be "free and fair ... with the participation of all Iraqis".

External links

  • Site dedicated to Sistani (English version) http://www.sistani.org/html/eng/
  • Imam Ali Foundation http://www.najaf.org/English/home/
  • Article at Disinfopedia http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Grand_Ayatollah_al-Sistani



Last updated: 04-25-2005 03:06:01